Meet Aniq Ahmed – Our Culture Custodian

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