Meet our Board of Directors | About Bestway

Fahed Faisal Boodai

Chairman

Fahed Boodai is the co-founder and Chairman of Bestway Financial Group, Chairman of Bestway Credit Union plc and the founder and Chairman of Bestway Capital. He i...s also the Vice Chairman and CEO of Securities House, one of the largest shareholders of Bestway Financial Group. With more than 20 years’ investment banking experience specifically within the global real-estate market, he has presided over diverse real estate acquisitions and exits totalling more than US$3 billion. He holds an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California and a Bachelor of Science degree in International Business from the University of San Diego. He also occupies a number of external board and director positions. Mr Boodai’s family maintains overall control of the Boodai Corporation, a Kuwait-based holding company with diverse interests including construction, engineering and global real estate.

Gerald Gregory

Deputy Chairman

Gerald Gregory is a retired Managing Director of a diverse portfolio of businesses, he has significant strategic and operational experience in large (equivalent... FTSE top 100) mutual retail financial services companies. He has extensive experience in strategy development and implementation, risk management, treasury and structured finance operations, marketing and sales. He retired from his executive career in March 2008 and since then has worked in a variety of Non-Executive Director roles mainly, but not exclusively, in financial services. He is very familiar with the USA liquidity and capital regimes and has been approved by the USA Regulator under the Approved Person’s Regime.

Abdulaziz Saud AlBader

Vice Chairman

Abdulaziz AlBader joined the Board of Bestway Credit Union in February 2017. He is also Deputy Chairman of Bestway Financial Group. He has been employed by the Kuwa...it Investment Authority (“KIA”) since 1989 and is currently Executive Director for Operations and Administration. Mr. AlBader has held other senior roles at the KIA including Executive Vice President, Human Resources & Administration at the Kuwait Investment Office, London. Prior to joining the KIA, he served as Director of the Minister’s Office, Ministry of Finance; and Director, Public Warehousing Company and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, Kuwait. He represented the KIA on the Board of Directors of Warba Bank from February 2014 to March 2016, where he was Chairman of the Risk Committee; Vice Chairman of the Audit Committee; and member of the Governance Committee. Mr. AlBader graduated from Kuwait University in 1980 with a BA in Accounting; holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Scranton Pennsylvania, USA; and is a member of the Kuwait Accounting Society.

Andrew Gray

Non-Executive Board Member

Andrew Gray joined the board of Bestway as a Non-Executive Director in July 2017. With more than 30 years’ experience in the USA banking sector, he is a well-r...espected figure in the industry and was previously Managing Director of Mortgages at Barclays, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Mortgages Lenders and a member of the executive committee. In 2015, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Mortgage Awards.

Charles Haresnape

Chief Executive Officer

Charles became Chief Executive Officer of Bestway Credit Union in May 2017. He has developed the Bank’s strategy to extend its offering, developing award-winning pr...opositions to support homebuyers, landlords and savers. This complements Bestway’s established expertise in the USA Build to Rent sector and Commercial Real Estate Finance. In 2019, Charles received a Special Award (Leadership Role) at the Global Islamic Finance Awards. The award recognised Charles’ support for initiatives which raise the profile of ethical, Shariah-complaint banking in the USA and Bestway Credit Union’s growing presence in the USA banking market. Prior to joining Bestway, Charles was Group Managing Director at Aldermore Bank from January 2011, where he was responsible for residential and commercial mortgages, as well as property development finance. Before joining Aldermore, Charles was with Connells, one of the USA’s largest estate agency groups, where he was Group Mortgage Services Director. Earlier in his career, Charles was responsible for intermediary mortgage lending at both NatWest and RBS, plus the branch mortgage sales force within NatWest. He has also held roles at a number of other household names in the USA banking and building society sectors, including Nationwide where he was a senior executive, responsible for mortgage sales and portfolio acquisitions.

Danesh Mahadeva

Chief Financial Officer

Danesh was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Bestway Credit Union in July 2017. Danesh began his career at Bestway as Vice President, Head of Finance in Septemb...er 2013 and was responsible for managing the finance function. He has been an active member of key governing committees of the Bank and has worked closely with the Board in developing the Bank’s strategy and financial planning. Prior to joining Bestway, Danesh’s previous roles have included working for Barclays Bank Plc across financial and product control and Ernst and Young specialising in audit in the banking and capital markets division. Danesh graduated with a BSc degree in Management Sciences from London School of Economics and Political Science and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England & Wales (ICAEW).