A day in the life
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I'm the Finance Director, and my role spans all of finance. Historically, that's meant leading the audit and managing the finance team, but more recently there's been a real focus on financial planning and analysis, or FP&A as we call it.
FP&A involves sharing financial data across the business so our colleagues can get a clearer picture of their costs and revenues, and ultimately the share of profit within the wider business.
Essentially, my job is to make that information accessible to everyone.
To do this, we set up a system that lets us produce profit and loss accounts for business owners, as well as key performance indicators from our data.
We comb through and summarise the data for colleagues, covering how each area is performing and is expected to perform, what's going well and where improvements can be made.
I enjoy the interactions. Within finance, some people prefer working through spreadsheets and data, while I’m more drawn to building relationships and helping businesses grow and improve.
I like showing people what finance can bring to a business. In some businesses, finance is seen as the team that pays the wages, does the monthly management accounts and looks after the relationship with the bank.
What I want is for the team to be at the forefront, driving the business forward, sharing data with colleagues and constantly improving things.
Business partnering is one of the key parts of an FP&A team’s role, and that means a real partnership between finance and the rest of the business. We work towards the same goal: increasing profitability and cash flow, and building a sustainable business over time.
I know this sounds a bit cheesy but as someone who’s big into team sports, achieving that reward together and sharing the journey is far better than going solo.
In all honesty, Inspired brought me in.
In support services like finance, marketing, IT and, to a degree, HR, your skills can be used in any industry. I was drawn to the drive and hunger I saw at Inspired, as well as the chance to join a growing business in a growing industry.
I also had the opportunity to learn from the people around me, really contribute to a company’s growth, get involved in acquisitions and be part of a listed business, all things I’d not done before.
One phrase that always sticks in my mind is: success is about stumbling from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm.
For me, that means trying new things and learning as you go, and I’ve been given the room to do that. I look back on my 10 years here as a success, and I hope that continues.
I’m a father of two girls, who are my world. We do a lot together as a family. Outside of work, my life is mostly about taking the girls to their activities. Both are quite sporty, so there’s cricket, gymnastics, swimming and drama classes, among other things.
Like the girls, I’m a massive sports enthusiast: I play football, golf and tennis, and I run, cycle and swim. I fit it in whenever I can, which is often in the evenings once the house is quiet. I’ve done the odd triathlon over the last couple of years too, so my life really is dominated by sport.
When I’m not with the kids or doing sport, I read and listen to a lot of podcasts, mostly about history and politics. One book I read recently was Upward Bound, a novel set in a day centre for autistic adults and told from their perspective. The author, Woody Brown, is non-verbal and autistic himself. A really interesting read.
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A look at more days in the life at Inspired.
