MARTIN COLLINS
Chester,Cheshire
Summary
Accomplished professional with expertise in client relationship management and account growth, adept at implementing client retention strategies and handling complex accounts. Proficient in contract negotiation and CRM systems, including Proclaim, MI System, MID, and Sage Accounting. Demonstrates exceptional attention to detail and excels in customer success management, ensuring quality and compliance. Skilled in logistics and planning, onboarding and upselling, with a strong focus on time and workflow management. Committed to leveraging risk awareness and analysis to drive business success.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
Work history
Specialist Advisor & Account Manager
Proximo Holdings Limited
Chester, Cheshire
2024.03 - 2026.04
- Manage client accounts generated through insurance partners referrals, particularly Howden, NFP, Aviva and Somerset Bridge. ensuring timely follow-up, accurate documentation and maintaining strong partner relationships while ensuring seamless client experience from start to finish.
- Cultivate and sustain strategic relationships with internal teams, external partners, and suppliers to enhance collaboration and achieve business objectives.
- Handle multiple accounts from initial referral to completion, improving customer retention by 40%.
- Negotiate costings and rates between suppliers, referrer and third parties to mitigate financial loss, resulting in 30% increase in business revenue.
- Onboard new company suppliers and collect business information, setting them up for operational use.
- Oversee logistics planning with regional UK branches, ensuring efficient vehicle dispatch, monitoring, and collection to strict deadlines.
- Communicate in detail parameters of client's insurance policy.
- Collect and analyse information from company management system (MI) and update senior management, shareholders, and partners.
- Maintain up-to-date records and accurate records in CRM systems.
- Ensure daily SLA and KPI objectives, supporting continuous service improvement through workload audits.
- Identify opportunities for upselling insurance products and company policies when required.
- Stay current on industry regulations, guidelines, and best practice.
- Handle sensitive client information in accordance with GDPR.
- Mentored employees to maximise development potential.
Key Account Handler
Absolute Money NW
Chester, Cheshire
2019.07 - 2023.12
- Build, nurture, and maintain strong client relationships, serving as primary point of contact for client enquiries, understanding their financial needs and providing swift tailored advice and solutions.
- Managed multiple client accounts from onboarding to completion, achieving 90% client satisfaction and contributing to 25% increase in client retention.
- Liaise with external financial institutions, such as FCA, Financial Ombudsman and HMRC to facilitate investigations, resolve cases and support compliance with financial regulations.
- Maintained CRM systems, ensuring accurate data and documentation for user access and workflow automation across sales and marketing teams.
- Tracked and quantified in-bound payments and maintaining detailed financial records in Excel to ensure 100% accuracy in revenue reports.
- Manage high volumes of sensitive client financial data, ensuring full GDPR and internal compliance standards are met.
Quality Product Technologist
Arnold Wills
Uppingham, Rutland
2014.05 - 2018.01
- Progressed from Assistant Technologist to Technologist within 18 months, assuming full responsibility for quality and technical management across key client accounts including ASOS, Next, and Marks and Spencer.
- Collaborate with account managers, designers, and merchandisers to define technical specifications to ensure design fits the brief.
- Conduct product testing and validation to ensure compliance with internal and external quality standards using UK based testing centres, such as SGS, Intertek and Bureau Veritas.
- Analyse test data, identify root course of defects, and recommend corrective actions.
- Liaise daily with overseas manufacturing factories in the Far East to ensure production runs smoothly and oversea quality control.
- Maintain detailed documentation for testing protocols, design reversions, and compliance certificates
- Manage sample processes from development, pre-production and production, making amendments as per instruction from retail accounts.
- Ensure due diligence on products, Ethical, regulatory and sustainability (e.g. ISO, REACH, Proposition 65, and Forestry Council).
- Support product lifecycle through continuous improvement plans.
- Conduct in-house mechanical, functional and chemical tests on production materials to ensure suitability for production.
Quality Assurance Technician
Mulberry Limited
Chilcompton, Somerset
2010.06 - 2014.05
- Oversaw quality control on manufacturing production lines using inspection, audit, and root cause analysis to maintain Mulberry's exceptional standards.
- Police production lines of up to 20 operatives, examining quality at every stage of manufacturing, decreasing returns and reworks by 50% while improving operational efficiency with lean manufacturing and waste management techniques. .
- Performed Machine set up and calibration to meet production specification readiness requirements.
- Analyse quality data and customer feedback to identify trends, deviations, and root causes, reporting finds to quality manager and technologist to support corrective actions.
- Monitored and executed continuous improvement action plans to increase sales performance and reduce return rates.
- Identify and resolve manufacturing issues under tight timelines, adapting quickly to unexpected challenges to maintain production efficiency and quality.
- Rework damaged items by repairing defects, replacing faulty components, and refinishing them as needed.
- Reduced product returns and reworks by 40% through process and quality improvements, directly contributing to increased customer satisfaction and higher sales.
Education
GCSE - Media Studies, English Literature, English Language & Oral, Science Double Award, Geography, Design and Technology, Math's
St Davids High School
ChesterA-Levels - Chemistry, Biology and Physics.
West Cheshire College
ChesterSkills
- Client Relationship Management
- Account Growth and Expansion
- Client Retention Strategies
- Account Handling
- Contract Negotiation
- CRM Systems (Proclaim, MI System, MID, Sage Accounting)
- Attention to Detail
- Customer Success Management
- Quality and Compliance
- Logistics and Planning
- Onboarding and Upselling
- Time and Workflow management
- Cross - Department Collaborations
Affiliations
- Sport (Rugby & Football)
- Gym and Fitness
- Hiking and Running
- Travel
- Food & Drink
- Reading & Learning New Skills
- Music
- Spending Time With Family & Friends
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Specialist Advisor & Account Manager
Proximo Holdings Limited
2024.03 - 2026.04
Key Account Handler
Absolute Money NW
2019.07 - 2023.12
Quality Product Technologist
Arnold Wills
2014.05 - 2018.01
Quality Assurance Technician
Mulberry Limited
2010.06 - 2014.05
GCSE - Media Studies, English Literature, English Language & Oral, Science Double Award, Geography, Design and Technology, Math's
St Davids High School
A-Levels - Chemistry, Biology and Physics.
West Cheshire College