Paul J.

Group Chief Financial Officer leading sustainable growth and financial excellence

Chalfont St Peter, England, United Kingdom

About

My focus is on driving sustainable growth and performance. With a tenure that includes negotiating a pioneering Sustainability-Linked Loan, launching a £120m equity placing, and expertly managing acquisitions like Nu-Heat and Adey, my leadership is defined by proactive financial stewardship and strategic acumen. As part of the executive team, analytical skills are the cornerstone of my approach, ensuring robust financial frameworks and risk management. These competencies were pivotal in securing a £50m COVID-19 facility and £200m Euro commercial paper funding, testament to our team's resilience and commitment to operational excellence.

Experience

  • Xaar (United Kingdom · On-site)
    • Chief Financial Officer
      Jan 2025 - Present · 1 yr 7 mos

      Oversee financial operations for a leading industrial digital printing company, Xaar, in the United Kingdom. Implementing strategic financial planning to support innovation and growth in the automotive, clothing, and construction industries.

    • Interim Chief Financial Officer
      Nov 2024 - Jan 2025 · 3 mos

  • Group Chief Financial Officer at Biffa
    Sep 2023 - Nov 2024 · 1 yr 3 mos

    Biffa is the UK's leading waste management company and is owned by Private Equity. The business is spread over some 400 sites covering the entire country with some 11,000 employees, a fleet of some 4,000 vehicles and revenues in excess of £1 billion. It is a business of scale and dynamism, at the forefront of finding sustainable solutions to society's waste.

  • Group Chief Financial Officer at Genuit Group
    Mar 2018 - Sep 2023 · 5 yrs 7 mos

    Genuit Group (formerly Polypipe) is a FTSE 250 listed company of scale and growth - leading the manufacture and supply of water and air management systems for the construction industry. These include plumbing and drainage solutions, flood attentuation products and ventilation and heat exchange technologies. It is based across more than twenty sites in the UK and Netherlands with some 1,800 employees. Revenues are in excess of £1 billion. Member of main Board. Leadership of Group Finance function, chair of Group Risk Committee. August 2022: Negotiated a new Sustainability-Linked Loan with existing syndicate of banks and a Private Placement to run in parallel. Feb 2021: acquisition of Nu-Heat for £27m (8.7x) and Adey for £210m (11.8x), the latter partly-funded by an underwritten 8.2% placing. We expect double-digit eps growth and ROIC equaling WACC by year 2 from these acquisitions. Gearing sub 1.5x by year end. May 2020: successful £120m equity placing, negotiated £50m 12 month COVID-19 facility with existing syndicate and deferral of covenant tests on RCF. Secured additional £200m Euro commercial paper funding backed by HM Treasury. M&A: completed the disposal of Polypipe France and (after May 2018 Capital Markets Day) acquisitions and integration of Dutch business (Permavoid), Manthorpe Building Products, Alderburgh group of companies, Nu-Heat and Adey over period 2018-2021. Balance sheet: brought forward renewal of £300m revolving credit facility with new £50m uncommitted accordion on top and options to extend up to 7 years. Debt was signed with improved commercial terms and a strengthened syndicate. Internally, rapidly integrated new businesses onto Group single-instance ERP platform, implemented OneStream reporting (July 2019), founded new Internal Audit function, implemented new Minimum Controls and Risk Management frameworks.

  • Non-Executive Director: Audit Committee at The Southern Co-operative
    Mar 2015 - Apr 2019 · 4 yrs 2 mos

    Non-executive role providing additional challenge in the Audit Committee by bringing Paul's full experience to bear.

  • Group Financial Controller at Currys plc
    Jan 2014 - Mar 2018 · 4 yrs 3 mos

    Curry's (formerly Dixon's Carphone plc) is a FTSE 250 listed company and the UK's leading retailer of electronic products. It has lead the way for over a decade in online retailing and extends over hundreds of sites in the UK, the Nordics and Greece. Broad scope: Group FP&A, Group Reporting, Group Risk, Group Taxation, Group M&A, Sprint USA, "honeybee" software business, Group Insurance. Some IR when Group CFO can't make it (eg. USA roadshow in December 2016). Barely hit the ground when started work on the merger. "Hard yards": defined and built a new Group Finance function and met the new Group's targets. Work evolved into the Finance Transformation Programme (stronger talent base, new EPM, new in-house and third party Shared Services after processes harmonised, "Blue Prism" process automisation etc). Regular main board exposure - especially through Audit Commmittee engagement. Deloitte Next Generation CFO Programme (February 2014 - present).