Harrington Brooks Newsletter

Harrington Brooks is granted full authorisation by the Financial Conduct Authority Manchester based Harrington Brooks, one of the UK’s leading personal insolvency providers, has been granted full authorisation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The FCA took over the regulation of consumer credit firms in April 2014 from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The new process for authorisation has been designed to be more rigorous than the previous OFT regulatory process.

As part of its new regime, the FCA wanted debt management firms to meet a set of required conditions, including: fair and transparent fees, the provision of suitable advice, fully trained employees, appropriate systems and controls to protect client money, and a sustainable business model, that was focused on getting the best outcomes for the customer.

Harrington Brooks is therefore delighted that the FCA has confirmed that it meets these threshold conditions, as it means that it can continue to focus on getting the best solution for its customers, safe in the knowledge that the firm will be by their sides for the long term.

Matthew Cheetham, CEO of Harrington Brooks, comments after receiving full authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA); “We are delighted to have achieved full FCA authorisation. The approval is testament to the excellent and hardworking people at Harrington Brooks and a business that is geared towards helping our customers back into financial health and sustainable financial wellbeing."

"By achieving full authorisation, Harrington Brooks will now be able to continue improving our service, investing in our people and creating an ever better experience for our clients, who are in serious financial distress."

"In gaining the confirmation of our meeting the stringent Threshold Conditions, the risk of exiting from the market has been removed, meaning that we can engage fully and positively with our partners."

“Effective partnerships are ones that are built for the long term.

Authorisation means that Harrington Brooks can work with our creditor and affiliate partners to develop a long term strategy to recover debt owed in a sustainable and beneficial way for both the creditor and the debtor.”

Attaining FCA Authorisation has been a long and finally fulfilling process so first of all I’d like to thank all of the teams in Finance and MI for the hard work and commitment shown. And for their contributions to the improvement initiatives we have had going on across the business as well as keeping BAU on track.

Because of this journey we have a new structure in the department, plans and processes in place which protect the business, our customers and stakeholders in a more robust way. Many positive things have happened and it puts the business in a great place to go forward and grow. I’m looking forward to a prosperous future with the One Advice Group.

Steve Evans Chief Financial Officer The One Advice Group and Harrington Brooks

Wow, how much has been achieved on this journey of FCA Authorisation? I’ve come in to the business recently and been impressed by what I’ve seen. I also know that we are entering a different phase now in Supervision and whilst we are well placed to prosper and grow, we will need to keep our eye on the ball to maintain the standards we have achieved and are expected and required.

To think that the Risk and Compliance department has grown from 3 to nearly 33, a real sign of investment and commitment from the Group to do the right thing. We also have a better governance framework, the same risk management system used by the FCA and have completed a thorough review of our back book. These are all important, responsible things.

It’s also worth highlighting how the process of attaining authorisation has brought people together to work cross departmentally, using our different skill sets in a complementary way to get the job done.

Thanks to my team for all the hard work we’ve done here and to those in South Africa too. The Group has earned the reputation for having one of the leading risk and compliance departments in the industry.

Bob Collins Group Head of Risk and Compliance The One Advice Group and Harrington Brooks

What does FCA authorisation and regulation mean to colleagues across the One Advice Group?

"It means we can be a sustainable business and attract more customers."

Alice Frank - Specialist Support Advisor Harrington Brooks Operations

"It shows we provide a reliable service to customers, and give them the right advice."

John Edwards - Operations MI Manager Harrington Brooks Operations

"... all the managers in the Group have worked together to ensure we achieve authorisation."

Sarah North Technical Development & Compliance Manager Harrington Brooks IVA

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"Authorisation proves we are doing exactly what is expected, and going above and beyond."

Darryl Matthews - Group Head of External Relations The One Advice Group

THE ONE ADVICE GROUP JOURNEY TO AUTHORISATION AND REGULATION Jan 2015 Project BOCA - return of outstanding balances

June 2015 CASS Regulatory changes

May 2015 We asked colleagues what tools they needed to deliver TCF

Process Mapping

June 2015 Introduced CASS communication to customers and creditors July 2015 #ExpressYourself colleague survey

April 2015 The development of a People Strategy

Strengthening of Governance

June 2015 Ongoing improvements to service delivery and call resolution

July 2015 New Xactium risk management system

March 2016 FRS102 transition, a change in financial reporting standards March 2016 New branding for the Group and Harrington Brooks October 2015 Project Banner IVA bulk variation (Sip 9)

Continuous Business Improvement

December 2016 Review of past business and plans

November 2015 Development of Specialist Support Unit

August 2015 Ongoing focus on service delivery and call resolution

Investment in systems and IT

Sept 2015 Developed quality checks and Customer Action Prompts (CAP)

Sept 2015 Investigation and allocation of historic receipts and payments

www.fca.org.uk

Introducing the Commercial Team

Harrington Brooks: Connect 2017 Dimensions of Debt 30th March 2017, 9am – 4pm Macdonald Hotel and Spa, London Rd, Manchester M1 2PG

Following the success of last year’s event, Harrington Brooks have organised a range of engaging speakers and invited attendees from across the industry and beyond to share insights, challenges and understanding at Connect 2017.

Topics earmarked for discussion include economic updates, research project results, interest only mortgages, disruption and innovation, policy updates, the standard financial statement, debunking credit scores and customer profiling, the importance of financial education, different approaches to vulnerability and financial abuse - all dimensions of debt.