It has been an enlightening 20 months since Dina Henry joined CAF Bank.

She had spent 32 happy years at the private bank Duncan Lawrie, where she was regional director for Kent and the South East from its office in Sevenoaks, managing the personal fortunes of some of Britain’s richest people.

After being approached by chief executive Peter Ostacchin, she took the leap into the unknown at the institution run by the Charities Aid Foundation, a move which left her with fewer tools at her disposal.

“Banking in itself is not wonderfully profitable,” said Mrs Henry.

“What is profitable is wealth management but we don’t have that here.

“We have to be service driven to help people who are otherwise incredibly busy in their own life.

“They are a busy chief executive or they are travelling the world and banking is very difficult.

“It is hard to find a bank where someone knows you at the end of the phone.

“That is what we have here.”

She is trying to bring her customer service ethos to the role of chief commercial officer of the bank, which operates out of Kings Hill and London.

The financial institution, which employs 250 people, of which 70 are based in Kent, looks after all kinds of charities and philanthropists.

“The chief executive, who I have known many years, asked if I would come here and bring my years of knowledge working with private clients and their families to CAF.

“It has been such a journey. Moving into a different environment after all that time made everything feel a lot more fulfilling. It is a very rewarding place to work.”

CAF Bank is not-for-profit, which meant the £400 million it made last year was distributed to the charity sector.

Often its work focuses on helping charities to start up.

“Their needs are so different,” said Mrs Henry. “They have got fundraising challenges and are always having to work on their costs.

“We will work through every step of the registration requirements and make sure the people setting up the charity understand the challenges they are going to face.”

What has changed in the banking sector?

“The regulatory world has increased 10-fold for people opening accounts. Banks have to satisfy their regulatory obligations. There is no way around that but it helps if you can educate charities about what they need to do. They need to think about what procedures have they got in place for age diversification or what policies do they have to make sure money reaches who it needs to.”

Is the public perception of banking becoming more positive again?

“Banking used to be a far more respected industry. Gone are the days when they were a trusted entity. The regulators had to get involved since the financial difficulties. I remember the queues from Northern Rock with people trying to get their savings they had spent years building up. Now people are slowly feeling reassured because regulators are very watchful. Not that they didn’t have systems in place before but they did not always enforce things. It means a lot of banks are having to do a lot of work to get themselves to the level the regulators expect. They don’t want a bank in this country to fall because they will end up in the same situation as Northern Rock. Although regulation is an enormous amount of work it is the right thing to do.”

How do you become a successful banker?

“The power of knowing people is huge. I get a lot of my work in Kent just from knowing people. If you are liked and treat people with the integrity they deserve, they will follow you.”

What’s the best way to climb the career ladder?

“Some industries and people are driven by targets. I have recruited some people who smash their targets but they tread all over their colleagues to get there. I would try to reach my goals without doing it in additional hours at the expense of my own time but it is very much about your own personality and working method. You must try not to add a pressure point that makes you become ineffective.”

How do you strike the work-life balance?

“I have a three-month-old granddaughter and I have promised myself that I will not look at my phone when I have her. I’m not switched off but I put it in a drawer. You have to try really hard to find that balance but I can say at this stage of my career. On the first or second rung of the ladder you want to be showing you are answering emails at 9pm. It’s all to do with life stages. But I try to encourage the ones at the start of their career, perhaps with young families, to value their own time.”

CV

Born: 23/2/1964 in Lewisham

Live: Otford

Family: Married with two grown-up children and a baby granddaugther

School: Northbrooke C of E in Lee Green

First job: Natwest payment transfers

First salary: “I can’t remember but it seemed like such a lot of money.”

Salary now: “No.”

Car: BMW 1Series Coupe

Book: Anything by Enid Blyton

Music: Cat Stevens or Enya

Gadget: Fitbit

Last holiday: Zocca in Italy

Charity: A charity which supports deaf dogs.

Typical day

Dina Henry is normally gets up at about 6.30am and is in the office by 8am. She splits her week between Kings Hill three days and London the other two.

The days are made up of face-to-face meetings. She has had four meetings by 1pm today and has another two in the afternoon. She will be talking to clients or at board meetings.

She leaves by about 6pm but will spend most evenings reading through notes. “I like to be well prepared for the next day.”

In her downtime she likes to see her new baby granddaughter, who is “addictive”. She has a close relationship with her two children and enjoys seeing family and friends.