Purplebricks looks to avoid past mistakes by appointing director of risk and compliance from LSL

Helen Martin
Helen Martin

Purplebricks has this morning announced the appointment of Helen Martin who joins today as the group’s director of risk and compliance.

Martin joins from LSL Property Services plc where she was risk and governance director for LSL’s estate agency division. She will report directly to Steve Long, CFO.

Her appointing follows a rather turbulent period for the online estate agency, caused in part by regulatory failings.

EYE revealed in November last year that Purplebricks had failed to properly serve legally required documents to tenants explaining their deposits have been put into a national protection scheme.

Purplebricks, which also reported recently that trading conditions have been “challenging”, is currently being investigated by Propertymark for potential tenancy law breaches.

Martin will be responsible for oversight of risk management and compliance, as well as further strengthening the processes and procedures in place across the Group.

She began her career as a lawyer with Eversheds in 1998 before specialising in risk and compliance in 2006. She joined LSL in early 2015 in a senior compliance role and was responsible for the oversight and development of compliance policy across LSL’s mortgage and insurance offer. Since 2018, Martin has been risk and governance director of LSL’s estate agency division where she developed a team of risk professionals to support and embed regulatory compliance.

Martin said: “This is an exciting opportunity to join the best-known brand in the industry and to be part of an ambitious team who have made it clear to me that they recognise the importance of an effective risk management framework and compliance culture. I am looking forward to joining Helena and the team to continue the work already underway to put in place the highest standards of compliance.”

Helena Marston, CEO, commented: “This newly created role is an essential part of our plans to continue to raise standards and ensure the highest levels of risk management, particularly as we look to build additional revenue streams, beginning with the launch of our new mortgage offer by the end of the financial year. I’m thrilled that we have secured someone of Helen’s calibre and with such relevant experience, and I am excited to have her on the team.”

 

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5 Comments

  1. Not Surprised

    Regardless of what we all think of PB, they have recruited a real expert in Helen Martin. She will be a formidable asset to their organisation.

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  2. Diogenes

    Helen will be a good asset. Compliance is a key challenge for all businesses and there aren’t that many real specialists out there. Of course, however good Helen is, implementation and delivery may prove difficult judging by the complaints on their twitter feed.

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  3. Woodentop

    She’s got her work cut out and will be a culture shock for PB employees on how it should be done or will she succumb to their way of how close to the line they can go before they cross it?

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  4. DefinitelyNotMW

    It is day 1 of her tenure and she has failed to update PB on their 2 years out of date Landlord law.

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  5. DefinitelyNotMW

    It is day 2 of her tenure and she has failed to update PB on their 2 years out of date Landlord law.

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