Andrea Cole

Global Products Director, HPD Software

Biography:
As HPD Software’s global products director, Andrea Cole is responsible for the company’s overall product direction. She is constantly pushing the boundaries to make sure HPD’s solutions continue to meet the changing needs of businesses in the working capital finance sector, ensuring the company remains the technology partner of choice for commercial finance.

Andrea manages a team of 75-80, overseeing product development, testing and support. Her role is to ensure that HPD’s clients, which span over 50+ countries, continue to receive best-of-breed technology.

She began her career as a graduate trainee at Royal Bank Invoice Finance, where she quickly moved up the ranks to become an account manager in operations. Andrea later honed her project management skills as part of the change management team, working on IT projects, where she was part of the team that managed the merger with Natwest.

When she joined HPD Software in 2001, Andrea applied the knowledge she had gained in managing service level agreements to support HPD’s multi-country iFactor clients. She then moved into an integral role in the development and implementation of HPD’s Aquarius platform.

In 2017 Andrea was named HPD Software’s global products director where she was tasked with launching the company’s LendScape solution. She and her team are now focused on providing the ‘end-to-end empowerment of working capital finance solutions’ that LendScape offers.

What advice would you offer to women just starting out in the industry?

I am pleased to say that times have changed in the commercial finance industry. Not only are we seeing greater numbers of women working in the sector today, but far more operate at a senior level. Younger women entering the workforce have strong role models to look up and aspire to. As a result, we are seeing more meritocracy, which is positive for our industry.

My message to anyone starting out in the sector would be to work hard, be enthusiastic and open-minded. Youngsters have a whole career ahead of them, one which could go in any number of exciting directions. We operate in a fast-paced and stimulating environment, which continues to evolve — it’s the perfect time to be involved. 

What do you know now that you wish you knew in the beginning of your career?

I wish I had known that opportunities would open up as my career progressed. I started my working life believing that the world of work was built on hierarchy, when in actual fact there is a lot less hierarchy than we all perceive.

Having strong interpersonal skills and building up your contacts are vital components for a successful career. Think about the type of person you like to work with and chances are those around you feel the same. If you want to get on, then you need to actively be that person and you’ll attract opportunity to you.

Knowing that I didn’t need to be pigeon-holed, or to be afraid of taking risks and opening up new opportunities would have been valuable to me as I began my career.

What kind of role has mentoring and/or sponsorship played in your career?

Early on in my career, working at Royal Bank Invoice Finance, I was surrounded by well-regarded and experienced colleagues. These were people I knew I could turn to for support, who were hugely focused on the development of junior members of staff.

Throughout my working life I have always turned to colleagues and friends with flourishing careers, who could offer me real pearls of wisdom and advice. This has been invaluable to me at every stage, and remains the same today.

What do you think the industry could do to attract and retain the best and the brightest today?

I don’t think the commercial finance industry needs to work that hard to attract and retain talent. It is globally diverse, fast moving and rapidly growing, and for those reasons it will always attract — and retain — some of the brightest and best.

When I look at technology specifically, then I would argue there is a need to do more to attract women into IT. But this needs to start at grass roots — we need to do more to attract younger girls into IT and technical careers. We need to make IT more interesting in schools and colleges, and to encourage greater take-up of these subjects by girls. This will naturally create a bigger pipeline of female talent and greater diversity in this area of the workplace.