Meet Bobby Parmar: FirstClass’s hardworking consultant dedicated to clients – and the local community
Bobby Parmar’s had a strong work ethic ingrained in him for as long as he can remember.
Brought up ‘with a silver shovel in my mouth, rather than a silver spoon’, Bobby, an IT Consultant here at FirstClass, has been working since he was old enough to (in truth, probably a little bit before!).
“I come from a humble background, living in an end terrace house, and I learned very early on to appreciate and respect money, and the need to have that strong work ethic,” he says.
And it’s an approach to work he carries into every day. Bobby’s been with FirstClass for more than a decade, joining the team in 2011 after working in IT roles within the NHS and the Department for Work and Pensions.
“I joined the team because it was closer to home in Blackburn, so it made the commute easier, and I saw it would be a good place to progress my career. There was a lot of uncertainty with the political and economic climate at the time, so moving out of government seemed like the right move.”
And, on reflection, it certainly has been.
Creating a FirstClass experience
Joining a team that’s fluctuated in size a little but has always remained around 10, Bobby (who was known as ‘Robbie’ by one colleague for the first few months: “We still laugh about it, I just didn’t have the confidence to tell him it’s Bobby, not Robbie.”) has enjoyed playing an instrumental role in developing both the business and its bequest management system, FirstClass.
“Being a small team, as the metaphor goes, we all have different fingers in different pies,” he says.
“We all get involved in things and it makes work a lot more interesting – it has enabled me to gain a better level of understanding and knowledge in different sectors, and has really broadened my skill set.”
And working on a product you’re immensely proud of and truly believe in makes it significantly easier to sell and upsell to clients.
“One of my proudest achievements has been engaging with charities and getting them onto this product. We’ve now got in excess of 80 charities onto First Class, as well as attracting 30 new ones. Those charities vary in size right from the smaller organisations to the likes of RSPCA, WWF and Christian Aid, and it’s rewarding as we know just how big an impact the platform can have.”
The work ethic helps the community, too
That dedication to helping charities isn’t confined to work, however. Liverpool-supporting Bobby, who’s a regular at Anfield, has also been a regular volunteer on a Tuesday evening for nearly 10 years, serving food to homeless and vulnerable people in the community.
“It’s a community interest group called Community Spirit, and we started off operating from a car park, then an old fire station, and we’re now in a church, where we’ve been for six or seven years now,” he says. “We make takeaway meal along with proving any warm clothing as providing any non-perishable goods like pasta, rice and Pot Noodles, and help people out. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll ever be in a position where it’s not needed.”
It’s just fortunate, in that case, there are people like Bobby around to help.
