Getting to know Robert Davey

“We want to build trusted relationships”

Did you always want to work in banking?

My first job after leaving university was with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which had only just launched in the UK. Because it was a US business, I had to opt out of the EU 48-hour work directive, meaning my standard week was 55 hours and I barely took a week’s holiday in my first year! The hard work paid off – I progressed quickly and when I became a manager, I was treated to an annual Disneyland trip and earned enough to put down a decent deposit on my first home. It was a work-hard, play-hard mentality that instilled a strong work ethic in me but after almost five years, I left to join the Royal Bank of Scotland, which had just launched a daily car rental offering.

How did you get into commercial banking?

It wasn’t long after joining RBS that Lombard [part of RBS] launched its own daily car rental business and I was there from the beginning. Our clients soon included Centrica and Cadbury, which had huge rental spends and business boomed. I was put onto the bank’s ‘gold’ talent programme, on which you had to take a professional qualification. Although banking exams seemed the obvious choice, an exco member suggested I take a Corporate Treasury qualification. I passed them while juggling the arrival of my first child, during which I moved to different locations. I went from Birmingham (in a product development role and strategy role) to London (managing an asset finance team) to Northampton in 2009, which is where I first got into commercial banking. I then left RBS and joined the Barclays corporate banking team, where I focused on larger businesses in professional services and business services, particularly legal practices, before moving to Metro Bank in 2016.

Tell us about Weatherbys business banking

It was launched in November and there are six of us in total at the moment. We are striving to make business banking personal. Our target market is SMEs with revenues of £2m+ or deposits of £1m+. We want to offer a distinctly different service from bigger banks. We will add value by proactively engaging with clients and adding value to business owners, rather than waiting for them to contact us with a problem. We will have three core products to begin with, current accounts, deposit accounts and foreign exchange. Certainly, Treasury offerings will be high on our agenda.

What are your ambitions for business banking?

The marketing team ran a brilliant launch campaign, and we have already received some really interesting enquiries ranging from the hospitality sector to professional services to the construction sector. We have a five-year plan to reach around 600 clients, but we are not going to the mass-market. We are not going to solve everyone’s problems, nor would we want to. We want to build trusted relationships and partnerships with clients by fostering human connections.

What is your role?

My role as Business Banker is to win clients, explore how I can add value and provide great service.
I have built up an extensive network from accountants to solicitors to trading business owners to lean on and I’ll be attending seminars for opportunities and challenges in specific sectors. Legal is one industry that I have worked with before, and there may be scope to look to other sectors, such as education – I was a chair of governors at Northampton College. There may be an opportunity, for instance, in the independent school sector, given the popularity of fee-paid-in-advance schemes following the VAT changes. No two days will be the same and there is scope to build a diversified client base and create bespoke products.

How are you finding life at Weatherbys?

It’s been great and it has a real family feel. I’m not too far from the head office, so I visit regularly, as well as to London. Everyone has been really welcoming and honest. It’s all very refreshing.