The Five Minute Interview with Harry Dick-Cleland, Underwriter, Funding 365

By Tony Sanchez 10th March 2020

Funding 365 delivers bridging loans of up to £10 million from just 0.59% per month and super flexible 3 year property loans at a speed that cannot be beaten. With no BDMs, brokers can speak directly to one of its decision-making underwriters for bespoke, credit-backed terms within just one hour.

We speak to underwriter, Harry Dick-Cleland:

What is the best thing about being in the bridging finance business?

Without wishing to sound like everyone before me who has answered these questions, I love the dynamic and fast paced nature of what we do.

We can go from working on a simple £100,000 property purchase one day, to working on a quirky multimillion pound deal that needs a 48 hour completion the next.

Aside from that, it’s very close knit and you get to know so many different characters.

What keeps you focused?

Having a team around me with so much industry knowledge that I can tap into at any time really helps.

But, when I need to really focus up and concentrate, I’ll get a bit of background drum and bass on over Alexa in the office.

Although sadly that only ever lasts about 10 minutes before the rest of the office are shouting at me to turn it off.

What qualities do you look for in your employees or colleagues?

The ability to learn, understand and develop. There’s so much going on in this industry and we have to stay on top of it – which is why it helps that Funding 365 has such a great team who are keen to learn and grow together.

Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

Am I allowed to go somewhere in the middle and say I’m a realist? I think as an underwriter you have to be.

What did you want to be as a child?

This has changed more times than I can remember, but the earliest memory I have of what I wanted to be when I grew up was a bin man – I thought they had the coolest job.

Then over the years I thought that perhaps being a chef was for me, which is why you can often catch me whipping up an absolute storm in the kitchen in the evenings and on the weekend.

What will be the greatest challenge facing the bridging finance industry in the coming months?

As the market is now showing strong signs of stabilisation and growth, one of our main challenges will be competing with some of the newer lenders who are trying to make a name for themselves.

Who or what makes you laugh?

I love a good meme.

Do you dread Monday mornings?

I graduated from university in the summer of 2018 and I still can’t let go, so I do miss getting up just before midday and having no worries.

I’m lucky enough to enjoy what I do though and I’ve made some real mates at work, so it’s never a chore coming in on a Monday morning, fortunately.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I’m not the tallest man at 5’11” and a half, but weirdly I’ve just got the longest limbs. It’s a little inconvenient when buying clothes. But ask me to get you something from the top shelf and it’s no problem.

Who would you most like to have dinner with?

It’s got to be Kurtan Mucklowe from This Country.