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Nicole was born and raised in Ayr where her family ran a small truck mechanics business. This is where her desire for a career in business began. Working in Insurance out of high school, a short holiday to Cairns became a permanent move to work as a bookkeeper and payroll administrator for a hospitality and trades labour hire business. After having two children and supporting her partner start a plumbing business, it was finally time to get the accounting degree she had put on hold.
While studying at Central Queensland University and receiving a Bachelor of Accounting (Distinction) Nicole also worked as a bookkeeper for a local building business, having developed an interest for the trades and construction industry.
Nicole has recently worked for a mid-tier accounting firm and developed a wealth of technical knowledge, however the passion for small business, local industry and community has brought Nicole to the Astute team. Nicole is passionate about working closely with clients to support their goals.
Enjoying exploring the many exciting food venues in Cairns with friends, Nicole is also an avid Supercars fan, enjoys a local Cairns Taipans game and of course, running her children around to soccer games, martial arts, and dance lessons.
After having issues with another broker and losing a settlement, we were recommended by solicitor. After speaking with Billie she was honest and open about my options. The entire process was dealt with promptly and efficiently with minimal to no stress.
I found the whole experience easy & everyone there were so lovely n friendly & also available any time to answer any questions we had.
Simon is fantastic! He explains and explains again if you don’t understand. He has helped us on a couple of occasions now and seriously, I wouldn’t go anywhere else or to anyone else.
First, Tania: Quite simply, a complete, caring professional. I am not sure where on the spectrum the amount of work she did to get us into our current home falls in her professional career (mind-blowingly easy, somewhat challenging, borderline impossible…), but to us it literally meant the world. The reason we came back to her (and Astute) is because of the level of care and attention she gave us–we don’t feel like a number, an account, a bottom line, or a percentage point. I would recommend her (and go back to her for advice) again and again and again; when we found ourselves in the position to invest and/or buy again, our first thought was we needed to talk to Tania before doing literally anything else.
Building on that, Astute: Again, I would (and do) recommend them to anyone when talk of buying a home or investing comes up. Long story short, I work for a guy named Scotty Garden, and there is very little under the Earth’s sun I would not do for him; ergo I take his advice on anything as gospel. When I causally mentioned a few years back that Michelle and I were thinking of buying a house, he enthusiastically recommended we talk to John Watts at Cairns Home Loans and we did, and John gave us solid, practical advice: Save a bit more and come back to us. And we did, because he looked after us as people (again not an account). He could have talked us into buying something we couldn’t afford, or buying something we didn’t really want, or (as one local branch of an unnamed John Symond-run group told us) we were grumpily told it was “unrealistic” to think of buying a home in our position. Working in tourism/hospitality, I appreciate the personal attention, as well as helping a local business continue doing what it does well.
Sorry to gush, but Michelle and I really do hold you and your whole team in the highest regard. Thank you again, and I will [not] try to stay out of trouble.
I was very impressed with the quality of service and support. Jasmin really went beyond to ensure my equipment loan went as smooth and quickly as possible which took a great deal of stress out of setting up my new business. I would highly recommend Astute’s EF team Donnie, Morene and Jasmin for any car or equipment loans.
Gus was incredibly helpful and went above and beyond his job requirements. My partner and I were blown away with the high level of customer service and extra assistance he gave us throughout the process making the purchase of our first home a lot less stressful. Gus was prompt, professional yet down to earth and always contactable. Dan and I have already recommended his services to friends and can’t speak highly enough of Gus.
Astute are very professional & helpful. Would recommend these guys to anyone looking at refinancing or purchasing. Started with this team when they were in their little office, my how they have grown. Special thanks to Verena for all her help but all the staff are wonderful and great with the little ones as well 🙂 Thanks heaps.
We greatly appreciate your efficiency and persistence in helping us purchase our property.
It was a long awaited dream for us to give our kids and ourselves the space and serenity we’ve found. Thank you so much for playing an integral part of that dream coming to fruition.
