Two heads are better than one: why Rivers Leasing has two Non-Executive Directors

At Rivers, 2018 started on a high note with the appointment of Stephen Bassett, former Managing Director of Arkle Finance, as Non-Executive Director.  What you may not have known, is that Stephen is our second Non-Executive Director, joining the team alongside Michael Friend who has been working with Rivers Leasing for a number of years.

Big business mentality

So why would a comparatively small player in the world of asset finance require two non-executive directors?  Why adopt a big business mentality and infrastructure?  The answer is because size doesn’t really matter when it comes to our responsibilities.

At Rivers Leasing we have a profound belief in the importance of being diligent and professional to the highest standards.  We have always prided ourselves on the diverse skills of a team whose make-up is a potent fusion of highly valued experience and new ideas, and Michael and Stephen both bring different expertise to Rivers Leasing.  

Michael’s wide experience in business and the formalities of running a company have been consistently and continually formative in the ongoing development of the company.  Meanwhile, Stephen’s appointment comes at a carefully considered moment in our growth.  Together they are instrumental in allowing our team to deliver the best service possible, always questioning the status quo but having reverence for it as well.

You don’t know what you don’t know

At Rivers Leasing we are always careful to bring into our team, people who have a clear and defined purpose.  It is not a space for ego or duplication, but one where we want to make sure there’s rationale in everything we do.  As such, we believe strongly in a position of checks and balances, just as you would expect in a much larger organisation.  

One of the truisms in life, and in business, is that you don’t know what you don’t know.  In asset finance however, there isn’t room for error.  That is what our two non-executive directors, along with the other members of the board bring at a senior management level.  They ensure we are always making the right decisions for the right reasons.  For this reason we adopt our bigger business mentality. 

Accountability and responsibility 

We have a responsibility to banks, individuals and shareholders as well as our customers, in the same way that a fully floated public company would.  Asset finance is highly regulated, and so we owe it to everyone involved with us to behave in a way that reflects our responsibilities.  

For our senior management team, having access to a greater wealth of knowledge, both in breadth and in precision is a defining characteristic, and one that might look the same as other companies with asset finance, but actually works to set us apart as well.