1. Celebrating difference

“Starling is the most inclusive workplace that I’ve ever worked at,” says Learning & Development Trainer Erin Wilcox. “I’m not afraid to be me. Starling welcomes people from all backgrounds and celebrates our differences.”

Welcoming each new starter is part and parcel of our culture. Head of Corporate Affairs Alexandra Frean says: “One of my favourite things is when the People team announces the names of new joiners and hundreds of people within the organisation give them a welcome wave on Slack.”

Among those working at Starling, you’ll find musicians and maths teachers, personal trainers and make-up artists, people who’ve worked in the theatre and people who’ve worked in care homes, as well as engineers and financial services experts. “Not everyone comes from a Banking or Corporate background,” says Amber Lewis, part of our Operational Support team. She previously worked in the dental industry.

Amber adds: “By allowing us to have autonomy over how we dress, the colour of our hair and when we take our coffee/tea breaks, Starling has built a bank full of people who are appreciated for how we provide for our customers and colleagues, not for how well we wear a suit and tie.” Our team is multicultural and multinational, made up of people of all ages, backgrounds and walks of life.

2. You can ask the CEO anything

Every week, our founder and CEO Anne Boden answers our questions through a live streamed interview, something we call #AskAnne. Questions range from ‘How do you prepare for a media interview?’ to ‘If you could travel back in time, which era would you choose?’

“With #AskAnne and the #BrightIdeas channel it’s clear Starling means it when we are encouraged to make suggestions and ask questions. There’s complete transparency and real encouragement to speak up,” says Credit Fraud Investigator Lowri Lamendola. The #BrightIdeas Slack channel is where we suggest new products, features or tweaks for the Starling app.

For Social Media Manager Neema Cox, the way we use Slack feeds into Starling’s culture. “One of the first things I noticed when I joined was the lack of hierarchy. Everyone slacked everyone regardless of job title. Everyone is approachable,” she says.

3. No such thing as a silly question

At Starling, there’s no such thing as a silly question, a phrase that Copywriter Charlotte Lorimer used to sum up how we work: “It’s what I tell anyone starting out at Starling. For me, it captures the way we encourage everyone to learn, listen and help each other.”

Engineer James Moreton adds: “When I joined the engineering team, I had so many questions but there were always people passionate to help and share information.” James moved from our operations team to our engineering team two years ago.

4. Independence and new opportunities

At Starling, we want people to learn new things and challenge themselves. We also trust people to stand on their own two feet. “Starling has given me so many opportunities to try and learn new things - it’s flexible and supportive,” says Stephanie Deeble, who joined Starling as a receptionist and now works in Credit and Lending.

Social Media Manager Lily Edwards agrees: “The flexibility to try new things here is great! I’d never worked in social media before joining Starling, but they gave me the opportunity to run with it and learn on the job.

When it comes to behind the scenes of working at Starling, Operations Coordinator Callaghn Moseley sums it up: “The secret of Starling really is the collective sense of unity you get when working here.”

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