London, England, United Kingdom
Leading the Finance function Investor relations Company Secretary
Head of Finance / Financial Controller Managing all elements of the Finance function focusing on the Commercial analysis of the business driving informed decision making as well as producing Management and Year end statutory accounting. Performing the lead Finance role at board level. • Production of a full set of accounts £21.5m Turnover, EBITDA £800k (FY17) • Developing the full suite of KPI’s and commercial analysis • Providing key analysis and commentary for the board and presenting and advising on strategy at the monthly board meeting. • Driving process improvement across the business based on data • Responsible for hedging over £9 million pounds of Foreign currency, purchasing Forward contracts at appropriate times to lock in an FX gain for the company • Ownership of the complete Budgeting and Forecasting process and the 3 year strategic plan. • Project accounting and overseeing the launch of the new website and back end systems • Ownership of the Management accountancy reporting across the company. • Responsible for the Treasury and Cash flow aspects of the business. • Managing and developing the Finance team of 8 people • Presenting to the whole company (110 people) on a monthly basis, communicating key messages to the business. Additionally hosting the Christmas party company awards every year.
The number one finance position within this creative optimisation marketing company reporting directly to the CEO and responsible for the entire breadth of Finance within the company (FY14 £4.5m revenue, headcount 50) • Upon the loss of three of the company’s major clients I was responsible for leading discussions with the CFO of Hogarth, the parent company, and our auditors BDO to facilitate the liquidation of the company and the transfer of full ownership of residual assets to the parent company. • Responsible for completion of the Financial statements – Balance Sheet, P&L and cash flow. • Responsible for cash management which was particularly important during a difficult time for the company. • Carrying out budgeting and forecasting, and reporting this to our parent company (Hogarth and WPP). • Advising on pricing and reviewing the profitability of in flight projects. • Running the weekly board meeting reviewing the numbers and advising and influencing strategy in a rapidly changing environment.
Finance Manager – Sportsbook business P&L (February 13 – October 13) • Finance responsibility for the full P&L of the newly launched, high growth Sportsbook business (FY13 revenues £40m). • Analysing the performance of the customers integrated from the newly acquired sportsbook company, Blue Square, into Betfair and advising on appropriate strategy to deal with these customers. Retention strategy had to be altered as a result of their unique churn profile. • Building a model to forecast revenues and other metrics using historical trends where possible, data obtained from Blue Square and sporting event data as well as planned Marketing activity which was used to calculate churn, and direct and cross sell activations metrics. • Regular analysis and reporting of key metrics impacting the Sportsbook including number of actives, average volume per user, bet size, bet frequency, and Margin which influenced key decision making within the senior management team. This resulted in increased emphasis on trying to improve bet frequency and a change in hedging strategy to improve margin. • Business partnering offering key finance support to the senior executives of the Sportsbook business.
Business Controller Sports and Mobile Product (October 10 – January 13) • Responsible for looking at, and critically assessing, contracts and business cases for the Sports, Racing and Mobile Product teams delivering £40-£80m revenue each year. The unique cashout product which Betfair currently leads with in its advertising campaigns was one such product initiative that I assessed and advised to follow through with. • Fully briefing the CFO with a summary of each business case, giving my assessment including key risks and benefits in advance of the RAB – roadmap approval board. • Advising on the prioritisation of each new feature based on a number of key factors including regulation, customer requirement, time to market and return on investment which ensured Betfair had a roadmap consistent with utilising its level of investment in product development to gain maximum benefit. • Involvement in the monthly RAB meeting, which included members of the Executive board, to assist the product owner and the RAB with the financials where necessary. • Analysing the various new channels and products that were approved and then launched by the Product department, implementing relevant reporting and project accounting. This enabled new products to be evaluated and provided valuable feedback to the Product, Technology and Commercial departments. • Forecasting and budgeting of both the costs and revenues for new product initiatives. This involved working with Commercial Finance to phase new product launches into their forecasts.
Finance Manager - Product and Operations (October 09 – September 10) • Liaising with directors and managers providing financial and business recommendations to the various key senior stakeholders. • Carrying out forecasting, budgeting and the formulation of the long range plan for the entire cost base in the Product and Operations departments. • Responsible for managing the capital expenditure, operational, and variable costs. (£40m opex, £20m capex, £10m variable). • Cost management of the project to relocate staff to new offices overseas to reduce the cost base and to comply with new government regulation. • Management of the Assistant Accountant and Graduate, improving management skills. • Regular 6 Sigma project assessment and financial sign off which ensured that operational efficiency projects realised their stated benefits.