What’s your name and what do you do at Liberis and where in the world do you work?

I’m Jack Regan, Head of Underwriting and I’m currently based in London.

From the moment you wake up in the morning, what do you look forward to for the day ahead? 

Working with both the underwriters and wider team to figure out how we can support small businesses in both their immediate and long-term future. In the current economic climate, it is naturally difficult for small business’ so working for a business that truly cares about supporting SMEs in an area of the business where we are lucky to interact directly with these customers, understand their needs and then from that work through the difficult balancing act of offering solutions to these customers whilst also protecting Liberis’ future is a challenging but hugely rewarding part of my role.

Describe a typical day for you in your role. 

A typical day for me involves digging into our customer applications, looking to understand if there are any common themes emerging that mean we need to change our decision strategy. On top of that, I’ll regularly spend time providing second opinions for the underwriters on high-value or complex applications, dedicating time to remotely supporting my team that are based in the US and putting together memos that enable us to ensure we are comfortable from a risk perspective with new partner/product launches as well as changes to our existing underwriting approach.

What do you love most about your job? 

They haven’t paid me to say this, but I’d have to say it is working with the underwriting team. I’ve been on a similar journey to all of them, so to watch them all develop and bring such a consistently positive attitude to their role brings a great deal of satisfaction and pride to my job. We’ll as a team always go out for lunch together once a week, and I love that we have such a close-knit relationship.

What advice would you give a colleague whose just joined your team? 

Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. What I love most about how we underwrite at Liberis is that there is no one size fits all approach. We treat every application on its own individual merits, and with that on every application, we look to provide a tailored solution that will enable our customers to thrive; we are always looking to improve how we decision and, often, a fresh pair of eyes can bring some great ideas that we may have missed.

Are you office based, remote or hybrid? What are the pros and cons, if any?

I’m currently hybrid, travelling into the London office twice a week and working from home in Northampton the other three. For me personally, this gives me a perfect balance of in-person catch-ups, and social time with my colleagues through things like weekly football as well as meaning I get lots of quality time at home with my wife and three kids. It can be tiring on commuting days, particularly if traffic is bad. Still, my manager has been incredibly supportive, and it also means I get to avoid sharing the responsibility of the dreaded school run!