THE SECRETS OF THEIR SUCCESS

Fast Facts:

Pursuit: Editor in Chief at money.co.uk 

Definition of success: “Doing something that makes you happy, achieving what you want to and enjoying the ride.”

I’m not sure any of us pursues the same daily grind, but I’d have money on the fact that I’m not alone in eating my cornflakes in front of the morning news. With me, it’s often no more than a sequence of flickering images and snatches of speech that constitute some kind of subconscious rhythm to the tune of my morning, but other times I’ll sit and pay attention. If that sounds like you, and you hail from British shores, there’s a good chance you will have heard today’s guest guiding viewers of the BBC’s Breakfast programme through the latest financial trends. And if you’re out and about when the milkman’s doing his rounds, perhaps you’ve caught her on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Wake up to Money at 5am. Whatever the case, if you’re as interested in the financial sector as we all should be, at some point you’ve almost certainly watched or listened to today’s guest, Editor in Chief at money.co.uk: Hannah Maundrell.

 “I joined the company in its absolute infancy,” Hannah begins when I ask how she came to be involved in the fifth largest online comparison service in its sector, “before it was even called money.co.uk – we ported our comparison services across in 2008 after our MD shrewdly acquired the domain name.” 

Shrewd is an understatement. I’d call it a defining moment of entrepreneurial genius. Think about that: it’s like Waterstones acquiring books.co.uk or iTunes getting their hands on music.com. Lesson one: if you don’t try, you don’t get. Sorry, I digress, but a worthy distraction, no?

“At the very start it was just Chris (our MD) and I working in a tiny office in Cirencester,” Hannah continues, getting us back on track. “Along with two colleagues in London we set the foundation of things to come. Working for money.co.uk was my first ‘proper’ job after university – previously I’d worked in a building society which gave me a fantastic grounding in all things consumer finance and a real insight into the complex relationship that people have with their money. My time there there was invaluable because it helped me realise that I wanted to help people make the most of their finances as a career. When the job at money.co.uk came up I jumped at it because it was everything I was looking for and more. There was one small problem – the role was in Cirencester and I was based in Cornwall! Despite never having been to the Cotswolds before and not knowing anyone in the area, I relocated; dragging my – somewhat reluctant – boyfriend (now-husband) Andre to make the move with me.”

It’s not my place to say but, promotion to husband status, a wife who knows the money game inside and out? Andre might have been reluctant but I’m going to go out on a limb here and posit that, in hindsight, that move was a good decision…

“By joining a start-up I really hit the ground running as Chris had big ambitions. I quickly took charge of content and the business has grown organically ever since – enjoying a turnover of £16 million last year. With just thirty-five employees the business is still fairly small compared to other players in our space. However, we currently attract around three million visitors to our website every month, making us the fifth largest player in the sector. I’m now Editor in Chief of a team of thirteen and I sit on the Leadership Team alongside five others. My remit is broad to say the least as I manage Editorial, PR, Data, Deals, Compliance, Customer Services and more – it definitely keeps me busy. Following a couple of office moves are lucky enough to work in a castle overlooking the gorgeous Bathurst Estate park in Cirencester.”

Are you currently entertaining an image of Hannah passing idyllic days staring dreamily out across Gloucestershire’s green pastures? Because I’m just saying, don’t. Try this for a ‘day-in-the-life’:

“I’m definitely a morning person so I’m often up jumping about or doing yoga at, what my husband considers, an unearthly hour. Then it’s back to bed with breakfast and my laptop where I plough through home admin, catch up on the day’s headlines and check my accounts as my husband leaves the money side of things to me!

As the main media spokesperson for money.co.uk I often find myself walking down to the castle for a 5am start with the BBC 5 Live team on Wake up to Money. Apparently the building is haunted as the cleaners have had several run-ins with the supernatural. Whilst I’ve never seen any paranormal activity it’s definitely eerie being there by yourself – at least the adrenaline helps to wake me up!

As Editor in Chief it’s important the team is fully abreast of the news agenda and we work hard to make our editorial topical, helpful, engaging and easy to understand. As soon as the team get in we have an early morning conference where we decide exactly what we’ll be covering each day and look at what’s coming up and the impact it’ll have on our comparisons.

If it’s a Tuesday or Friday I’ll work on our newsletter which is full of deals, offers and money news for our 485,000 community members.

Otherwise no two days are the same (apart from the vast amount of coffee I manage to get through): I spend most of my time working directly with my team, strategising with the other team leaders and talking consumer finance on air from our in-house radio studio; but frequently head into London or up to Manchester for meetings and media interviews.

Outside of work my two biggest passions are travel and food so I spend my evenings cooking (my husband and I have food allergies which gives me the perfect excuse to get creative in the kitchen), dining out with friends, or researching our next adventure: Amsterdam, Iceland, Dubrovnik and India are top of the list.  On a Tuesday evening I’m ‘Snowy Owl’ at the Brownie pack I help to run. Always exhausting after a long day in the office but good fun!”

It appears to me that successful people, as a rule of thumb, have an incapacity for inertia. Whether at work or at home, that’s clearly the cut of Hannah’s cloth (a tendency sustained, perhaps, in some part at least by all that coffee). Not surprising, then, that Hannah’s professional life doesn’t slot rigidly into a neat time-frame.

“It’s certainly not a nine-to-five role,” she agrees, “but that’s often the way in a smaller business. Every member of our team feels a great sense of personal ownership for money.co.uk so we work as many hours as it takes to get the job done and make the website the best it can be.

It often means long hours, but in truth I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m stretched and challenged every single day; whether it’s being thrown into media interviews at a moment’s notice, making big decisions that influence our content or adapting our comparisons to new regulations. It certainly keeps me on my toes but that’s part of what I love about it.”

Stretching herself is evidently a major entry in Hannah’s lexicon of motivation. When I ask about her proudest achievements, it’s clear that none of them have fallen into her lap.

“Personally it’s dragging myself around the London marathon – and managing to persuade seven of my (then nine!) colleagues from money.co.uk to do it with me! Many had never run before so it was a real team effort to get around. Professionally, it’s having helped grow money.co.uk into the website it is today – it’s been a real privilege to work with such a talented and lovely team.

Being interviewed on BBC Breakfast about what the Autumn Statement meant for consumers straight after the Chancellor also makes the list. I was told by the producer that a special guest would be appearing before me but didn’t know it would be the man of the day himself! Luckily it all went smoothly but it was probably the most nerve racking broadcast interview I’ve done to date.

My mother however, is still dining out on it now – it’s definitely one of her proudest moments! She keeps a show reel of all my TV appearances which she (embarrassingly) loves to show off to anyone she can get to watch.”

If I’m exhausted just hearing Hannah talk about her life, how does it feel to be in it? I wonder if she wishes for something a bit more routine.

“Occasionally I do wish I got the chance for a little more time with my husband as he has his own business and is equally as busy – alongside a bit more sleep. But, no matter how tired or frazzled I feel, I wouldn’t change my life for the world. I work hard, but I like to make the most of every minute I’m not at my desk too.”

If that sounds like your brand of success, Hannah has some sage advice for you:

“Work out what makes you happy, and then spend as much time as you can doing it. There’s no point wasting your time or energy on something just because it’s expected of you.

It won’t always be easy, and things won’t always go to plan; but if you’re working towards an end goal that’s important to you then it’s a lot easier to get back up, learn from your mistakes and crack on.

Practically; sit down and figure out the best and most enjoyable way of getting where you want to be, break it down into small steps so you have an action-able plan and get started.

I’m also a massive advocate of taking opportunities that come your way – even if they seem scary at the time. I read a book called ‘Yes Man’ by Danny Wallace at university – an unintentionally inspiring read that really changed my view and made me realise that life is there for the taking. Saying ‘yes’ more has led to new opportunities, new friends and new experiences.”

I’m not a late riser myself – I’m usually out of bed just after 6am – but as I put the finishing touches to this piece I realise that Hannah has probably been on the go for two hours longer than I have, so when I say I’m appreciative of her time, I mean it!

Whenever somebody asks me for financial advice I have this wise riposte: ask someone else. I’m grateful now to have a direction to point them in. You can keep up to date with all the latest financial developments at www.money.co.uk, where you’ll find advice on everything from credit card comparison to current accounts, switching your energy supplier to comparing car insurance, as well as a whole host of information on trading, spread betting, pensions and…well you get the picture.

You can follow Hannah on Twitter @moneycouk and for all their latest money saving tips head over to facebook.com/pages/moneycouk