So Stuart, tell us a bit about yourself:
I come from Shaw, a small mill town on the edge of the Pennines just down the road from Oldham. My career originally started at the Co-operative Wholesale Society as part of the team working on the Millenium Bug (that dates me!!). I subsequently moved to London just in time to join the dot.com bubble and have somehow stayed there ever since. I now live near Staines-upon-Thames with my wife and teenage daughters.
I don’t get back home as often as I’d like, but still manage to catch a handful of Oldham Athletic matches each season. Given that we are the first team to have been relegated all the way from the Premier League to non-league, it's not been much fun recently!
What is your role in Oxbury and when did you join?
I am the Chief Technology Officer and have been involved since the very beginnings of the bank. I am a veteran of the early Bunker meetings that took place in Holborn and in which we agreed the requirements for the products that launched the Bank.
Tell us about your background and how that has led to you working at Oxbury and the role that you are in?
I am a long-term technologist, having originally learnt to program on a BBC Model B way back in the 1980s. I spent most of my early career working as a technical consultant and solutions architect specialising in Java programming and data integration. I worked across a wide range of industries, including Aviation, Telecoms, Defence, Logistics, Financial Services, and (unsurprisingly) Agritech.
I subsequently took on more of a managerial role (although always trying to maintain a decent level of technical competence!) as Delivery Director within Proagrica, RELX’s Agricultural Data Services division.
It was from this role that I joined Oxbury and have relished the opportunity to use all of my architectural, organisational and team building experience to deliver an IT platform that we can be justifiably proud of!
As a member of our executive team, how would you describe Oxbury, and compare it to other banks in the market?
As a mission-led bank, I believe that Oxbury has a unique understanding of the needs of its customers and an absolute commitment to meeting them. It is increasingly common for financial institutions to withdraw behind digital-only interfaces, and I think that Oxbury’s superpower is the willingness to not only deliver an excellent digital experience but to also provide first class personal service through our amazing relationship managers and customer support team.
Since it has been 3 years since Oxbury obtained its banking licence, what is your proudest moment?
The attainment of our Banking license, the first £1m in deposits, and the buzz of paying out our first loan are all amazing things to look back on. However, cliched as this might sound, the whole IT team recently shared their key memories from building the bank and, listening to their recollections, I realised that I am most proud of the exceptional team that we have put together.
Where would you like Oxbury to be in another 3 years?
I want us to be known as THE bank for agriculture in the UK and beyond – the first choice for farmers and the wider agricultural supply chain based on amazing customer service and industry leading technology.
What is the most challenging part of your job as an executive member?
I have always been someone who enjoys being in the centre of implementation projects and I periodically have to remind myself to step back and maintain a more strategic focus. There are also a lot of meetings in my calendar!
How do your colleagues describe you in 3 words?
- Inspiring
- Honest
- Strategic
Do you have a funny moment you can share that has happened to you at work?
I won a Twerk-off at the recent £1bn celebration party. I think the victory said more about the quality of the opposition than any skill on my part (sorry James!)
Finally, tell us a fun fact about yourself or an interesting, yet unhelpful fact that you know?
I played Danny Zuko in the school production of Grease, despite being more or less tone deaf. The school had recently acquired a video camera and recorded the performance. I made it through approximately two minutes of the recording before realising that a career in showbusiness was not in my future! I’m just glad that this was all well before social media was even a twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg’s eye!!