Clive Jennings

Experience

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  Forte Plc, Exclusive Hotels of the World division

  Jan 1995 - Mar 1996

  Financial Controller

  Set up the financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting systems for a new division of Forte plc with 18 luxury hotels turning over £210m.

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  Lex Service Plc

  Jun 1996 - Jun 2000

  Financial Controller, Specialist Cars Division

  Prepared 3-year strategic plan incorporating proposal to create a shared service centre to reduce costs by £0.7m.3-month secondment as General Manager of under performing dealership (Sales £17m / 50 staff). Achieved manufacturer sales targets for first time in 6 months.Evaluated and subsequently integrated two major acquisitions with a capital spend of £6m that delivered £1m in additional profit.

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  The Rank Group Plc

  Jul 2000 - Aug 2019

  Led all finance work on two M&A deals - £180m acquisition of 23 retail casinos and €52m acquisition of Spanish digital business including appraisal, DD, funding, completion negotiation and integration. Jointly identified transformational M&A opportunity through proposed 3-way merger of Rank / 888 / William Hill, identifying over £100m in quantified financial benefits. Negotiated multiple new banking facilities, including £140m acquisition facility and £80m revolving credit facilities. Developed new IR strategy resulting in appointment of new brokers, successful targeting of new investors and creation of strong relationship with new 56% majority shareholder.Negotiated settlement of long-standing tax disputes including recovery of £175m in overpaid VAT, £20m reduction in CT claims and progressed on-going VAT recovery litigation worth £100m. Jointly developed new estate strategy for 150+ UK sites covering renewal, rent negotiation, sub-let and site exit delivering cash savings of over £15m.Merged digital finance team into existing retail shared service centre and implemented new UK wide GL system to improve efficiency and reduce costs.Created a new subsidiary legal structure to match the operational structure, eliminate surplus companies and simplify overly complex intercompany balances. Show less Reduced production time for Interim and Annual Report and Accounts by one month and achieved 30% reduction in consolidation team following transition of team from London. Tendered the Group external audit leading to new appointment and 50% fee reduction. Wrote emergency three-year business plan focusing on EBITDA, interest and cash generation and then negotiated implementation of identified savings with businesses.Selected and implemented new GL accounting system across over 150 retail and corporate sites, incorporating integrated workflow and approval process.Finance lead on successful transfer of £700m DB pension plan to Rothesay Life. Show less Improved finance IT systems including new fixed assets system and re-engineered P2P process that delivered a 20% reduction in AP costsFinance lead on £150m property sale and leaseback project, including exit from over 20 onerous property leases. Led project appraisal and financial DD for 2 acquisitions with a £30m bid value. Led relationship with HMRC including negotiation of VAT refunds, 75% reduction in PAYE audit assessment value and defence of beneficial VAT method worth £2.5m. Show less

  • CFO

    Jul 2011 - Aug 2019

  • Group Financial Controller

    Oct 2006 - Jul 2011

  • Gaming Division Financial Controller

    Jul 2000 - Oct 2006
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  McBride plc

  Jun 2020 - Feb 2021

  Interim Chief Financial Officer

  Supported CEO in developing new divisional strategy to transform the Group by delivering 20% sales improvement and doubling profit, prepared 5-year financial plan, agreed cost reduction programmes, and obtained Board approval Restructured finance to support new divisional format, reduced overall cost base, re-stated prior year financials / budgets and designed new management reporting packsCompleted June 2020 year-end including consolidation, clean audit opinion, annual report, and presentation to investorsCompleted 2021 annual budget and obtained Board approvalImplemented new €25m German invoice discounting facility Show less

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  Dialight PLC

  May 2021 - Sept 2023

  Increased divisional focus on improving margin and overhead reduction rather than the historic focus on revenue maximisation Intense focus on cash management due to combination of limited undrawn facilities, excess inventory and weak tradingNegotiated revised sustainability linked RCF and subsequent conversion to USD facility, plus obtained waiver of onerous covenantJointly led raw material inventory reduction programme with Operations Director, achieving 20% reduction and improvements in requirement forecastingSupported commodity and operations team to manage SKU shortages and freight costs, along with plans to near source and insource supply (reduce China dependence)Improved cyber security defences and drove move to cloud hosting from onsite serversImproved quality of finance team, through restructuring US finance team, relocating roles into Mexico and upskilling Group FinancePlc annual report process and instigated project to simultaneously move year-end to quietest trading quarter and change reporting currency to USD Show less

  • Chief Financial Officer

    Jan 2022 - Sept 2023

  • Interim Chief Financial Officer

    May 2021 - Feb 2022
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  Vialto Partners

  Jun 2024 - now

  Interim EMEA CFO