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