How have the last 18 months been?
We have grown enormously as a company. I was not a big proponent of working from home, I’d had thirty years of coming into London every day and loved seeing my colleagues, keeping an eye on everyone, and nurturing new talent. Eighteen months ago, we went remote, kind of kicking and screaming to do it. I think it was obvious that this was going to be the future, especially with the trends within the world of digital businesses, and in particular digital finance. I think COVID-19 expedited everything digital for us with fintech and embedded finance – we went from 120 people in April 2020 to now nearly 500 people.
What were the biggest changes in how the business was pre-pandemic to now?
I think we had 150 to 200 customers that we provided a better finance for, and that has now gone up to 300 or 400. We’ve expanded our reach so now we’re global and have launched in the US and in Southeast Asia. We have been able to service even more customers and can work with larger customers.
From where you first started, where has your career journey taken you?
In the late 80s, I was working in a stockbrokers as an assistant. After a few months, I went to my boss and asked “how long do you think it’s going to be until I can be a trader?”. He responded, “never here, you’re a woman, this isn’t the right place for you. But I have a friend who is just starting new derivatives swaps trading desk, at Canadian bank, and he’s looking for a trading assistant”. Within a year or two, I was a trader and stayed for about five years.
I then got headhunted to go to Barclays, and traded in Austrian Shillings and Belgium Francs and Deutschmarks, before taking over the Euro swap trading books. There were a couple of female traders at Barclays – they were more ahead of the times than others. I grew my career there, became a director, before leaving to have three children. After, I joined some hedge funds and entrepreneurial businesses.
It has been a fantastic journey, but I’m in a great place now to use all the experience I’ve built up over the past 30 years – not just the experience of finance and capital markets, but also growing teams, nurturing people, and bringing my way of doing business to the forefront.
How did the transition from Head of Sales to COO come about?
I’m a people person, but also a financial person as well – having done every role at Railsbank when the company was in its infancy. It was a good stepping stone for me to then take on the COO role. I know how the product works and know how to sell it.
I think what’s important at a scaling company is knowing I can’t do every single job. I know how to employ good people and that’s something I think you’ve either got innately, or it comes with experience. I’ve hired a lot of people over the years, and I have to say, I’ve got a really good team now. There’s been a couple of people who have walked into the room and I felt the weight drop off my shoulders as soon as I’ve met them. It’s about having a mixture of people with a wealth of experience behind them.
What’s been the biggest challenge going from a Head of Sales role into a COO role?
They are different, but selling is at the forefront of both positions as it’s about that door opening part. First, you’ve got to find the right Head of Sales, so you’re happy to take a step back. You have to make some hard decisions, especially when deciding if you have the right person internally, or whether you need to go externally. I was very lucky because Railsbank was a place people wanted to work, and everyone was clambering to get their first position here. Once you find the right person, you have to take a step back and let them get on with it – that was probably the hardest thing for me so far.
How many people within Railsbank were remote before the pandemic and where do you sit currently?
About 5% were remote before the pandemic. The plan going forward is to have a hybrid way of working, and we’ve actually opened a new HQ in London last week. We’ve got a fabulous new office where there’s a booking system, and people can book in for two or three days a week. The idea being that they’re not coming in to jump on a Zoom call, but they’re coming in to work with their colleagues to collaborate and learn.
Do you feel like the culture suffered or needed more attention in the last 18 months?
I’m not sure it’s necessarily suffered. However, I think it’s been hard to implement the culture and share it with our new starters – we’ve got an awful lot of them, so I think that’s maybe taking a little bit longer than planned. We have a monthly meeting, where we let everyone ask any questions at the end of that meeting. They can do it anonymously or outright – I think everyone appreciates that.
What’s Railsbank’s approach to lack of diversity within technology and finance, especially at leadership level?
You have to bring in strong leaders so they can source the right team organically. At Railsbank we’ve got a diverse team, which isn’t just about the male-female balance. It’s tricky finding women in finance and technology, but we have to try harder. Our sales and finance teams are both 50:50 but we’re not there within the development teams. We have to keep promoting. I’m a big proponent of starting the STEM subjects earlier – you’ve got to start really early, make it the normal and make it interesting.
What are the 3 most important things companies need to focus on to get “investment ready?”
You have to always look forward and prepare yourself. It’s easier when you got a good proposition – five years ago we had people who believed in our global company vision. Our results have made it easier to raise funds over the last couple of years, as we’ve built products that people wanted to buy and an ethos that people understood.
What are the biggest hurdles ahead for early-stage tech startups looking to scale and raise funding?
Getting the right team and getting the vision right. There’s no point building amazing technology if there’s no one to buy it or no reason for it. Are you making things better for someone? Are you solving a problem?
What are you most optimistic about?
I’m really optimistic about Railsbank becoming the de-facto provider of the technology, the regulation and the embedded finance experience. I’m pretty optimistic about London, and the UK, as being the centre of finance.
I think there’s enormous opportunities and new job opportunities that we don’t even know about. If you don’t find the right role straight away you can pivot in your career – if you don’t try something you will never know.
