To celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD), Perenna is thrilled to announce a special initiative in line with this year’s campaign theme, ‘Inspire Inclusion.’ This initiative aims to highlight the experiences and contributions of the women at Perenna, showcasing their roles, experiences, and perspectives. 

At Perenna, we recognise the importance of fostering an inclusive environment where our employees feel valued and empowered. In celebration of International Women’s Day, we are excited to introduce a short Q&A featuring some of the incredible women at Perenna. 

Foreword from Aniq, Chief Communications Officer

As we celebrate International Women’s Day at Perenna, it’s crucial to reflect on the values of inclusivity and empowerment that define our company culture. Our commitment to creating an environment where everyone feels supported and valued is paramount. 

At Perenna, we understand the importance of providing opportunities for women to thrive and succeed in their careers. By fostering a culture of inclusivity, we not only empower our  employees but also create a stronger, more diverse workforce. 

 

Q&A 

Mikaela, Mortgage Operations Governance Manager at Perenna 

 

How has your experience at Perenna inspired your sense of inclusion?

At Perenna I’ve had the opportunity to engage with a diverse group of individuals who all bring unique perspectives and experiences. This has reinforced my understanding of the importance of embracing differences and highlighted how inclusivity powers creativity and innovation. 

Can you share a moment where you felt empowered at work? 

Before joining Perenna I had worked for the same company since leaving school. Taking that initial leap, trusting my own capabilities, working through daily challenges, and helping the team here reach huge milestones has shown me that I can really do anything I put my mind to. 

What do you think is important for a diverse and inclusive workplace?

Encouraging everyone to be themselves. Create a culture at work where everyone feels like their voice is valued and heard. 

How will you inspire inclusion?

By listening. By talking about it. By educating myself. By encouraging collaboration. 

Michelle, Head of Programme Delivery at Perenna 

How has your experience at Perenna inspired your sense of inclusion?

The hybrid and flexible working practises that have been adopted are inclusive, this way of working allows the Perenna team to work in a way which supports individual lifestyles and choices. 

Can you share a moment where you felt empowered at work?

I feel empowered at Perenna as the working style is autonomous, I’m trusted to manage and work with my team to get a multitude of projects delivered in fast paced environment. 

What do you think is important for a diverse and inclusive workplace?

Recognition that there is always opportunity to do more, from small things like making language used more inclusive, to broader activities like taking time to listen and learning from people’s experiences. Everyone should be involved in creating an environment where team members feel they are able to bring their entire selves in to the workplace. 

How will you inspire inclusion?

For me to inspiring inclusion starts with fostering an environment that encourages openness, when interacting with team members I want them to feel valued and respected. My approach is to actively encourage open dialogue and collaboration among team members, emphasising the importance of every individual’s contribution. 

Gemma, Head of Marketing at Perenna

 

How has your experience at Perenna inspired your sense of inclusion?

Perenna has supported me in creating a flexible working pattern that helps me to create the right work/life balance for me and my young family. This has made me feel valued in my role, where my working pattern does not undermine my contribution to the business.  

Can you share a moment where you felt empowered at work?

I have had many opportunities to engage and collaborate with teams and individuals across the business. Within a short time of working at Perenna, I had the opportunity to present my recommendations to the Board, which made me feel that my personal views and contributions were valued.  

What do you think is important for a diverse and inclusive workplace?

I think it’s important to create a culture that encourages open and safe communication whilst providing opportunities for cross-team collaboration.  I think a positive culture in the workplace is achieved when individuals feel that their opinions are heard and valued. 

How will you inspire inclusion?

I think ‘respect’ and ‘trust’ are crucial in building the foundation to inclusion. For me, this means encouraging honest and open communication, where people feel empowered to share their views and ideas without judgement. But most importantly, really taking the time to listen, so that individuals feel valued. We are all different. We have different perspectives, insights and experiences and it’s important to embrace these differences to foster a positive working environment.  

Kasia, Head of Conduct Compliance at Perenna 

How has your experience at Perenna inspired your sense of inclusion?

People feel included when they’re kept informed.  My experience at Perenna has taught me how to strike the right balance with keeping people informed so that they feel part of the journey.  

Can you share a moment where you felt empowered at work?

I recently felt empowered at work when I had the full picture of an issue I was dealing with.  It’s a lot easier to troubleshoot an issue and reach a successful conclusion when you have the full picture. 

What do you think is important for a diverse and inclusive workplace?

I think it’s important to understand people’s strengths and encourage them into roles that leverage those strengths.  I think this supports a diverse and inclusive workplace. 

How will you inspire inclusion?

I try to inspire inclusion by being open and honest, and hope that gives others the confidence to behave similarly. 

Deborah Reeves, National Account Manager at Perenna

How has your experience at Perenna inspired your sense of inclusion?

Inclusion happens so naturally at Perenna, it’s not something that is over engineered at all and for me that is the best kind of inclusion! Opinion is sought and views are welcomed from all roles across the business. There is a genuine sense that we are ‘in this together’ with everyone targeting the wider goal. The aim itself is inclusive, ‘homeownership where everyone who can afford a home can own one’, so it runs though the organisation by design. 

Can you share a moment where you felt empowered at work?

As part of my induction meetings were booked with each of the Co-Founders, it was during these meetings I immediately knew I was empowered and trusted to do a job! The meetings were not just a formality (could have been seen that way!) but valuable time where they each took the time to get to know me, ask my viewpoint on not only company but industry hot topics. This didn’t stop after these ‘intros’ and that consultative approach is business as usual. I am empowered as know I have a voice and the autonomy to make a difference in this business. 

What do you think is important for a diverse and inclusive workplace?

Collaboration and the success this generates only comes from varied perspectives – a diverse and inclusive group will lead to healthy challenge and considered output.   

How will you inspire inclusion?

I am instinctively very interested in people (nosey, maybe!) This means I actively seek out views and understand the value in looking through an alternative lens. As a natural reflector it is important to me to be considered and look to the use the strengths of those around me rather than going out on a limb. I like to think I approach each day with an open mind! 

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, let us reflect on the insights and experiences shared by the women of Perenna. Their stories inspire us to continue fostering an inclusive environment where every voice is heard and valued.  Thank you to Gemma, Michelle, Kasia, Deborah and Mikaela for sharing their perspectives and contributing to our journey of Inspire Inclusion at Perenna.

Meet Arjan, Perenna CEO and founder, a man on a mission to fix the housing market and create a nation of happy homeowners. Originally from the Netherlands, Arjan moved to London in 1993 after obtaining a master’s degree in econometrics from Tilburg University. Here, he joined the Royal Bank of Canada’s management trainee programme and started a career in financial services. A career that has included setting up unique funding programmes for various institutions in the billions of pounds and assessing & comparing mortgage markets internationally including Canada, US, Australia, and Denmark to name a few. He has held positions as Managing Director for Securitisation and Covered Bond teams at BNP Paribas, Director in the Asset Securitisation group at Barclays Capital and Vice President at Moody’s analysing mortgage risk. Most weekends, you’ll find him at Stamford Bridge watching Chelsea, a romance that started after moving to Barons Court in 1995 and following the weekend migration of football fans going to the match.

Why did you start Perenna?

We started Perenna so we can create a structural solution to structural issues in the UK, starting with the mortgage market. We believe if you can afford a home, you should be able to get one, and consumers should never need to worry about refinancing and the risks from rising interest rates. Time and time again consumers are asked to speculate on typically the biggest debt they will undertake in their lives, and we think that’s wrong.

I believe homeownership is a way to a happy, prosperous life, and I believe homeowners contribute to a better, wealthier and fairer society. But it must be achieved responsibly. Borrowers should be assessed on their affordability and not be exposed to unnecessary risks. I have spent my entire career focusing on mortgage markets. I witnessed first-hand the lead-up to the financial crisis, how it unfolded and how it affected people’s lives. Those events inspired me to think about changing the mortgage market for the better and improve conditions for borrowers.

I found a solution in Denmark. During my time at Moody’s, I worked with Danish mortgage banks and gained insight into the market’s workings. It’s a stable and resilient system with a 200-year-long history of operating. Where UK largely uses short-term deposits to fund lending like mortgages, Danish mortgage banks use covered bonds which are match funded to mortgages. The big buyers of covered bonds are pension funds and insurance companies who are seeking exposure to long-term fixed income (to match their long-term fixed liabilities). I concluded the model might work in the UK, but it still took several years to design a model that could work. The result became Perenna: A mortgage bank funded by covered bonds and aligns with the interest of consumers.

Why are covered bonds an exemplary method for funding mortgages?

Covered bonds enable banks to fix the mortgage interest rates over long terms, like 30 years. Fixing the interest rate removes risk from consumers and provides certainty over their monthly mortgage payments. Consumers should not be exposed to the uncertainty of interest rate changes (and the arbitrary rate setting by lenders via SVR). The tail risk of this uncertainty has played out in recent months. Homeowners who took short-term fixed rate mortgages will experience significant hardship when their fixed terms end. In addition, aspiring homeowners struggle to obtain the right product for them. This chaos does not happen in a stable, well-functioning mortgage market. Lenders in countries with long-term fixed-rate mortgages, like the United States or Denmark, can continue lending through economic cycles creating stability in the market and ensuring consumer protection.

The buyers of Perenna’s covered bonds will primarily be pension funds and insurance companies who need exposure to long-term fixed income, which they can get through mortgages. Take an example of a pensioner who needs £500/month to live. If we can match that person with someone who pays £500/month on their mortgage, we solve both the mortgage crisis and the pension crisis in one go. That is the potential of Perenna’s platform and why covered bonds are such an excellent funding instrument for mortgages.

Why hasn’t this been done before?

No one has had the incentive to do it. Incumbent banks are doing fine within the current system, and mortgage brokers have designed their business model around 2- and 5-year renewal cycles. Consumers still demand mortgages under the existing market offering, as that is all that is available to them.

Regulation is another reason. There is a ceiling on how much covered bond funding a typical UK high street bank can take due to their deposit-taking model. Therefore, a new type of banking model needs to emerge.

Having said that, non-banks such as Habito and Kensington have started to create novel long-term fixed rate offerings like 30-year fixed rate mortgages. Whilst they are funded slightly differently than us, it’s a great start to developing better products for consumers.

With a Perenna mortgage, we will be initially offering a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, with low early repayment charges (5 years), and will be portable & transferable. We want our product to flex around you, not the other way around.

How has your career changed from big bank to start-up founder?

Being a start-up founder is a wildly different experience. I started trying to drive change from inside the banks I worked for. But those types of organisations are like supertankers. It’s difficult to change direction. I quickly realised that I could only drive meaningful change by creating something new – a start-up from the outside.

We started Perenna as a three-person team, but forming a bank requires many different skills. Now, a couple of years in, we’re more than sixty employees. Growing this fast creates new challenges. I’m thinking a lot about building culture and aligning new hires. Perenna exists to challenge the existing market, to improve and inspire change. It’s essential that new hires share our ambition and are willing to challenge their own experience. Otherwise, we will end up copying what everyone else does.

I’m also thinking about how we form partnerships and collaborate with other companies and players in the industry. Perenna is a mission-driven company that exists to create a nation of happy homeowners. We want to work with any party who shares our vision and can help us realise it.

What does the future hold for the UK?

We’re finally coming out of the post-financial crisis period with unusually low-interest rates into a historically normal interest rate environment. It’s a hard transition, but it was bound to happen. At the same time, the UK is experiencing other challenges at home and abroad and it can be difficult to navigate amidst this uncertainty. The recent events after the mini-budget and subsequent turmoil in the markets made it evident to everyone that we need a more stable mortgage and pension system. Perenna has a big role to play in that transition. The future is bright for homeowners and the UK, but only if we recognise structural change is needed.

Meet Dan, our cap-wearing tech-guru and CTO! Stemming from a line of drummers, Dan is an avid musician who can play the guitar, bass, violin and, of course, the drums. We could have lost him to a career as a rockstar before Perenna started. Luckily for us, another upcoming Devon band, Muse, stole the local spotlight and rose to become international megastars. Thank you, Muse, for leading Dan down a career path to becoming our CTO. We’re not sure what we’d do without him.

 

Quick Questions

Who is your favourite musician/band?
I have a broad music taste – it can vary from Hans Zimmer to some Jazz/Blues to Heavy Metal. It all depends on the time of year, my mood and whatever’s happening around me. Today, I’m listening to Archspire, a Canadian technical metal band. But I could be listening to something very mainstream next minute.

Apple or Microsoft?
I would have to say both! I’m a heavy Apple device user, but we’re in the middle of building some parts of our platform using Microsoft, which is the best option for us for now.

Steve Jobs or Bill Gates?
I would choose Steve Jobs every time. Mainly for all of his personality quirks. I’m aware that he wasn’t always the most pleasant person, but he cared deeply about his designs’ aesthetics and how people would feel about the products he was creating. Steve Jobs ensured that the product was the best it could be. I find him inspiring. Bill Gates developed Windows to solve a problem and get as much money as possible.

Who’s your favourite Star Wars character?
Han Solo, because everyone’s got a little bit of space pirate in them.

What three things would you bring to a desert island?
I would bring a guitar (with its lead and headphones), an iPad mini and a solar charger. As long as I’ve got solar power, I can power my iPad, read my kindle and record songs on the guitar. Someone could eventually come across lots of interesting music.

What’s your best purchase in the last year for under £100?
A home pod mini (Apple) that sits on my desk. It’s a good speaker, works with all Apple devices, is small and portable and just a great little thing.

How many hats do you own?
I own an excess of 40 hats; this includes caps, flat caps, beanies, trilby’s, genuine handmade Texan cowboy hats and a bowler hat. I couldn’t pick a favourite, but I tend to gravitate towards a flat cap. My hat collection continues to grow as I have two handmade hats on order.

What’s one thing we don’t know about you?
I was born and bred in Devon, and in my 20’s I gigged around there. We even got to gig with the guys from Muse. As everyone knows, they became global megastars. The band I was in wasn’t quite as successful! Our singer used to go to school with the lead singer (Matt Bellamy), and the bass player (Chris Wolstenholme) used to work in the music shop in Torquay that we visited frequently.

 

Why did you join Perenna?

I was keen on working somewhere with a mission that could positively impact people. Perenna’s mission, creating a nation of happy homeowners, is the one that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning, and I can see how it can fundamentally change the life of a large group of people.

We can fix things that are fundamentally wrong with mortgages at the moment, for example, people becoming mortgage prisoners getting stuck on bad products or even being rejected when they could afford it. Perenna’s offering will create a ground shift in the entire industry, and we can do it without lending our customer’s own money back.

When someone offers you something exciting where you can see its potential for making a difference to people, it’s difficult to refuse the opportunity! If you enjoy your job and where you work, it brings drive and means it’s easy getting up in the morning. The technical challenges are exciting too!

 

What led you to a career in technology?

I’ve always been fascinated with taking things apart, reassembling and improving them. Getting into computers allowed me to do exactly that.

I was attracted to the role of Chief Technology Officer because I enjoy supporting people to succeed with technology. I think it’s important to remember that tech expertise varies from person to person. I see it as my job to make sure that everyone across the organisation is comfortable using the available tools and operating as efficiently as possible.

 

What is your best travel memory?

Orlando Florida! I love it there and have been going back every year since 2015. For three weeks of the year, my wife and I forget about everyday life and go to the theme parks/soak up the atmosphere. I even got to fly the Millennium Falcon, which was a big bucket list tick! It’s easy to become bogged down with the pressures of life, but it’s essential to relax and have fun sometimes.

 

Could you give us a fun tech fact?

Technology is never perfect – imperfect humans designed it, so never expect a perfect product.

 

Meet Aniq Ahmed, our ‘Culture Custodian’ and a highly valued member of our team. Aniq serves as our Head of Regulatory Affairs with the critical responsibility of leading our bank application process, acting as the point of contact with the regulators on a day-to-day basis. Aniq oversees a wide range of workstreams and supports our employees in the mission to receive a bank licence.

After leaving university, Aniq went into management consulting at Deloitte, working with various local and international clients such as Credit Suisse, UBS and The Co-operative Bank. Aniq also has experience setting up new banks working with Castle Trust Bank before joining Perenna in July 2020.

Aniq’s enthusiasm for Perenna stems from his belief that we are starting something transformational in the UK mortgage space. For too long, consumers have had little choice, and flexibility in the way they live their lives because of their mortgage product. Perenna is changing that through introducing fixed for life mortgages, a proposition which values long-term customer relationships, provides financial security, and ensures individual freedom. Aniq adds, customers should not take a risk with the repayments for their largest financial commitment; fixing your mortgage for 30 years will benefit a lot of customers and wider society in the long run. There may be life changes, changes to the external environment or even changes to your property, but consumers should not worry about those changes being compounded by their mortgage payment increasing.

 

5 Quick Questions

Favourite Food?

My most consistent food is Chicken & Rice. My favourite food is Pasta Bolognese.

Favourite Holiday Destination?

Japan. I loved my visit to Tokyo, Kyoto & Osaka.

Favourite film & TV show?

Current favourite TV show is The Mandalorian; my all-time favourite TV show Is LOST and favourite films would be Avengers Endgame & Interstellar.

Favourite app on your phone?

The Philips Hue Light app that allows you to control home lighting from your phone.

What items would you take to a deserted island?

Netflix and a cabin.

 

How do you stay motivated working from home?

I’ve been working at home since March 2020, so it’s nearly been a year now. Transitioning has been a challenge. I’m a real collaborator who enjoys working with others in an office environment, so it’s definitely been a new experience for me. Having said that, with Teams & Zoom we’ve tried our best to keep everyone together, even though we’re physically apart. Whilst it’s not perfect, remote does have advantages. For example, I used to spend close to three hours commuting a day. I certainly don’t miss that.

Now, I really enjoy having a full night’s sleep, eating multiple breakfasts and getting in my daily exercise without the worry of catching trains. Remote working will have many advantages for people who previously had issues growing in their career because of life decisions and I’m looking forward to incorporating those benefits within the culture at Perenna. For example, as a business, remote working allows us to attract talent, wherever they are, not just where we are. That’s testament to some of the people that have joined recently, and I think it allows us to attract the best people possible.

 

What hobbies do you enjoy in your spare time?

I’m quite big into Astronomy. The stars and the universe have always been an inspiration to me. I’m especially captivated by NASA’s work identifying planets outside our solar system and beyond. It’s exciting. A long time ago, I attended night courses on Astronomy & Astrophysics at The Royal Observatory in Greenwich. I’m keen to return to this hobby once we can travel again.

My other hobby is a podcast called ‘The House of Wisdom’ that I co-host with a university friend. The idea came up through a chance discussion we had. He was preparing for his PhD examination and asked me to help review his paper and thesis. We were sitting in one of the King’s College study rooms and I said to him, “You know, this thesis is great, but so what? There’s a lot of theory here, but I don’t understand what you can do with this in the real world.” We had a long conversation about the role of academics and the value they can bring to society.

We concluded there are probably many academics out there working on meaningful things, and it would be exciting to discuss with them how their ideas could impact policy. We decided to set up a podcast and interview , what we dubbed, “academic Influencers” to understand how their ideas could change the world. This is our first season. We’ve touched on topics ranging from climate change to mental health, to obesity, to big data, and various others. I feel very privileged that I have the opportunity to regularly talk with passionate individuals about interesting topics.

Want to listen to Aniq? You can find the podcast here: House of Wisdom Podcast