I’ve worked at White Oak UK for nearly 13 years and I really believe that it’s the people that make it a great place to work. Everyone is down to earth and that provides a great environment for me to achieve my goals while supporting the ambitions of the firm itself.
Ben McPheat
Tenure at White Oak UK: 13 years
What is your role at White Oak UK?
My role is Head of Credit Operations and one of my key responsibilities is to maximise efficiencies in the application process of a finance proposal while looking ahead to identify how we can innovate with automation and auto-decisioning. In order to do this, I have to work with various stakeholders within the business to drive forward positive change.
What does a typical day at White Oak UK look like?
Once I have had my morning coffee, I lead the morning daily catch up with the Credit team to review and prioritise tasks for the day ahead. I will then catch up on emails and engage with stakeholders to see what progress has been made with our ongoing projects. I will often have catch ups over Teams with our external partners depending on the project I am working on. Because I am consistently working with stakeholders, my diary tends to be filled with collaborative meetings whether it’s a stand up, a discovery session, or a decision committee.
What is your career highlight so far at White Oak UK?
When I joined the Credit team, I was a key stakeholder in supporting the transformation of our operating model from a Broker Support function to an Underwriting team. This meant we had to introduce our own policies and procedures to underwrite credit applications in addition to vetting applications that would be reviewed by another funder. More recently, I managed a team of 15 to support the External Funding channel. Becoming a people manager is both challenging and rewarding at the same time and I have learned a lot along the way.
How have White Oak UK supported your learning and development?
In 2016, White Oak UK provided me with an amazing opportunity to fund my studies for a Masters Degree in Business Finance Innovation at Falmouth University. Not only was I able to gain the knowledge and insights needed to step into my current role, I learned how to present to larger audiences and I was able to meet many people from within the industry which has been invaluable to me.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?
As a future leader of the business, I would like to think I would be leading the way for innovation for both White Oak UK and the industry in general. I think there is so much potential for making the customer journey as efficient as possible and I hope to play a big part in that.
What is your favourite way to spend your annual leave?
I love to travel the world and I have a bucket list of destinations still on the list that I need to tick off!
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