Day In The Life Of… Michael Allison, operations director at Roma Finance

My alarm goes off at…

…5.30am. I live an hour and 20 minutes’ drive from the office and I usually go in three days a week as we have a flexible-working hybrid model.

From the moment my alarm goes off, everything is regimented. Straight into the shower, clothes laid out the night before, lunch made and I’m in the car by 6.10am.

I really like the driving time and often indulge in a bit of ‘car-aoke’ while listening to Smooth FM.

I’ve drawn up a technology roadmap for the next two years

I also think about any meetings I have that day and what I need to do. By the time I reach the office I feel ready for the day, although the first thing I do at work is have some breakfast and a coffee. Then I’m good to go.

The past two years have taught me…

…that family time and quality of life are what really matter.

We made a decision during the pandemic to change our lives and we moved from Greater Manchester to Lytham St Anne’s on the coast. We have a six-year-old and now we live an eight-minute walk from the beach, which is fantastic.

We launched RomaFLOW internally first and every colleague was aware of what we were trying to achieve before we went to market

My partner and I both changed job and left the employer we’d been with for 14 years for new challenges.

The world paused for a moment during the pandemic. We looked at our reasons for working and decided to have that step change in our lives.

Roma offered the opportunity to achieve the business challenges I was looking for.

It’s important to look outside your industry sometimes to find the best approaches

I know some people talk about loving Monday mornings. I love Friday afternoons — because I get to go home and enjoy the quality family life that we changed our lives for.

The main purpose of my job is…

…ultimately, we lend money, and my role is to improve how we do it through engagement with colleagues, brokers, partners and customers.

I work across all our key strategies, including people, growth, environmental and social, and tech. So it’s a broad remit but my number-one focus is attracting and retaining the best talent.

The world paused for a moment during the pandemic. We looked at our reasons for working and decided to have that step change

We know where we want to be financially; my role is to facilitate how we’re going to get there.

A common misconception about my role is…

…that it’s all based around process and technology. In fact, colleague and customer engagement are my main focus.

My typical day entails…

…lots of meetings. Then I try to fit in all the actions from the meetings!

In between I’m working on our strategies. For example, I’ve developed a technology roadmap for the next two years and we’re now working with the right partners to make that happen.

My number-one focus is attracting and retaining the best talent

I’m also working on our environmental strategy and looking at what businesses are doing outside the specialist finance market to inform my research.

It’s important to look outside your industry sometimes to find the best approaches.

My favourite recent work memory is…

…the first big change I led, last year’s launch of RomaFLOW, which supercharged our processing and underwriting to give brokers quicker decisions.

I usually go in three days a week as we have a flexible-working hybrid model

It wasn’t just about what we did but the way we did it. We launched it internally first and every colleague was aware of what we were trying to achieve before we went to market.

It had a really successful outcome but what I’m most proud of is that everyone in Roma owned it and bought into it.

A perk of the job is…

…we’re a Sale Sharks sponsor so it’s a brilliant perk to be able to watch a few games.

We lend money, and my role is to improve how we do it through engagement with colleagues, brokers, partners and customers

I recently got to meet England rugby legend and childhood hero Jason Robinson, which was really exciting.

To unwind after work…

…we love a bit of dancing in our house, so our daughter puts the music on and we all have a dance-off in the living room, to everything from Taylor Swift to Billy Ocean.

The best way for me to unwind is with family time. We’re lucky we can go to the beach at weekends.

This article featured in the May edition of MS.

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