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Richard Wilson

Director of Credit and Risk for Advantage, Richard Wilson, completed the Diploma in Management
Studies at Bradford College in 2000.

Richard WilsonRichard spent 18 years working for Yorkshire Building Society; beginning at just 16 he grew up with the company. Bored by school and eager to start earning a living he seized the chance to join one of the region’s top companies at the ground floor. “My first position was Microfilm Assistant but I told my parents it was Reprographics technician because I thought it sounded better!”

Over the years Richard progressed through a variety of roles: key positions being Lending Securities Manager, Lending Quality Manager, Lending Risk Manager; all for the YBS Group, and Mortgage Application Centre Manager for YBS/Accord.

Richard amassed a wealth of experience at YBS. He was a manager since he was made team leader at 22 and by the time he was 30 he headed a team of 150 staff. Whilst acknowledging all he had learned from some excellent managers in-house, he was keen to broaden his understanding.

“I was never fazed by responsibility as I was doing what I was capable of and I enjoyed, but I decided to study the DMS because I wanted to put an academic framework around what I did. The course helped me in areas that I couldn’t get from my work. It gave me a toolkit for strategy that assisted me to make informed decisions on better data and offered a different perspective. I also benefited from exposure to other classmates in the voluntary sector and other parts of the private sector. My underlying memories of the college are the quirkiness of lecturer, Ian Hargreaves and his passion for all things strategic, and course tutor, Roger Wynne’s impromptu singing - thank goodness singing is not his day job.”

Richard was headhunted to join Advantage Home Loans in September 2006 as Head of Credit & Risk prior to the full lender launch. He was promoted to Director of Credit & Risk in July 2007. Post closure of mortgage originations business Richard will be working on residential mortgage asset activities with the business unit at Morgan Stanley Bank International Ltd.

“The DMS gave me the ability to move on. If you want to study, no matter how busy you are, you will fit it in. The only person that stops you doing things is you.”

Photograph by Shelagh Ward