Q&A with Christine Healy & Hannah Yates

We are thrilled to have interviewed both Christine Healy and Hannah Yates on our
Accounts Receivable & Inventory Field Exam Team.

Thank you Christine and Hannah for taking the time to do a Q&A with us!

Get to Know Christine Healy

Christine has been with Hilco for more than 5 years and is a Senior Director on our Accounts Receivable team.

How did you get into this industry?

As many often do I found myself in the world of corporate recovery 30+ years ago without really planning to. I wanted a job in accountancy but needed a stop gap for a year to be able to save the money to take a year out travelling and got offered a job within an accountancy firm in the insolvency team so I took it. I enjoyed the experience and when I returned from my travels in the early 90s, the UK was in a recession, so I found myself well placed to secure a job in corporate recovery.

I did another 15 years in corporate restructuring within accountancy firms and then decided I wanted to gain experience in lending as a change to recovering funds for the secured lenders and unsecured creditors and moved to RBS. Within a short period of time the credit crunch of 2008 hit so I ended up not only gaining experience in ABL and more traditional bank lending but also restructuring from the lenders perspective over the 10 years there.

After an employment break, I contacted Chris Hall at Hilco knowing he would have his ear to the ground for potential job vacancies within both ABL and corporate restructuring and he offered me a job. The rest is history!

What does a typical day look like?

There is no typical day! That is the beauty. Whilst some of the engagements may have a similar scope and similar analysis, each project is in a different industry, in a different location, with different people with differing requirements as to what they are seeking to achieve.

How has the industry changed since you first started?

Try not to laugh but my first job had hand written ledgers and I shared a computer across the desk with my manager and all correspondence was via letter. Technology has massively changed how we all work regardless of industry; computers, email, mobile phones, remote working, Teams calls, access to data and the ability to research and analyse data.

Get to Know Hannah Yates

We were thrilled to welcome Hannah to Hilco at the beginning of last year. Hannah joined as an Associate Director on our Accounts Receivable team.

What were you doing before you joined Hilco?

Before joining Hilco, I was a field examiner for US based FGI, I was based within the UK but was also very lucky to travel out to the US on occasion.

Prior to this I was working for HSBC, of whom I was with from the age of 18, I progressed from a complaint’s adviser, to an internal auditor, and then on to a field examiner within their Global Trade and Receivables Finance world, this is where I became a “home grown” field examiner, with the help of some fabulous people along the way.

What has been the most challenging part of your career so far?

Navigating the industry since (sorry to say the word) COVID. As I have done a similar role for a number of years, I’ve seen first-hand the way we manage and complete our work has chopped and changed year by year. The lack of interaction with our colleagues and industry friends throughout this time did take a toll on many and I know I am not alone in saying I’m so happy we are in a place in which asking contacts or colleagues if they want to go for a coffee doesn’t include a face mask and a socially distanced table. It also means for those of us that do field related work, we are finally back out doing the field part!

I really have a great appreciation for how Hilco have managed to evolve within the industry in spite of that period of time, it has been clear since joining that in many ways Hilco have used the challenges as a springboard to learn and be innovative about new ways of working which have simplified and streamlined many of our ways of working.

What is the most useful skill you have learnt to date?

During the earlier stages of my career as a field examiner I was sent with my overnight bag and recently learnt knowledge, on the road to Grimsby. It was here I was completing an asset-based lending, recurring field exam of a frozen seafood company, specifically, a review that was inventory related. Armed with my trench style jacket, thin socks and steel-toe cap boots (perhaps the only sensible part), no gloves, and an attitude of ‘how cold can it REALLY be’ I strolled into the coldstore office with a smile on my face and an eagerness reflected in my lengthy inventory sample listing. I was welcomed with a friendly grin, a raised eyebrow and a warning of “your pen won’t work in there duck”..

Minutes into my walk round the coldstore, things weren’t looking good when I started to realise that my nose hairs were frozen (my first thought.. “I have nose hairs?!”). I embarrassingly had to leave the -20 degrees coldstore after minutes as I could not hold the pencil any longer and needed to defrost. It’s situations (and faux pas!) like these that I feel I’ve learnt the most from and leads me into my most useful learnt skill: Preparation in all its forms!

Taking Stock and Driving Value 

Our specialist appraisals team will provide you with accurate and detailed reporting on your client’s inventory holdings, giving you the clarity you need to support your lending decisions.

Our ability to report reliable values is built on a combination of real time company and market data together with the strength of real world asset sales experience.

The Remarkable Women at Hilco Valuation Services

Don’t miss our Spring update, celebrating the incredible women who drive growth here at Hilco.