Experience

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  Icl

  Jun 1993 - Aug 1994

  Graduate placement

  As part of my degree course the 3rd year was spent on placement at ICL as a trainee accountant, a great insight into what lied ahead for my career. As a management accountant within a head office accounting function my main role was to prepare the management accounts for several of the business divisions. At the end of the placement I was offered a place on their graduate trainee programme conditional on graduating with a 2nd class degree or better.

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  Icl

  Jul 1995 - Jun 1997

  Accountant

  My first role as an accountant having graduated from University, I was part of the graduate recruitment programme, meaning I switched jobs every 6 months to give me a full variety of exposure, and a decent grounding whilst I also studied for my CIMA qualification. The roles included group consolidation, financial accounting, business based management accounting and business analyst.

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  First quench retailing (formerly threshers)

  Jun 1997 - Jun 2000

  Management accountant / business analyst

  Whilst finishing my professional qualifications (CIMA) I worked in a wide variety of roles for First Quench Retailing (formerly Threshers, part of the Whitbread group), an FCMG company. My initial role was as the central management accountant, where the main focus of my job was to consolidate the accounts of the brands within the company and to report these back to the parent company as well as providing financial support for the head office support functionsI moved on from this role to a business analyst role for 2 of the brands. On a monthly basis I provided detailed management accounts and a brand pack and worked alongside the managers within the brand to maximise performance through product analysis, marketing analysis and also some joint venture accounting for franchised shops within the business.Achievements:Qualified CIMA with first time passes at all examsIntroduced Balanced Scorecard and KPI reporting into management account reportsPart of project team that developed a new franchise off license based model Show less

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  Fairview homes

  Jul 2000 - Apr 2001

  Financial controller

  Reporting to the Finance Director and providing support to the senior management team my role was to manage the daily running of the finance department. Main tasks included:- Managing a team of 3- Responsible for accurate and timely monthly and annual accounts- Produce monthly board report- Prepare evaluations for potential sites alongside the land department- Manage the company balance sheet- Monthly VAT returns- Joint Venture accounting for a large development preparing accounts for the venture partners as well as the Fairview directors Show less

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  Rectory homes

  May 2001 - Mar 2003

  Financial controller

  I was recruited to set up and run a finance function for this growing niche housebuilder providing full financial control and support to the owner and business directors. Main tasks included:- Set up an in-house finance function to include all policies, processes and financial control- Manage and develop the finance team of 3, including developing and managing the Sage accountancy software- Produce monthly board report and present to board of directors- Responsible for accurate and timely monthly, quarterly and annual accounts- Manage the cashflow on a weekly basis including drawdowns from the bank against phases of each development- Process the monthly payroll for the company using Sage payroll- Work alongside external tax advisors to ensure optimal policies where required- Manage the annual audit process with the external auditors- Oversee the CIS payments- Regular VAT returns- Manage the company balance sheet especially assets including work in progress, debtors and creditorsAchievements:- Created complete set of financial controls for the company including the accounting system structure on Sage- Refined cashflow reporting to ensure far greater control of the business- Improved the management reporting information to provide the owner/directors with the best information to successfully run the business- Managed successive clean audits after year end process had been completed Show less

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  Westbury homes (nw region)

  Apr 2003 - Mar 2004

  Regional finance director

  I was responsible for the day to day running of the finance function and a member of the regional board for 12 months (maternity cover).My main tasks included:- Manage a team of 15- Member of regional board making strategic decisions - Produce and present a monthly board pack for both regional board and head office- Responsible for accurate and timely monthly, quarterly and annual accounts- Active management and forecasting of cashflow on a weekly basis- Provide financial support to the main business functions, especially construction, technical, land and sales- Evaluate the financial viability of future sites to assist in land purchase decisions- Maintain the profit and loss accounts for each active site to ensure profit maximisation by ensuring correct sales prices and controlling costs- Manage the regional balance sheet including fixed assets register, debtors and creditorsAchievements:- Part of management team in divisions most profitable year to date- Managed to implement over £1m of cost savings in the financial year- Ran a successful finance division that met all its key indicators for the year Show less

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  Self employed

  Mar 2004 - Mar 2021

  Internet trader

  For 15+ years I have been a self-employed trader, trading anything from individual stocks and the main stock market indices, to currencies and in more recent years trading on the Betfair betting platform. The various types of trading have been a diverse range but all have required a very disciplined and controlled approach, with a large emphasis of managing risk against reward whilst maintaining decent money management. During 2016/17 I also spent just over 12 months completely renovating a 4 bed detached property, turning a tired, dated and barely habitable bungalow into a modern contemporary energy efficient home, managing the project to come in on budget and in 2019/20 renovated a 3 bed detached bungalow on the South Coast. Time to find the next property project for 2021/22......I have also undertaken some short term accountancy contracts for local small businesses, the most recent in 2015 for a local property business. Show less