About

Team size: 16

Major legal advisers: Addleshaw Goddard, Clifford Chance, Herbert Smith Freehills, TLT

GC at both Provident Financial and its subsidiary, Vanquis Bank, Charlotte Davies was quickly thrust into the spotlight on joining in April 2019 in the ultimately successful fight against a hostile takeover bid by Non-Standard Finance (NSF). The bid fell through following a lack of support from both NSF and Provident shareholders, as well as regulator intervention.

‘When I arrived, I could see quickly that the bid wasn’t the right deal. I come from a background of a heavily-regulated environment and always having a very heavy customer focus. I was particularly concerned about the impact the bid could have on our customers as well as employees and I was determined to support the board, the CEO and bid defence team in fighting it.’

Davies was brought in to create a single legal function, with the aim of aligning the team to the overall purpose of the business. The team also includes paralegals and junior trainees from non-traditional legal backgrounds, with one trainee who is about to qualify, as well as two trainees shortly with backgrounds in company secretarial and HR functions. The business has three separate practice groups: commercial contracts; regulatory; and employment, property and pensions. Rather than having different lawyers advising different companies, advice is centralised. ‘Having two roles as the GC for the bank and the group is challenging. I am working to help close the historical communication gap between the two, which is important given the contribution the bank makes to group profit,’ Davies comments. ‘This role has allowed me to help the group management team appreciate that their colleagues at the bank are working really hard to do the right thing, but equally help the bank understand that the group board is there to support that cultural change but not dictate it.’

As such, Davies has spent the last ten months establishing the company’s ethics committee, including a whistleblower process – from which a couple of reports have improved processes – while also rolling out a cultural blueprint that sets out the behaviour and purpose of the group in relation to customers. ‘This is a committee focused on understanding how we interact with our customers on a daily basis and understanding if what we’re doing on a day-to-day basis is helping our higher purpose,’ she says. ‘The committee receives management information sourced from listening to customer calls, for example, which allows the business to understand how customers are being treated.’