Richard Davies is the CEO of Allica Bank, where he has been at the helm for five years, steering what has become the UK's fastest-growing company.
Under his leadership, Allica Bank has achieved remarkable success, winning the Deloitte Fast 50 award for the fastest-growing company in the UK in 2023 and 2024.
Blending Traditional Banking with Fintech Innovation
Before joining Allica, Richard built an impressive career spanning traditional banking giants and disruptive fintechs.
This unique blend of experience has proven invaluable in shaping Allica's mission to serve established small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – businesses typically employing between five and 250 staff, which represent approximately one-third of the UK economy.
Richard's journey in financial services began at Barclays, where he was given the opportunity to run the southeast region for SME banking despite being relatively young and having a background in strategy consulting.
He expresses gratitude to Barclays for "taking a risk" on him back in 2007, as this experience provided crucial insights into the needs of SME clients and the banking products that serve them.
His time at Barclays and HSBC allowed him to observe firsthand the challenges traditional banks face in serving SMEs effectively.
These observations later informed Allica's approach to addressing pain points he had experienced during his tenure at major banks.
Richard's career path then took him to the fintech sector, where he served in senior roles at Oak North and Revolut.
He particularly credits Revolut as being "absolutely world-class at products and engineering" and notes that he adopted many of the principles from this "truly digital native company" when building Allica's technology strategy.
Championing Overlooked SMEs Through Technology and the Human Touch
At Allica, Richard has focused on combining human expertise with cutting-edge technology.
Rather than eliminating the human element to reduce costs, as many traditional banks have done, Allica has invested heavily in automating everything that sits behind that human interaction.
Under Richard's stewardship, Allica has grown from making its first loan in March 2020 (just as COVID-19 hit) to building a comprehensive suite of financial services for established SMEs.
The bank now offers various lending products, current accounts, cards, savings products, and is expanding into adjacent services like expense management and credit control.
Future Ambitions and Measuring Success
Richard describes his role at Allica as his "best job" to date, driven by a strong sense of purpose to serve a vital but overlooked segment of the UK economy.
Having raised over £350m (US$451m) in capital from investors including TCV, Atalaya, and Warwick, Richard has ambitious plans for Allica's future, aiming to increase the bank's penetration of its established SME target market from the current 3-4% to 10% by 2027.
His approach to measuring success is straightforward: client recommendations. As Richard puts it: "To recommend you, someone has to love what you do to the degree they're prepared to put their own name behind it."
This focus on earning genuine enthusiasm from clients reflects his broader mission to make a meaningful difference for an economically vital but underserved segment.
To read the full article in the magazine, click HERE.
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