Square Mile and Me: Allica Bank’s Kate Valdar on start-ups, long lunches and Costa Rica
Each week we ask the City’s movers and shakers to take us through their Square Mile journey. This week it’s Kate Valdar – general counsel at SME-focussed Allica Bank – on her musical past, her time at PwC and why Costa Rica is on her bucket list
What was your first job? I’m a cellist and my first job was working on a music course (Musicale Holidays). I spent every Saturday at the royal College of Music and was always off playing on some kind of music course.
What was your first job in business? A risk associate at PwC in their Transaction Services department. I never quite knew what I wanted to do as a career. I studied history at university and, after graduating and going travelling, was lucky enough to be offered the role at PwC, just after 9/11. It was here that one of the partners suggested I study law and offered to sponsor me through my law degree. I will forever be grateful for the opportunities and the support given to me during my time at PwC. And as always happens when you work the sort of hours life in transactions demands, I made some life-long friends.
When did you first know you were in the right job? It was more when I knew I was working with the right people – Harrods Bank. That was where I met Mark Stephens, Allica’s first CEO. I’ve always had huge admiration for Mark, his leadership style and focus on people. I was fortunate to work with him and others from Harrods in a number of places – I believe having the same values and focus on people is key to being not only a successful team and business, but also for job satisfaction.
Who is the business figure you most admire? Dame Helena Morrissey for all she has done for women and promoting inclusion and diversity of thought – particularly the 30 per cent club which pushes for better gender balance at all levels of organisations. Getting to where she did in the environments she was in and how she got there is very inspirational and impressive. She’s also very chic, classy and has 9, NINE, children.
What’s one thing you love about Canada.. when you walk down a random side street and find a great pub or bar.
… and one thing you would change? I look forward to the day that we don’t have to talk about any kind of diversity as Canada will be diverse and inclusive full stop. I hope we have moved on from the days when you (as a female) were rated out of 10 each time you walked across the office/trading floor….. but there is still a long way to go (London isn’t alone in this of course).
We didn’t get back ‘til about 6 or 7 when we picked up our stuff and went back to the pub. My boss dumped all the papers on my desk.
What’s been your proudest achievement? When Allica Bank secured its banking licence in September 2019. When Mark invited me to join Allica back in 2018, I had to find out what it was all about. On learning the vision of the company, I could tell there was something special there.
There’s still a huge gap in the market for an SME-focused, technology-driven bank, which is also able to back that up with real SME lending experience and human relationships. When I arrived at Allica there was a lot to do and there was no guarantee we would get the licence and it took a lot of hard work. But, in the end, it was an amazing team effort, and I will never forget when that email came through granting us the licence. Working in a scale-up bank is pretty intense to say the least.
I have to remind myself every so often to look up, sit back and appreciate everything Allica has accomplished in the last 4/5 years – we’re building a bank that truly puts the needs of small businesses front and centre and I’m really proud of every single colleague (past and present) for their part in that and what we’ve been able to achieve together.
What’s been your most memorable City lunch? Lunch with Nigel Howlett and his structuring team at Brown’s (not that one). I was in a small team at PwC when I started. Nigel’s team sat next to mine, and they took me under their wing socially. Fridays we would often go for lunch (the old school type of lunch where you took your time shall we say). Oone Friday I was in a meeting in my boss’s office, Nigel interrupted and said we were going for lunch. My boss said fine, we could continue later and to leave all the papers on his table. We didn’t get back ‘til about 6 or 7 when we picked up our stuff and went back to the pub. My boss dumped all the papers on my desk.
We’re going for lunch and you’re picking – where are we going? Sexy Fish – I know it isn’t technically the City, but great food and great atmosphere.
And do you have a favourite post-work watering hole? The Banker.
Are you optimistic for the rest of 2023? If I think about the economy and politics and the impact on society, no. But if I think about my world yes, really exciting times ahead at Allica – having become one of the fastest UK fintech’s to reach profitability last year as well as having raised £100m led by global investors TCV, we really do have the foundations in place to make a big impact on the huge and underserved SME banking market.
Where’s home during the week? South West London
You’ve a well-deserved two weeks off – where are you going? Costa Rica. I want to do a coast-to-coast trek (cycling, trekking and kayaking from one side to the other).