60 seconds with...Matthew Arena

18 April 2011 | By Robert Thickett

Why did you change your name from Exclusive Connections to Brilliant Solutions?
The main reason was because the business had changed and we wanted to let everyone know that. A key part of any business is how you portray yourself to the market. We were well known in the packaging sector but that section of our business became a small part. To continue with the old name would have been misleading.

Do you think bridging finance could be the next sub-prime bubble?
No - bridging finance is short-term funding which limits a lot of the risk in the sector.

Will the packaging sector ever return to its former glory?
No - we don’t fundamentally disagree with packaging and we’ve retained the expertise we had from when it was a key part of our business. But lenders aren’t going to return in scale to the sector. If they did it would be as a short-term solution rather than a long-term strategic partnership.

If you were in charge of the Financial Services Authority for a day what would you change?
There would be too much to tackle. I’d certainly work for the full 24 hours that day. I’d look at the imbalance between what a small brokerage is expected to do compared with what is expected of a large corporate such as HSBC.

What has been the proudest moment of your career?
I would say qualifying as an accountant about 10 years ago. It was boring and nice to put behind me.

If you could be any animal what would you be?
I’d be a lion, because my son loves them.

Who would you most like to play you in the movie of your life and why?
My son, because he’d make a mint from it and then he could retire.

What book are you currently reading?
I’m reading Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis again. It’s all about the boom and bust in the bond market during the 1980s.

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