Sarel Hiemstra

Experience

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  KPMG

  Jan 1995 - Mar 1998

  Accounting Trainee & supervisor

  Audit of various clients in mining, manufacturing and local goverment

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  Nettec Plc

  Mar 2000 - Mar 2002

  Group Financial Controller

  Internet consultant and Portal developing company - listed on LSE

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  Riversoft PLC

  Mar 2002 - Nov 2002

  Group Financial Controller

  Provider of Network Management Software. Listed on the LSE - turnover circa £6m p/a.Responsible for entire finance function and assisted with the sale of the company to Micromuse

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  Micromuse

  Nov 2002 - Jun 2006

  EMEA Finance Director

  Network Management Software Company - listed on NASDAQ. Turnover $200m. Managed a team of eight staff responsible for all financial aspects of the EMEA region including accounting, tax, treasury, statutory and company secretarial obligations.Provided commercial and sales support to optimise revenue under US GAAP. Managed the financial integration of the Riversoft Group following its acquisition by Micromuse and decommissioned the various Riversoft entities across Europe.Successfully rolled out SOX controls for the region against an extremely tight deadline.Managed the finances of the region during a period of fast growth, a decline and a subsequent recovery leading to the acquisition of the group by IBM. Show less

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  IBM

  Jul 2007 - Jun 2011

  Joined the IBM Software division for UK & Ireland after Micromuse was acquired by IBM in late 2005. Annual turnover for this division in 2009 - circa $1bn. Employees 1000+ Operational Head of Finance for the UK Software business, managed a team of five utilising shared service centres for back-office functions. Delivered accurate forecasting and commercial support during a period where software business grew from $600m to over $1bn. Full P&L responsibility and had to initiate remedial actions where it was clear that profit targets were challenged.Deployed the substantial revenue budget across industries and gained support from industry executives in a complex matrixed environment. In conjunction with Sales, ensured resources were adequately deployed to meet targets.Acted as integration lead for the Micromuse group into IBM and assisted with the integration of several subsequent multimillion dollar acquisitionsIdentified as Top Talent and joined the executive leadership development program. Show less

  • Business Process Outsourcing - Commercial & Pricing

    Sept 2009 - Jun 2011

  • Divisional CFO for Software Business - UK & Ireland

    Jul 2007 - Sept 2009
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  Grass Valley - Global Provider of Broadcast Technology

  Mar 2011 - Mar 2014

  Vice President Finance - EMEA

  Private Equity turnaround project. Project entailed a complete transformation of the business. Head of finance for EMEA. Company size = circa 1000 employees and $350m turnover p/a. Broadcast technology sector.Supported the regional MD and leadership team with the complete business transformation of the group in EMEA as part of a Private Equity Turnaround project.Led the negotiations and facilitated due diligence of the divestment of the company’s System Integration business in GermanyManaged team of 32 across 8 trading subsidiaries. Transformed finance by establishing a Shared Service Centre in the UKIntegration of a Netherland's based "Play-out in a box" technology company.Devised comprehensive set of KPIs for the region covering product and services margins, cost reporting, overdue AR and cash collection metrics and rolling forecasts. Managed all financial aspects of the EMEA region including accounting, tax, treasury, statutory compliance and tight working capital management.Rolled out a single banking platform to establish cash pooling across EMEA delivering substantial improvement in cash management. Managed and produced a detailed bottoms-up budget for region driving tighter integration with other functions and departments in subsequent cycles.Monitored large System Integration projects focusing on margins, cash flow and accounting. Show less

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  Atos

  Jul 2014 - Sept 2014

  Interim CFO - UK Private Sector

  New business evaluation and deal support2015 planning and creation of Investment business case for the Private sector in order to achieve the 3 year desired growth plans

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  Dimension Data

  Oct 2014 - Dec 2023

  Creation of a MEA Business Service Centre including Finance, HR, IT & Procurement operations Creation and roll out of a Shared Services Centre for the MEA region

  • Business Services Executive

    Oct 2019 - Dec 2023

  • Head of Shared Services - MEA region

    Oct 2014 - Oct 2019
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  NTT

  Sept 2022 - now

  Vice President - I&T Digital Enablement - MEA