One Year On: Reflecting on Growth, Embracing Change, and Forging Ahead
Twelve months on, we catch up with our Group Risk and Operations Director, Darren Ross to reflect on his first year at eCapital since his 2023 appointment.
Question 1
Darren, you have just celebrated your one-year anniversary here at eCapital? How are you able to reflect on your first 12 months with the Company?
“It has been a busy and exciting 12 months, which has absolutely whizzed by, and I already feel like I have been a part of this wonderful team for many years. This was reflected in the warm welcome I that received upon arrival, which made it so easy to settle into the role and enabled me to quickly utilise my knowledge and experience in creating a supportive risk function. This will help support and keep the business safe, as we start to navigate what will no doubt be, a challenging 2024. There is a strong community within the workplace, and I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting and working with many people across the regional offices.
With my new role here as Group Risk & Operations Director, I have seen positive change in bringing our goals together. The business has a clear identity and strong values and culture which has been successful, and I recognise the importance of maintaining this as we continue moving on to the next stage of our growth and development plan. My focus has been on bringing together the strengths of the 5 regional offices to develop more standardised policies, processes, and procedures, that bring together “best practice” within the business. This will provide us with a strong risk and operational platform as we start to introduce new technology which will transform the way we do business in the future.
The Group Risk function is supporting the business through consistency of underwriting of both new and existing business. Within that it is also about ensuring that we work within a credit framework which is easily understood to best serve our stakeholders and deliver our solutions. This also includes setting up strong and robust risk management structures that identify risk proactively and managing client risks through effective reporting and review processes.
It is pleasing to look back at the last 12 months to see how this change is now embedded into our operations.”
Question 2
Your appointment as Group Risk & Operations Director was one of several key hires of 2023. In what way has this demonstrated eCapital’s pursuit of excellence in becoming the number one independent IF provider in the UK?
“When I first met with David Tilling, our CEO (Chief Executive Officer), I was firstly struck by his continued passion for the business, and how ambitious he is to take the company to the next level. He mentioned that there would be other senior appointments and you immediately understood the importance and significance of your role and coming on board to add value and to start making a difference. My colleagues have felt the same and we are all driven to achieve that goal as we begin to implement our strategic road map.
The business is constantly evolving but the consistent test for everything that we do is to continue to uphold our mantra that “we are easy to do business with” – and my responsibility is to ensure that we do this without compromising on our risk values and appetite and that this is clearly communicated.”
Question 3
2024 is set to be a challenging year for businesses with figures released last month from the Insolvency Service stating that corporate insolvencies in England and Wales rose to the highest level since 1993 last year (up 13.7% from previous year). What are your thoughts around this and the longer-term impact of a tough economic landscape and continuing headwinds?
“Having been in the industry for over 30 years, I have been at the coal face of several recessions and experienced what may well turn out to be a challenging 2024 and beyond.
Everything I am doing in terms of risk management is about focusing people’s minds on where potential risks lie, setting up proactive action plans which are designed to identify those issues and providing the necessary support and training to structure solutions.
In these uncertain times, it is vital we can keep on top of issues and threats and keep close to our clients and the book debt. This is not just an internal focus; it involves communication with all our partners to provide information and guidance on how they can keep their businesses safe. Through constant improvement of our systems and ability to educate and develop new strategies, I am hopeful of what our teams here at eCapital Commercial Finance UK can achieve together, to continue our success story. I am so proud and lucky to be a part of it.”
eCapital UK
eCapital Commercial Finance (eCapital) is a leading invoice financier providing funding facilities up to £4m to support the growth of SMEs through the provision of flexible working capital facilities. With five fully functional UK regional offices, its local teams are uniquely placed to respond promptly and purposefully to the cashflow needs of its clients. The business has grown significantly since its launch in 2001, providing over £4 billion of funding to businesses. It is majority owned by eCapital, a US based financial services business with interests in the USA and Canada.
