The National Relationship Director of Master Private Finance, Alison Houghton-Corfield, has over 25 years of experience in the financial industry. She spent most of her time at BOS, Halifax, and Lloyds, where she truly grew as a person and gained the transferrable skills and expertise that allowed her to go into specialised lending.
In her words, “it’s a terrific multi-faceted product which can sometimes go unacknowledged but can provide huge value to a business and its clients,” Alison is passionate about specialty financing and how it can help so many people achieve their goals.
Below are highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Alison Houghton-Corfield:
Describe who you are as a person, inside and outside of the workplace.
I’m a happy, fun, glass-very-full type of person. I thrive in times of adversity I’m loyal and passionate about fairness. I love learning new things and have a “can do” and “will do” attitude. I’m a lover of people and getting to know them. I’m an all-round decent human being.
Outside of the workplace, my loved ones are my priority. I enjoy our family gatherings and entertaining, being a mother, music, dancing, culture, comedy, shoes, football, being near water, and exploring the British countryside.
Describe your background and what did you do before you started/joined the company?
I recently found an old school report and my form teacher had summarised the report and written. “Very good, but Alison wants to be the leader all the time.” What’s wrong with knowing that you want to lead? And it appears nothing has changed. I’ve been in financial services for almost 25 years, predominantly with Blue Chip companies in a sales role, from face-to-face sales, telephone sales, B2B sales, and regulated sales, locally, regionally, and nationally. People often gravitated towards me to understand how I did what I did, day in and day out, and it was evident in everything that I did that it was about cultivating a respectful, safe environment for anyone who dealt with me and getting to know them better and what they wanted to achieve.
Tell us about the inception of the company. How did it all start?
Master Private Finance was started just over 3 years ago as a finance brokerage and packager for mortgage advisers who needed specialist lending solutions for clients and businesses. Specialist lending can be quite complex, and knowledge and experience don’t come quickly in this space. The shareholders own an independent mortgage network, JLM Mortgage Services, and it was a natural progression to start a brokerage, offering regulated and unregulated specialist finance solutions to its members.
What has made you successful? What do you value?
Authenticity has made me successful, along with challenging the status quo. I’ve always questioned things and have a really inquisitive, curious mind, much to my parents’ distress at times, as I was growing up. I’m not afraid to ask questions or to let people know that I don’t understand some things. This is how we grow and develop, and personal development is huge to me. I value honest, hard-working people, kind, helpful people; and team players.
As leaders, we are in such a privileged position. We are there to help develop others. People are human beings and need to be treated as such, not as an asset to be constantly sweated. I value relationships, equality, collaboration, integrity, honesty, authenticity, and a positive, inclusive work culture.
What are the most important aspects of a company’s culture? What principles do you believe in and how do you build this culture?
Culture has been a big part of our strategy since joining Master Private Finance, and as a blue chip, corporate trained, sales manager, I found the cohort and their needs changing around me, and I had to adapt quickly to understand and meet these changes. For me, the most important aspects of a company’s culture are: trusting your team, having a psychologically safe working environment for everyone, and promoting openness and honesty without fear of any recriminations. The hierarchy doesn’t need to be tangible for all to see and often fear, as everyone knows who wears the stripes. You need open and honest conversations to ensure a business evolves, even if it takes you by surprise or hits you in the gut, because as leaders, we don’t have the monopoly on being right all of the time. The principles I believe in are treating people like people, helping people to progress, bringing out the best and the most in them, helping them to achieve what they thought was unachievable.
What is the significance of innovative ideas in the company?
Innovation has to happen constantly or you run the risk of stagnating. And because the world is so fast-paced today, no business can run the risk of getting left behind. Taking your eye off the ball could leave you out of your depth very quickly, and it’s exciting to learn new things and ways of doing business.
Give us your opinion on; do organizations rely heavily on individual heroics or team processes?
As you will see from my previous answers, for me personally, teamwork is everything. However, within those teams, if you have a fantastic individual, you can dive into what makes them stand out and harness it, teach and replicate it, and promote it to the rest of the business as what good looks like.
What are your responsibilities as the National Relationship Director of the company?
It’s working with new businesses and ensuring existing businesses are cared for and still get the same level of exceptional service. I also really enjoy networking now and have made some great contacts and friends this way. We believe in long-term, sustainable relationships with all of our partners. We’re not in it just for the quick wins, although they are nice. It’s about nurturing trust and respect with all parties involved, safe in the knowledge that any client or partner will be very well looked after.
What is the happiest part of your daily routine?
There are a few things which make me really happy from my daily routine: When a client thanks you for helping them, especially if it was a tough case and they were somewhat distressed in the initial stages, when I hear the team laughing and having fun, when I have a great meeting with an introducer, finding solutions when others haven’t been able to, and speaking to my business partner, Aaron Noone, as we grow older, it’s said that we don’t laugh as often. Aaron and I laugh every single day at some point.
What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
Surround yourself with positive people and mentors. Build a strong network of people who reflect your culture and values. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Admit it when you don’t understand something and ask for some one-on-one time to help you understand. You are only as good as your team. Be a kind, understanding, honest human being. Leadership is a privilege, not a right.
