OW Spotlight Alison Scott

Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m currently a Head of Division in the Prudential Policy Directorate at the Bank of England.  I joined the FSA back in 2004 and moved to the Bank of England when they created the Prudential Regulation Authority in 2013.  All in all, I’ve worked in banking regulation for 17 years.  In my current role I have a broad set of responsibilities from medium term strategy for prudential banking regulation to how the Prudential Regulation Authority meets it secondary competition objective as well as co-chairing our staff disability network.   

Given my current role and responsibilities, it may surprise you to read that I am not an economist.  I left Wellington (Aps) in 1992 to read Chemical Engineering at Clare College, Cambridge and stayed on to do a PhD.  My PhD was sponsored by Unilever and looked at the manufacturing process for washing powder.  While I enjoyed my time at Cambridge (I was a choral scholar at Clare), I knew I was not a hard hat, boiler suit wearing kind of person.   

Working in finance was a bit of an accident if truth be told.  When I was finishing up my PhD I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do so applied to a number of management consulting companies.  When making my final decision, I chose to go and work for Oliver Wyman & Company.  It was then 250 professionals globally, focused on financial services. Of all the companies I interviewed with, they were the people I liked the most and if you are going to spend that much time working with people, it is an important consideration.  And I think of my background as a real advantage.  I don’t think about problems the same way as economists – I’m much more practical in the way I think. And that diversity of thought has helped me be successful in my career. 

I would now describe myself as a poacher turned gamekeeper.  I really like the public sector feel of working for the Bank of England, that sense of making a difference.  I get to work with really smart people and the problems are varied and challenging. No two days are the same. 

Outside work, I have a wide set of interests.  I’m the mum of two girls – my oldest started at Wellington last September.  I make costumes for my youngest daughter’s dance school and sew hospital gowns for sick children through a charity called Pyjama Fairies.  And I’ve recently become a trustee of the Old Wellingtonian Society Charitable Trust. 

 

How have a found working in a mainly male-dominated industry? 

When I was Wellington there were only 50 girls in the school, with 25 each in the Upper and Lower Sixth Forms.  I was the only girl in my maths set, one of 2 in chemistry and one of 3 in physics. So I would say I now work in a much less male-dominated environment than my days at school!  It did, however, prepare me well to hold my own.

 

What has been your career highlight so far?

For those who follow the activities of the Bank of England, one of the things the Bank has been known for in recent years is its annual concurrent stress test.  I was part of the original team that designed, implemented and ran the stress tests.  Delivering such a high profile financial stability tool was a privilege and real highlight for me.  

 

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

I once heard Martha Lane Fox speak – she asked the audience to ask themselves if what they do matters. That has really stayed with me and helped ground me – I really do feel that the work I do makes a difference.  

 

What advice would you give to young OWs? 

Make sure you are passionate about the work you do.  You’ll spend the largest part of your life working so make it worthwhile.  Be happy to get up in the morning and go to work knowing you make a difference.   Don’t limit yourself to what you know – skills are eminently transferrable. 

 

Do you have a fond memory from your time at Wellington that you would like to share?

A couple of things stand out for me – perhaps more a reflection on the current times.  The first is the two choir tours I went on while I was at Wellington – to Czechoslovakia as it was then and to Italy (Florence and Siena).  They were fantastic trips and I’m only sorry that the current Wellington students aren’t getting the same opportunities.  

And my very last day at Wellington I had one exam to go.  I think about 6 of us sat the exam up in the maths block and while we were toiling away, the school year finished.  When we finally emerged, everyone had gone home!  So a somewhat surreal ending to my time at Wellington. 

Featured in the 2020 – 2021 Yearbook.