Saffery Trust Director Helen Green has marked an impressive milestone, celebrating 40 years with the award-winning private client firm, including 24 years at the Guernsey office.
Helen (pictured) has labelled the firm a “great place to work” and credited her commitment to the “collaborative and friendly” culture. From being the first female General Practice Partner in London in 1998, to heading up the firm’s 2023 rebrand for the international offices, Helen said the variety of her role over the decades provided her with continuous opportunities for growth.
“After finishing my A levels, I took a role as a bookkeeper for a company that manufactured manhole covers. My mentor in that role was fantastic and I loved the work; it was this experience that made me realise I would enjoy accountancy,” said Helen.
“I was drawn to accountancy initially because I wanted to earn money while attaining a professional qualification, and Saffery had an excellent reputation for career progression.”
Helen explained that being a woman in a male-dominated industry in the 1980s presented challenges.
“From my first day at Saffery I really loved what I was doing, it’s a great place to learn. Around 1985 – a year into my role – I was talking with one of the firm’s senior partners and he asked what I wanted from my career. I said that I wanted to be the firm’s first female partner. He indicated that would likely only happen if I was prepared to prioritise my career over starting a family,” said Helen.
“It wasn’t a shocking comment; it was just how things were at the time. I was a woman in a man’s world and had to work harder to prove myself. In 1998 I achieved my goal to become the first female General Practice Partner in the London office, receiving the promotion while I was seven months pregnant with my second daughter. Things have progressed hugely since then and Saffery Trust has a higher proportion of women than men in management roles and above. There is an ethos of putting the right people in the right place regardless of their demographic.”
In 2000, Helen responded to a call for a London-based partner to support the Guernsey office. Initially a temporary role, Helen commuted weekly from her London home for a year before moving to the island permanently with her husband and two children.
“Saffery Trust is a great place to work. The training opportunities are fantastic, there is an open, collaborative culture and the people are genuinely nice. As a member of the Board, I can say with certainty that there has never been a culture of ‘point-scoring’ between leaders with anyone out for themselves. We are all aligned in what we want to achieve and how we want to achieve it, which I think contributes highly to the firm’s long and successful history,” said Helen.
Outside of Helen’s significant contribution to Saffery Trust, she Chairs the Non-Executive Directors Forum and is a member of the Guernsey Investment & Funds Association Non-Executive Director committee.
Helen continued: “As I head towards retirement, I hope to encourage the next generation to make the most of opportunities. As I grew up I was determined to choose a career with progression opportunities and security, which I found at Saffery and Saffery Trust. I hope to teach the next generation to think about their future and be proactive in working towards their goals. Life is short; it’s so important to make the most of it.”
Saffery Trust Managing Director, Nick Batiste, said that Helen is an excellent role model within the firm.
“Helen truly encompasses our core values of integrity, collegiality, excellence and enthusiasm. These values underpin all that we do, and we have created a culture of longevity not only in the delivery of our services, but within our teams. We are incredibly fortunate that Helen chose to dedicate her entire career to the firm and that she remains deeply committed to our clients, our people and our community.
“Helen’s input continues to be invaluable, and she plays a major role in our delivery of client service excellence. I would like to congratulate Helen on her 40 years of exceptional service from which we have all benefitted, thank you Helen.”
