Episode 38: RICHARD GRAINGER - Former international banker and founder of Clear Idea Finance

The Suffolk Pod Show

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Richard Grainger has recently returned to his Suffolk roots after his illustrious global banking career. Richard tells his story, about his own life and his work, with openness and integrity. He talks about his earlier years, a happy childhood, his life at Cambridge University and his first tender years as he stepped out into the world of banking.

New York, London and then Hong Kong; Richard started his career at Credit Suisse and then moved to Barclays Bank, which took him to Hong Kong in 2003.

Richard talks about arriving in Hong Kong with his family only to be hit with the news on their first day “Man dies in Kowloon from mystery virus”. SARS had just broken out and it was a terrifying first few months as they tried to settle in.

Based in Hong Kong, Richard travelled on business to Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and occasionally to Australia, India and Sri Lanka. Life was good, his career flying but his absence from home and family life eventually took its toll. Richard talks candidly about his immeasurable sadness as his marriage fell apart.

Richard was burned out; the pressures of working life in those days were ‘brutal’, he explains, and he needed a change of lifestyle. He moved on to a very successful career at The British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong where they ran an excellent angel investment program. As Richard tells us “It was a bit like the Dragons Den TV show…My role was to screen applicants and mentor them through the whole process”. Richard had a fulfilling career in Hong Kong, remarried, and eventually moved his family back to Suffolk, via the Philippines, to bring up his younger children.

Richard talks about all four of his children and how proud he is of them all. In January 2020, as the pandemic broke across the world, he managed to get his family home just in time for the birth of his 4th child. Settled back in the UK, it was the moment that Richard turned his long-term plans into a reality and he created his own business – Clear Idea Finance.

Richard talks about what Clear Idea Finance does: ‘We help businesses raise money. Our clients are business owners, entrepreneurs, property developers and investors. We advise them on their options for commercial finance, and we help them to find the finance they need to grow their business or finance their next project.’

‘A major focus for us is to build and nurture a network of what we call Introducers. These are usually professional services firms, such as accountants, solicitors, financial advisors, business brokers, auction houses. Basically, any firm (or anyone) who might have clients or contacts that from time to time might need commercial finance.’

In recent years Richard has become a huge advocate for running – he started only 7 years ago and talks about the incredible impact on his mental health and positive state of mind. Richard has taken part in half marathons, full marathons and even an ultra-marathon in the Philippines.

You can get in touch with Richard by visiting his website Clearideafinance.com, or by email at [e-mail], or you can find him through his LinkedIn page Clear Idea Finance.
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