Sandra McKinnon Business Development Manager, EQ Introduction and what your role is at EQ
Hi, I’m Sandra, and I’m a Business Development Manager within our UK Registration Services team. In my role, I lead strategic engagements with prospective clients, guiding them from initial conversations through to contract negotiation and successful onboarding. I work with organisations listing on the LSE Main Market, AIM and Aquis Stock Exchanges, as well as private companies seeking specialist share registrar solutions. I also support existing listed companies looking to transition to a new registrar to enhance their shareholder experience — something we are seeing more frequently as EQ’s technology, innovation and customer focus continue to set the standard in the market.
I also represent Equiniti at industry events and networking forums, which is a part of the role I particularly enjoy.
What office are you located at?
I split my time between our offices at Highdown House and Moorgate. I really enjoy the mix of being close to the operations and relationship management team in Worthing for part of my week, and also being in the City to meet advisors and attend industry events.
What’s happened in your career up to this point?
Whilst I have a background in professional services and financial services, I’m new to the investment services industry so it’s been a steep learning curve since joining! I’ve attended several industry events and met lots of new contacts both internally and externally. I’ve been lucky enough to get involved early in some key projects and hear firsthand how we project manage each client requirement.
What do you like about EQ?
What I have been most impressed with is EQ’s commitment to client service. We talk about being ‘client obsessed’ here and this really resonates with my personal values. Being curious; having a problem solving mindset and building meaningful relationships to help businesses succeed is what I enjoy, and I’ve seen this approach being employed across EQ – from our product team to the customer experience centre, corporate actions, marketing and beyond…
What's your biggest EQ achievement?
On my second day at EQ I attended the IPO Forum at the London Stock Exchange. Quite a baptism! Not only did I have the opportunity to hear our UK CEO speak on an expert panel, but I also had the chance to hear from key figures in government and industry taskforces on changes to the regulatory framework. It was a brilliant introduction to the sector which I felt grateful to have had so early on in my tenure.
What are you looking forward to in the future at EQ?
I get real buzz from helping clients to simplify complex processes. I’m really looking forward to working on my first IPO client from end to end, shaping their shareholder experience as they go through this major corporate milestone - and maybe even seeing them ring that bell!
Do you have a fun fact to share?
I am a self-confessed petrol head and in addition to being certified by the Advanced School of Motoring, I also love attending motorsport events. I’m lucky to have attended World Endurance Series, MotoGP, BTCC, World Rally Champs and (to date) 25 Formula One races. If I can mix a holiday in an interesting city with a motorsport event all the better! My favourite to date has been Phillip Island near Melbourne where you can see world class driving by day and penguins marching up the beach by night!
A big thank you to Sandra for sharing her thoughts with us.