Romford based social enterprise IncomeMax has provided independent, personal financial advice to 80,000 families to date since its foundation in 2009. This mainly consists of helping customers reduce their bills, manage debt and access unclaimed benefits, grants and other financial help. It has found over £20 million worth of new income for families to date, £2 million of which can be attributed to the company’s 2019 winner of the WISE100 ‘Anchor-Woman’ award, Paula Healey.
Paula is renowned within IncomeMax for her cool head, ability to listen and reassuring voice, particularly having had six years’ experience receiving emergency 999 calls for the Metropolitan Police.
Indeed, during her stint with the Met, her own son Lee Healey, founder and managing director of IncomeMax, recognised her abilities to the extent that he was able to convince her to leave her role and join the company as head of operations almost nine years ago. Since then, Mum has developed quite the reputation as being an 'anchor' or even a rock for the IncomeMax team.
Paula’s role involves overseeing and managing IncomeMax’s 25 full-time advisers, and sometimes taking on case work of her own. Her importance has certainly shone through in recent weeks after the organisation had to commence homeworking from March 23 when the UK Covid-19 lockdown began.
Speaking to Pioneer Post’s Sasha Gallick, mother and son Paula and Lee lifted the lid on the importance of maintaining contact with employees and helping keep morale up. No holds are barred, with personal concerns and mental well-being on the agenda for discussion for any who may need a listening ear.
Paula said: “It's really important for me to keep in touch with them on a daily, even hourly basis.
“If anyone has got any problems, they come straight to me and we talk it through together. So, it is just keeping that morale up, really.”
Paula and Lee have also arranged for the team to gather together virtually on Fridays and take the opportunity to share any successful outcomes for customers they have assisted over the course of the week. Paula certainly sees the merit in everyone having something to look forward to at the end of the week.
“That keeps everyone... really focused on what we're doing and how important it is.”
IncomeMax’s work is vital at present. Government guidance and financial safeguarding measures are being updated by the day, from the Job Retention Scheme allowing businesses to furlough employees, right through to Universal Credit. With a flurry of information, sometimes it can be difficult for individuals to stay up to date, which is where IncomeMax enters the equation.
Roughly one in seven UK employees are believed to be working in a sector that has had to shut down. It is no real surprise, therefore, that the IncomeMax team has been burdened with a 25 per cent increase in new referrals and first-time enquiries over the first few weeks of the UK lockdown.
It is fair to say that such a caseload warrants a cool head, and for Paula, it is vital that the IncomeMax team remains focused and continues to carry out its work for those in need.
Paula told Gallick: “It is really, really important to be able to continue doing what we're doing.
“We’ve had a lot of calls from people who are really, really worried... even though the support is hopefully going to be put in place eventually, they are wondering where they are going to get money to feed their children.”
To ensure it can provide the best advice to its customers, the organisation watches the latest news updates from taxation experts with a keen eye, as well as working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions, HMRC and local councils.
To help broaden its outreach further, the IncomeMax team has launched its own ‘IncomeChat’ webinar series, where benefit experts are invited online to discuss finance issues and share their own advice.
Lee has dedicated much time and effort himself to understanding the technical detail surrounding benefits and financial help. Clearly relaying it to those who need that support, be it via the phone, the company website or social media, is the next challenge. Paula once again plays a vital role here.
Lee said: “Mum makes that easy for me, making sure that everybody reads what they need to read.”
And all of that effort does yield positive outcomes, particularly for those who are able to subsequently access help that they were previous unable to get or simply unaware of.
Paula told Gallick about one example of an older woman that the company helped, who was then able to claim £18 more per week in benefits.
Paula said: “It doesn’t seem like much, but it changed her life. She moved back to living near her family and started applying for jobs.”
Although the Paula and the IncomeMax team have been able to adapt well to remote working since the lockdown, the greatest challenge for a mother-of-two who is a self-confessed “family-orientated” person, is the inability to visit loved ones during this time.
She told Gallick: “The hardest thing is definitely not being able to give your children or grandchildren a cuddle – I’d say everyone probably feels like that!”
IncomeMax is very much a family operation with mother and son at the helm, and it was only fitting that both stepped onto the stage to receive Paula’s ‘Anchor-Woman’ award at the WISE100 awards ceremony in November 2019. At the time, Lee hailed his mother’s achievement as “incredible, inspiring and deserved”.
Lee himself is potentially the next in line for an award this year, having been nominated for the leadership prize for the 2020 SE100 Social Business Awards. Yet, he does not take his mother's role for granted in making all of that possible and helping keep the company running.
Once more paying tribute to Paula, Lee told Gallick: “Whether it’s virtual or in any office, she’s amazing”.
Should Lee successfully secure the award, it will be far from the pinnacle of this family duo's achievements. With the economic fallout of Covid-19 likely to last for some time, they and the IncomeMax team around them will have plenty more people to help.
