Welcome to the latest instalment in our “A Day in the Life Series” where we interview colleagues from every part of the CEIS group and ask them to reflect on their career, their role and their experiences of working within the group.

Recently, we had a chat with Rekha Welsh, a Loan Officer from DSL Business Finance, based remotely in the North and Northeast of Scotland.

Rekha has been with DSL Business Finance for five and a half years and comes from a banking background, having worked at the Royal Bank of Scotland for 16 years prior to joining DSL Business Finance. She has worked with a variety of personal and business clients throughout her career and is currently responsible for supporting clients throughout the loan application process, awarding loans and providing after care to businesses in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, Fife and Dundee.

What do you enjoy most about working at DSL Business Finance?

The honest answer is that it’s the people for me, and the values of DSL as an organisation. Honestly, you couldn’t ask for a better team and with our director, Stuart, you couldn’t ask for a better boss.

Ultimately though, I’m here because of my clients and all my clients are brilliant. No two clients are the same. They’ve all got different challenges. So for me it’s my colleagues and my clients that make my job enjoyable.

What does a typical day look like?

I don’t really have a typical day because all my clients are so varied. Typically, I’ll meet with clients and appraise loan applications, but I’m always available for clients to phone me and my priority is always passing news to my clients when their loan decision comes through.

I’ll also do proposal writing for clients. This is when we’re given a business plan, cash flow projection and loan application from a client and we help get it into a shape where it can be submitted to an underwriter.

If I get loan papers through, and all the conditions have been met for a loan and the client has been approved, then I’ll take care of everything that’s involved with that so that the client has the money in their account asap.

So it changes. It can be anything from appointments with clients, internal meetings or ensuring clients’ needs are met.

I cover quite a big patch, including Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Dundee, Fife and Perthshire, so that means I often receive calls and referrals from Business Gateway Advisers in these regions.

I’m quite a people person and I much prefer talking on the phone than sending an email. I enjoy getting a feel for my clients and what they do.

How did the role change due to the pandemic?

Well, I’ve been working remotely since I started with the company. So I’ve always worked from home and we already had the systems in place to move those that were based in the office over to remote working. Therefore, that wasn’t a huge change for us like it was for many other businesses.

What has changed for me is how I interact with clients.

Prior to Covid-19 I would see clients face to face. Now it’s done either via Zoom, Microsoft Teams or on the phone. We also used to go to networking events and present, but that stopped happening too.

We still get a lot of client referrals from organisations like Business Gateway, and I’d often meet with them in person too.

So, I guess the way we engage with people has changed because we weren’t seeing people face to face. Excitingly, I recently met up with a Business Gateway Adviser who has moved to a hybrid model and has started to go back into their office. So two weeks ago I was able to go into an office again and that was brilliant.

For me, seeing people in person is a big thing. There’s a kind of intuitiveness when you’re with the client, like a gut feeling about that person. I still feel we can do our job via Zoom or phone call  but there’s nothing better than seeing a customer face to face and getting to know about their business or going to see their premises to learn more about what they do.

So what excites you the most about your job?

I’ll be very honest here and say that the thing that excites me the most is when I put a smile on my client’s faces. I think it’s the best thing when an underwriter comes back and says that their application has been approved and I can tell the client the good news.

When that happens I often think “You know what? I’ve helped that client achieve their ambitions”. Helping clients to do that, whether that be owning their own business or securing them funds that will allow them to grow their existing business – whatever the money is being used for, when I see that it makes them happy, that makes me happy. That means I’ve done my job. So, I would say helping clients achieve their dreams or ambitions is what excites me the most.

Unlike the mainstream banks, we’re seen as a lender with social values. If you go to a bank, they’re driven by a computer, meaning that they only look at the credit report and the decision is automated. We don’t work like that. We look at the whole picture and I think that considering a client’s entire circumstances, not just what their credit report says, is what makes what we do worthwhile.

What advice would you give to people who are looking to pursue a similar career?

I’d say that above all, you need to be a people person. You need to be able to connect with people and to work with people.

But you should have a good knowledge of financials and finance in general. I’ve come from a banking background – my degree is in accountancy, and I spent 16 years at the Royal Bank of Scotland working with personal and commercial clients – so I have that financial acumen. Having business acumen is also important, because when we get customers’ business plans and financials, you’ve got to be able to understand what it says. And if clients aren’t sure about what they want the business plan or financials to say, you’ve also got to help them get it to a place where it makes sense so that the underwriters understand it.

The human connection with people is important. Remember, somebody is sharing with you what their dream is. So you’ve got to be supportive of that, relate to them and be approachable.

Having knowledge of the area of the country you’re covering is also vital. You’ve got to have local knowledge too so you can put into context the things these people are trying to achieve with their businesses.

We’d like to thank Rekha for answering our questions and giving us a look at what a Loan Officer does. DSL Business Finance has issued over £33.44m worth of loans since their inception in 1993, creating and maintaining over 7400 jobs and backing almost 1800 entrepreneurs by giving them the finance and tools they need to sustain and grow their business.

If you would like to learn more about DSL Business Finance and their work, please visit their website.