Team

Background

During my 22-year (1988 – 2010) IT career, I worked on a Mortgage system for half of this time, and so became very familiar with mortgages. Although BTL mortgages were only just becoming available, as it was a new emerging market in the late 1990s.

While we were both still working in IT, in 2002, my husband, Jon, and I began our property journey with a few ‘flips’.

In 2005, we bought a lovely 1835 terraced cottage with mullion windows on both sides. We call it the flip that didn’t flip! This was a complete renovation and addition of a bedroom and ensuite in the loft. Jon did most of the refurb, so it took him a few years!

Meanwhile, we experienced the banking crash (from both a work and property perspective) and so became accidental landlords.

Since then, we have continued to expand our Buy-to-Let property portfolio. We use Letting Agents as legal requirements have increased dramatically over the last few years.

In 2025, we launched Plumbob Projects Limited, focussing on small-scale property development by converting commercial buildings into high-quality residential homes.

I personally get great satisfaction from bringing an empty property back into use and knowing that I am helping people get onto the property ladder with good-quality homes.

Lifetime Learnings from IT Projects

For 22 years, I worked in the Finance Sector. Starting at Leeds Permanent Building Society. Do you remember the Arthur Daley Liquid Gold Ads? and ending up at Lloyds Banking Group, due to takeovers.

Whilst on Mortgages, I was the Team Leader of a small but perfectly formed IT support team.

At the other end of the scale, the last project I worked on involved migrating IT systems from one company’s system to another. A massive and high-risk project.

I was a small cog in a very large wheel. The project had many interwoven strands, where communication and quality were absolutely essential to its success.

My most significant learning throughout this time, is that it’s all about people. People working together on a common goal, having a clear understanding of the reality at that time, and being able to speak up if they have a concern, so that it can be addressed ASAP.

This understanding will be at the core of how we will work together at Plumbob Projects.