Corporate Vision Issue 8

CORPORATE VISION / Issue 8 2018 21 and HowApp does just that, cutting transaction times by up to 90 per cent. Working within your industry, what techniques do you employ to stay ahead of emerging developments? In a competitive market, it’s vital that we remain abreast of developments and business trends, to ensure we offer our clients the best funding options available. Horizon scanning is one of the methods we use to evaluate how the market could look in the future; coupled with analysing data trends from our customers, networking within the industry and listening to customer feedback. It is important to us to provide the highest quality service, and this requires a strong understanding of the types of finance options that are most likely to work for each business we deal with. What is the internal culture in your firm? How do you ensure that all of your staff are equipped to provide the best possible service to your clients? HHF has a 115-strong team of talented people with a can-do attitude and a drive to deliver the best service to clients. Investing in our staff by providing the latest training and ensuring that knowledge is consistently shared across the business, as it is fundamental to creating a positive internal culture where each of our team members can strive, develop and grow. Both of our founders, are still very much involved in the business and, along with our executive board, operate an open door policy for team members. With this in mind, what is your approach to hiring staff? How do you attract the very best talent in the industry to your company? Employing driven and confident people who want to succeed is key to the success of any business. Our company ethos is built around teamwork and we have a robust recruitment process to ensure our staff understand this way of working, as well as having the qualities needed to aid the business, such as having the right attitude and Henry Howard Finance. Exceptional growth. Exceptional people. g mind-set to achieve our shared goals. With regards to your industry, what developments do you foresee and how will you adapt around these? In an ever-changing industry there is a need to remain agile and respond swiftly to changes in the market. Research suggests that more and more SMEs will be turning to alternative finance providers such as HHF to secure funding and this, in itself, provides additional challenges in continuing to provide the kind of tailored service that has served the business well in the past. We need to ensure that we continue to listen to our customers and anticipate their requirements for finance in a changing economic and political landscape. Technology will continue to be an important factor and we are committed to keeping pace with the latest advancements and embracing them in order to support our customers. What does the future hold for your firm? Do you have any future plans or projects you would like to share with us? We achieved record growth in 2017, which firmly cemented our position as one of the UK’s leading funders. At the beginning of this year, we made a number of changes to our executive board, including the appointment of a new CEO to help us continue on our ambitious growth trajectory. Also, we fully intend to build upon our success to date by remaining a funder of choice for SMEs. Is there anything you would like to add? Our investment in good people and market-leading technology has helped HHF to achieve record-breaking results and we are delighted to have been named Outstanding Finance Provider of the Year. However, we remain on a journey and will do everything we can to continue to provide an exceptional service to SMEs across the UK to support them on theirs. Telephone: 01633 415222 Website: www.henryhowardfinance.co.uk