Benham Publishing Businesss Magazines December 2013 | Page 50

LastWord

Steve Knight is the Chief Operating Officer for LV=’s Life
division. A business which is growing steadily having
positioned itself in the market as a strong player with a
commitment to great customer service in the Retirement
Income and Protection spaces.
LV= is a UK-based mutual which was founded in 1843 to give financial security
to more than just a privileged few. Today it follows a similar purpose, helping
people to protect and provide for the things they love, although on a much
larger scale and through a wide range of financial services.
Steve joined LV= in 2008 having worked in the Life insurance industry for 25
years. He is responsible for around 550 customer service professionals as well as
other teams including Change Delivery and Complaints.

“
Q

What was your first job and
what was the pay packet?

I was a software apprentice for GEC
Avionics, from memory I earned just
over £5K a year.

Q

I wouldn’t mind being a motoring
journalist; they seem to get some fun
assignments.
Q

Q

What do you always carry with
you to work?

My iPad. As I try to work in a paperfree style so this has become an
essential piece of kit.
Q

What is the biggest challenge
in your business?

How to be ‘easy to do business with’
and show we care for our customers’
individual needs within the confines of
complex financial services regulations.
Q

If you were the Prime Minister,
what one thing would you
change to help business?

If you could do another job,
what would it be?

As a business person, what are
your three main qualities?

My last peer review said I was focused
on objectives, driven to achieve
success and calm under pressure. I
think that will do!
Q

What was your biggest mistake
in business?

Getting too sucked into the detail of a
big and expensive project and
forgetting what we were trying to
achieve when we started. That ended
up costing quite a lot of money.
Q

What advice would you give to
aspiring entrepreneurs?

There must be a way to protect the
interests of consumers without making
regulations as complex and
overlapping as they are.

Don’t beat yourself up if things go
wrong, keep going and try again.
Nobody said it would be easy to
succeed.

Q

Q

I don’t really have an office as all
three sites I work on are open plan,
but from one of them I can see an
attractive car park out of the nearest
window.
50

INSPIRE

Who do you most admire in
business?

Leaving a lot of flaws aside, the sheer
focus and passion of Steve Jobs was
hard to beat.

“

What can you see from your
office window?