At Recognise Bank, we believe that our people are our biggest strength. In this edition of Meet the Team, we sat down with our Financial Accountant, Corinne Sloan, whose career journey spans decades, continents, and even a few surprising stage roles.
Q: Corinne, you’ve got a wealth of experience, what’s been the biggest change you’ve seen in finance over the years?
A: There was very little electronic equipment in offices when I started working – no laptops or personal computers, for example. In my first office, there was a RankXerox photocopier – very modern and go ahead at that time. However, debits and credits are unchanging. Similarly, people continue to make the same mistakes…
Q: And what’s your favourite part of working at Recognise?
A: It’s the Monday morning breakfast!
Q: A classic choice. Now, we’ve heard you’re a dancer. What kind of dancing do you enjoy, and how did you get into it?
A: I have two left feet so I’m definitely not an expert! However, I find dance to be an enjoyable and painless way to exercise, I’ve had a visceral dislike of gyms since school.
I discovered the City Lit (an adult education college in Holborn) around 1998, and since then I’ve taken many acting, musical theatre, and dance classes just for fun. My first dance class was an early morning course that began at 8.00am. Currently, I do one called “Dance 60+ Performance”. There are about 14 people in the class, including one man and everyone is 60+!
Q: That sounds like a great community. So what’s your go-to dance song when you need a little boost?
A: I don’t really have one. I rely on what’s on the radio as I’ve never owned a record player.
Q: Switching gears a bit – what’s something about your role that most people wouldn’t expect?
A: A key aspect is dealing with people and discovering their objectives and the information required to meet them. Figures mean very little until they are understood in context. People are often more important than numbers for accountants.
Q: Tea, coffee, or something stronger?
A: Definitely coffee. I much prefer a rum truffle to the alcoholic drink itself!
Q: And what do you enjoy most about being part of the finance team?
A: The opportunity to engage with all parts of the business.
Q: You’ve probably got some great stories, what’s one fun or core memory from your career that you’d like to share?
A: I used to work at the head office of an international group as part of their acquisitions and disposals team. I was with colleagues in New York and, after a small US subsidiary had been sold, I was handed a cheque for around US$7m to bank.
We took the cheque to a New York office of Barclays Bank in Manhattan, which I recall as a nondescript office in a nondescript building. We had great difficulty in persuading Barclays Bank to accept our cheque!
Two other New York memories:
Our lawyer had this enormous office near Battery Park with an amazing view over the water. He’d been involved in numerous corporate transactions and had acquired a myriad of “tombstones” which covered every surface of the office. These tombstones, typically made of clear plastic with a record of the transaction inside, make very good paperweights or surfaces on which to rest a coffee mug!
Corporate lawyers in New York were very well remunerated in 1989 and I imagine they still are. Near the end of the business day, a large fleet of “Love” taxis (very large white limousines) would draw up in front of legal firms to whisk the lawyers (and/or their clients) to their evening appointments. The whole performance seemed a bit over the top!
Q: That paints quite the picture! Tell us two truths and one lie, we’ll try to guess the fib
A: Sure, let’s see if you can guess.
- I acted the part of Mother Theresa in a play that was put on at the City Lit.
- I acted the part of the Pope in a play that was put on at the City Lit.
- I acted the part of the Archbishop of Canterbury in a play that was put on at the City Lit.
We’ll let you take your guesses!
