Gary Brown is Head of Risk at WeDo Finance and joined the company back when we had only one client! Two years later, Gary is still overseeing the Risk process and making sure that everything WeDo is watertight!

How did you find out about WeDo and what made you join?

I’ve known Mark (Lindsay) for a long time and I saw what he was doing with WeDo. I liked the idea; they were doing things differently and not with tick-box exercises and algorithms like a lot of providers. When the opportunity came up to work with Mark, I knew it was the right thing to do.

What’s your background?

I’ve been in Invoice Finance, particularly risk management, for over 30 years and I was at RBS for the last 16 years. Through this, I’ve met and worked with businesses of all different sizes.

What’s a typical day in your role?

Well, my role is to protect both WeDo and our clients from the risks associated with lending. Every day is different, and that’s why I enjoy it so much. Some days, I find myself working as an Underwriter – meticulously checking agreements and contracts. Other days, I can be working on pre-vetting with Business Development Managers to make sure we can offer and support how we say we will.

I also work with our Relationship Management team to review client agreements and ensure that we are still offering the right solutions to them in order to help them grow. Add that to managing the team, taking responsibility for the Credit Policy and mentoring – you can see why it’s varied and busy!

What future do you see for you at WeDo?

As I mentioned, I love mentoring our staff. I’ve been in the industry for a long time and I know how things work. It’s my favourite part of my role and something I’m keen to build on during the rest of my time here – I love working with young people.

What do you do outside of work?

During the last year, my wife and I got a puppy – a sprocker spaniel – and he certainly keeps our hands full. He’s brilliant, though, and I love spending time with him.

I’m very family-oriented and my in-laws recently moved from Yorkshire to be nearer to us in Manchester, so we see them regularly. I’m also a grandad!

How would you describe WeDo?

We offer responsible finance in an innovative, secure way. We’re close to our client base and their customers, so we can do things differently from your typical lender. We don’t rely on a computer to make all of our decisions – we have humans for that!