DF Capital, a savings and commercial lending bank based in the UK, has announced the appointment of Charlie Michael (pictured above) as the new head of people.
In her new role, Michael will be responsible for developing and leading the company’s “people strategy” including talent acquisition and development, compensation and benefits, employee engagement and the overall culture agenda.
She explained: “I’m absolutely delighted to join DF Capital at such a pivotal stage in the business’ journey. I can’t wait to start developing new and innovative people strategies that will enable us to deliver even better colleague and customer experiences.”
With more than 20 years of experience working within the financial services industry, Michael has held a variety of senior HR roles with significant players in the market. For example, for the past 11 years she has worked with Aldermore Bank, starting as a change and training advisor in 2010. In this role she played a key role in the delivery of projects and the “people side of various change initiatives” such as business processes, systems and technology.
Then, in March 2017, she was appointed as the HR operations manager responsible for the delivery of the company’s HR service and a seamless employee experience to staff and stakeholders at Aldermore. Additionally, as a member of the Bank’s senior HR leadership team, Michael worked to support the Group HR director with operational responsibility for the delivery of core HR transactional support.
Prior to her work with Aldermore Bank, Michael held additional roles in her seven years at Formation Asset Management and Merril Lynch.
The last five years have seen her partner with senior executives to enable the design and implementation of meaningful people programmes which have encompassed culture, colleague engagement, performance management, organisational change and transformation.
Carl D’Ammassa (pictured above), chief executive officer at DF Capital, added: “I’m delighted to be welcoming Charlie to the DF Capital team. I know she will bring a huge amount of energy and HR expertise to the business as we enter the new year and look to build out our banking franchise. We are passionate about our people and believe it is them that make the difference our customers feel. Charlie’s appointment is key to our evolving people strategy, as we look to attract some of the best people from across the industry to join our team and help us fulfil our ambitious growth plans.”
Founded in 2016, DF Capital is a specialist savings and commercial lending bank that primarily offers a range of working capital solutions to dealers and manufacturers based in the UK. Having been authorized as a bank in September 2020, the company is now able to offer personal savings accounts to individual customers while continuing to maintain and develop its work with UK businesses.
Walking to Lapland
Alongside the news of Michael’s appointment, DF Capital recently announced a company-wide charity event in which its employees are planning to walk, run, dance or cycle the distance from their Manchester office to Lapland in December 2020 to raise money for the company’s nominated charity.
Wood Street Mission, the charity of choice for this event, aims to improve the life chances of children living in poverty in Manchester and Salford, UK. The organization provides a range of facilities including “basic family necessities” and projects for children focused on education and literacy. Every year it also provides new toys and gifts for children to make sure they have something special to open on Christmas Day.
According to DF Capital, its employees have signed up to cover part of the 3,187km (1,980 miles) journey each, to be completed in time for Christmas. If the destination is reached, the company will donate an additional £1,500 to the charity to purchase gifts to distribute to families in need during the festive period. Furthermore, the company will also match any donations made by individual staff up to a total of £500.
D’Ammassa added: “We’ve supported Wood Street Mission for almost two years so far and have seen how important the work it does is. Last year alone, it distributed over 11,000 Christmas gifts to families in need and we feel privileged to be able to help in a small way. It’s a charity that is very close to our hearts and I’m delighted how everyone at DF Capital has both embraced it and the challenges that we take part in. I look forward to lacing up my trainers and seeing how close I can get to Santa’s Grotto between now and the end of the year!”
