Recently, an expansion occurred bringing Velocity to sunny Tauranga. Founding Partner Graham Goodisson started Velocity Financial nearly 20 years ago in Wellington.

Velocity brought a people-focused and holistic service offering to the Bay alongside the contingency plan that kept business stable throughout 2020.

The Kaikoura earthquake of 2016 ignited the business to create a response plan for unforeseen circumstances. This plan came after the Wellington real estate market effectively shut down, thereby, heavily impacting mortgage brokers.

From this tragedy, Velocity adopted a strategy which encouraged all staff to be able to work remotely.

This strategy influenced systems to be paper-less by focusing on cloud-based systems. Alongside this, the offerings had strategically expanded, focusing to develop a full financial service rather than primarily on mortgage broker services.

“Mortgage revenue stopped over Covid-19, just like it had with Kaikoura,” says Rebecca Roe. “Having shifted the model in 2016 really did prove those previous decisions to be valuable.”

The model influenced how Velocity conducts its services too. The lending was structured in a way that borrowers questioned the ‘what if’s’. The standard practise encouraged business owners to diversify their banking, which seemed to prove successful against Covid-19, proving to be invaluable to many.

The strategy was not only successful but also allowed the organisation to employ three new staff, to begin their career with Velocity, from the comfort of their homes.

This was the first time they had trained new staff over Zoom which came along with its own unique challenges. Nonetheless, it was again another success, resulting in a post-lockdown implication of less travel time due to the ever-reducing need for face-to-face business interaction.

Well-prepared for another potential disruption, Velocity tightens their strategies and contingency plans, reminiscing on the lighter side of the pandemic; “The Covid-19 pandemic caused a race to the beer fridge,” says Rebecca Roe. “Our staff knew we had a plan for remote working, so they were focusing their efforts on nabbing the coffee machine or some beer!”