Dominic Harrison Business Development Director - Employee Services Introduction and what your role is at EQ
Business Development Director – Employee Services. Ultimately a BD role is sales orientated, you are front centre in bringing in new share plans and enabling the business to grow. However, the part of the role I enjoy most is working closely with clients and solutionising; understanding their strategic goals and aims and using our comprehensive array of products and services to meet their needs.
What office are the team located at?
London – Moorgate. London is a pretty special city. I have a particular affliction for sourcing new and relatively unknown rooftop bars and/or good food spots. Let me know if you’re in need of a new favourite spot, although I might need to be persuaded to reveal the best ones!
What’s happened in your career up to this point?
I fell into employee share plans (I think most of us do!) after university and haven’t looked back. My career began with administrative roles supporting the delivery of some of the world’s largest employee share plans ranging from global/local all-employee programmes to nuanced executive schemes. Recognising I had an eye for detail but enjoyed client interaction too, I moved into client management and then business development, with a smattering of time spent in-house at BP in between! This rich tapestry has enabled me to lead the share plans BD team in EMEA for EQ.
The industry has afforded me the opportunity to travel, from US to Europe and all parts of the UK seeing prospective clients and presenting at conferences.
The great thing about employee share plans is how complex they are, providing a huge variety of products and roles; it really holds your attention and despite being in the field for a long time, I’m still constantly looking at new challenges. It’s been a fun 17-year journey thus far and I’m keen to see what the future holds!
What do you like about EQ?
The people and the culture. EQ does feel like one big family, which is hard to achieve with an organisation of this size. We really do care about our clients, and this is reflected by the client loyalty we have and the number of clients we have worked in partnership with to deliver award winning solutions over the years.
What's your biggest EQ achievement?
I think this must be two-fold.
1) In my time here, we have seen some large changes within the share plans administration landscape; share plan providers exiting the space or being acquired, which has caused significant upheaval. EQ has helped existing and new clients through this sea change and I’m proud of the dynamic role we played, supporting as many clients as we could.
2) Personally, I’ve relished the challenge of a more senior role, being thrust (somewhat uncomfortably to begin with!) into the limelight which has included presenting in front of hundreds of clients at conferences, chairing internal committees and redefining how we articulate our solution.
What are you looking forward to in the future at EQ?
In the short term I’m looking forward to travelling to Prague with my EQ colleagues to the annual GEO conference. In the longer term the technology journey we are on is exciting and I’m looking forward to the innovative solutions we’re bringing to the market to help new and existing clients.
What hobbies do you enjoy?
On the non-work side I enjoy live music, skiing, football (I currently don’t mind sharing I’m an Arsenal fan, but let’s see how this ages!), hiking, pool, good food and of course visiting rooftop bars!
A big thank you to Dominic for sharing his thoughts with us.