George Okorie

I have always been a consultant. Started my career in banking and pivoted quickly into consulting for about five years before transitioning into the payments industry.

My decision to join Be UK was an easy choice for four main reasons: My passion for payments (although not yet a nerd!) having worked in the payments industry. After moving back into the industry, I was itching to get back into consulting (especially payments consulting) and Be UK was going to offer both worlds (Payments and Consulting). The clincher for me though was the seamless recruitment process. I experienced next level courteousness and friendliness in the recruitment process that I hadn’t experienced before. Finally, the level of depth in payments expertise the partner exhibited during the interview process made it very clear this was the right place for me. While I was looking to add value to the company, I was also looking for a coach/ mentor/ leader in payments to shape my career. So, I guess it all aligned perfectly for me.

I joined the firm at the beginning of 2023 after relocating from Nigeria late 2022, and in the first five-six months of joining Be UK, I worked on a very interesting and technical payments project. The project had a pan-European scope that cut across all key stakeholders in the payments ecosystem, hence it helped me to transition quickly into understanding the payments dynamics across key European markets in such a short period. Working with the team, we were able to deliver a successful project. Post that project, I have been working closely with the payments leadership team in driving business development and training for practice.

In the last 3 months, I have also been involved with driving payments regulation knowledge body within the practice – developing key insights from key payments regulation in the EU and the UK.

I would say Be UK’s culture is friendly, open, inclusive, and caring.

The friendly culture of the firm was palpable from my engagement with the head of recruitment – Chris Wells on LinkedIn. I have also experienced this culture on a day-to-day basis from the Partners to all my colleagues. Its indeed something worthy of emulation.

A abertura é vista e experimentada todos os dias no escritório e durante as reuniões. A liderança é muito acessível e eles mantêm uma política de portas abertas.

A cultura inclusiva para mim é evidenciada em como fui tratado até agora. Como pessoa negra, não me sinto isolada de meus colegas ou privado de quaisquer benefícios. A empresa tem uma boa representação de diferentes origens e isso é louvável. A inclusão também é vista na oportunidade que temos para conduzir iniciativas em toda a empresa, independentemente do nível da empresa. É um modo de vida expresso e incorporado pela liderança. O tom e a atmosfera dentro da empresa retratam um senso de segurança psicológica e cuidados genuínos que não são comuns. Como um aparte, a quantidade de frutas e lanches na cozinha também faz chegar ao escritório um empreendimento digno… 😊.

Caring: Be UK is big on charity and good works especially with the homeless people/ less privileged. It is a way of life expressed and embodied by the leadership. The tone and atmosphere within the firm portray a sense of psychological safety and genuine care that is not commonplace. As an aside, the amount of fruits and snacks in the kitchen also make coming to the office a worthy endeavour…😊.

eu amo carne! 😊

Eu não gosto de beber cerveja… 😊

eu tenho 2 filhos