Derren Smith
Member at GrowCFO- Claim this Profile
Click to upgrade to our gold package
for the full feature experience.
Topline Score
Bio
Lucy Baldwin
Derren is a pleasure to know, to work with and is a tremendous asset to any company. As well as Derren's day to day role Derren successfully delivered numerous key projects for Meggitt. He is a finance professional with many extra skills. Derren is an outstanding manager and is a great believer in developing his team. All of whom i am sure never had a bad word to say about him. Derren consistently delivered and always acts in a professional manner, is structured in his approach, is motivated, dedicated and takes pride in whatever he delivers while maintaining a calm and methodical approach in sometimes difficult situations. Derren is a true professional and will be a great asset to any organisation. Whislt Derren never directly managed me i chose to ask Derren to be my mentor. This was definitely one of my better decisions and i only wish i had done this sooner to benefit more from that scenario. His calm no nonsense approach makes him an ideal mentor and he is only too willing to impart his vast knowledge and experience with you.
John C.
I worked with Derren as a peer for 3 years whilst at Meggitt. He and I worked closely together on a number of projects including forecasting excellence and global shared service consolidation and improvement and he is without doubt one of the most supportive and constructive colleagues that I have worked with in my professional career. A wise counsellor, Derren is thoughtful and considered, having a clear vision of what he wants to deliver and how he wants to deliver it and the skills and drive to get things done. He was an excellent colleague and partner and I would not hesitate to work with him again.
Lucy Baldwin
Derren is a pleasure to know, to work with and is a tremendous asset to any company. As well as Derren's day to day role Derren successfully delivered numerous key projects for Meggitt. He is a finance professional with many extra skills. Derren is an outstanding manager and is a great believer in developing his team. All of whom i am sure never had a bad word to say about him. Derren consistently delivered and always acts in a professional manner, is structured in his approach, is motivated, dedicated and takes pride in whatever he delivers while maintaining a calm and methodical approach in sometimes difficult situations. Derren is a true professional and will be a great asset to any organisation. Whislt Derren never directly managed me i chose to ask Derren to be my mentor. This was definitely one of my better decisions and i only wish i had done this sooner to benefit more from that scenario. His calm no nonsense approach makes him an ideal mentor and he is only too willing to impart his vast knowledge and experience with you.
John C.
I worked with Derren as a peer for 3 years whilst at Meggitt. He and I worked closely together on a number of projects including forecasting excellence and global shared service consolidation and improvement and he is without doubt one of the most supportive and constructive colleagues that I have worked with in my professional career. A wise counsellor, Derren is thoughtful and considered, having a clear vision of what he wants to deliver and how he wants to deliver it and the skills and drive to get things done. He was an excellent colleague and partner and I would not hesitate to work with him again.
Lucy Baldwin
Derren is a pleasure to know, to work with and is a tremendous asset to any company. As well as Derren's day to day role Derren successfully delivered numerous key projects for Meggitt. He is a finance professional with many extra skills. Derren is an outstanding manager and is a great believer in developing his team. All of whom i am sure never had a bad word to say about him. Derren consistently delivered and always acts in a professional manner, is structured in his approach, is motivated, dedicated and takes pride in whatever he delivers while maintaining a calm and methodical approach in sometimes difficult situations. Derren is a true professional and will be a great asset to any organisation. Whislt Derren never directly managed me i chose to ask Derren to be my mentor. This was definitely one of my better decisions and i only wish i had done this sooner to benefit more from that scenario. His calm no nonsense approach makes him an ideal mentor and he is only too willing to impart his vast knowledge and experience with you.
John C.
I worked with Derren as a peer for 3 years whilst at Meggitt. He and I worked closely together on a number of projects including forecasting excellence and global shared service consolidation and improvement and he is without doubt one of the most supportive and constructive colleagues that I have worked with in my professional career. A wise counsellor, Derren is thoughtful and considered, having a clear vision of what he wants to deliver and how he wants to deliver it and the skills and drive to get things done. He was an excellent colleague and partner and I would not hesitate to work with him again.
Lucy Baldwin
Derren is a pleasure to know, to work with and is a tremendous asset to any company. As well as Derren's day to day role Derren successfully delivered numerous key projects for Meggitt. He is a finance professional with many extra skills. Derren is an outstanding manager and is a great believer in developing his team. All of whom i am sure never had a bad word to say about him. Derren consistently delivered and always acts in a professional manner, is structured in his approach, is motivated, dedicated and takes pride in whatever he delivers while maintaining a calm and methodical approach in sometimes difficult situations. Derren is a true professional and will be a great asset to any organisation. Whislt Derren never directly managed me i chose to ask Derren to be my mentor. This was definitely one of my better decisions and i only wish i had done this sooner to benefit more from that scenario. His calm no nonsense approach makes him an ideal mentor and he is only too willing to impart his vast knowledge and experience with you.
John C.
I worked with Derren as a peer for 3 years whilst at Meggitt. He and I worked closely together on a number of projects including forecasting excellence and global shared service consolidation and improvement and he is without doubt one of the most supportive and constructive colleagues that I have worked with in my professional career. A wise counsellor, Derren is thoughtful and considered, having a clear vision of what he wants to deliver and how he wants to deliver it and the skills and drive to get things done. He was an excellent colleague and partner and I would not hesitate to work with him again.
Experience
-
GrowCFO
-
United Kingdom
-
Professional Training and Coaching
-
1 - 100 Employee
-
Member
-
Jan 2023 - Present
GrowCFO is a global community built by and for ambitious finance leaders. We help you build the professional and personal skills, confidence and connections you need to achieve your full potential.Members receive exclusive access to peer group development programmes, on-demand training resources, executive mentoring, collaborative events, insightful content and more. We have helped thousands of finance professionals through innovative capability assessments, personalised action plans and practical resources.
-
-
-
Meggitt
-
United Kingdom
-
Aviation and Aerospace Component Manufacturing
-
700 & Above Employee
-
Senior Vice President Finance Central & Functions
-
Jun 2022 - Dec 2022
Reporting to the CFO and as a key member of the Finance Leadership team I am accountable for the performance of the Global Finance Shared Services Team, Finance Business Partnering of Global Functions and Central Businesses as well as the leadership of the Meggitt Group Data Team.I act as a Change Leader for the business and strive to improve business performance outcomes.I encourage and live a High Performance Culture and believe strongly in empowering and supporting others to deliver outstanding results.During my time I have developed a Finance Transformation Programme and implemented many of the changes with significant focus upon the Change Management activities
-
-
Vice President Finance Central & Functions
-
Jan 2019 - Jun 2022
-
-
Chief Information Officer [interim]
-
Jul 2020 - Nov 2020
-
-
Vice President Finance - Group Operations
-
Jun 2016 - Jul 2020
-
-
Business Leader Meggitt Business Intelligence Systems
-
Oct 2013 - Jun 2016
Leading a global implementation of SAP data warehouse (BW) and BI4 reporting suite to provide Business Intelligence reporting capability for finance, operations, sales and supply chain along with the deployment of SAP Business Planning and consolidation (BPC) for forecasting, budgeting and planning. The delivery team including IBM Global Business Services resources consists of around 20 staff. Active work streams include infrastructure and applications, business requirements gathering, build and development, deployment, and the post go live support.
-
-
Group Financial Planning & Analysis Manager
-
Mar 2011 - Sep 2013
• Lead group budget, forecasting and long term planning processes• Approved all significant (>£30m) group customer bids; maintain and train the group financial bid model• Reviewed all deferred R&D and FOC expenditure to identify any impairment issues arising• Drafted CEO, CFO and management board reports and presentations• Prepared investor presentations and maintain a review of analyst consensus• Reviewed each division’s performance liaising with divisional MD and FD’s and functional leads• Reported to the group board on current issues and corrective actions being undertaken• Made recommendation on all significant group investment requests to the group board• Financial lead for Group Operations function • Developed and deployed make vs. buy evaluation tools to support a strategic review• Divisional FD responsibility for group manufacturing facilities in China, Singapore, Vietnam and Mexico
-
-
Project Leader - SBU Finance Reorganisation Project
-
Apr 2010 - Mar 2011
Following implementation of SAP and the transfer of transactional finance activities to shared service centres I redesigned the 'retained' finance organisation around a divisional structure to improve effectiveness, control and reduce cost cost whilst simultaneously improving the business partner value at the manufacturing locations.
-
-
-
-
Financial Director
-
2009 - 2010
• Oversee all finance related matters for this oil and gas capital equipment manufacturer• Supported the implementation of programme lifecycle management• Strengthened project management controls • Established and embedded rolling forecasts including accuracy measures• Introduced and disseminated KPI methodology• Motivated staff through business aligned targets• Renegotiated terms of trading with key suppliers• Established an aftermarket capability generating substantial additional revenue and margin at an oil and gas subsidiary (current turnover c£15m)
-
-
-
Meggitt
-
United Kingdom
-
Aviation & Aerospace
-
100 - 200 Employee
-
Asst Finance Director
-
2008 - 2009
Assisted the finance director of this £265m division to complete periodic reporting and prepare budgets, forecasts and plans for the division. Follow up of variances with businesses and assist with analysis and root cause identification enabling corrective action to be identified and actioned. I worked to automate much of the reporting to enable increased focus on value added activities. Assisted the finance director of this £265m division to complete periodic reporting and prepare budgets, forecasts and plans for the division. Follow up of variances with businesses and assist with analysis and root cause identification enabling corrective action to be identified and actioned. I worked to automate much of the reporting to enable increased focus on value added activities.
-
-
-
-
Finance Director
-
2006 - 2008
Recruited to assist the turnaround of this underperforming acquisition. On a day to day basis I oversaw all finance activities and through improved controls improved working capital management. I completed a strategic review of the business and subsequently worked to close the facility. This involved transferring operations to the USA and China along with the sale of 2 product lines to separate parties. Recruited to assist the turnaround of this underperforming acquisition. On a day to day basis I oversaw all finance activities and through improved controls improved working capital management. I completed a strategic review of the business and subsequently worked to close the facility. This involved transferring operations to the USA and China along with the sale of 2 product lines to separate parties.
-
-
-
Doncasters Group
-
United Kingdom
-
Aviation and Aerospace Component Manufacturing
-
400 - 500 Employee
-
Divisional Finance Director
-
2001 - 2006
Acted in the capacity of key liaison between parent group and divisional management. Held direct responsibility for the financial management and reporting of facilities in the UK and Belgium ensuring timely and accurate group and statutory reporting was achieved.Performed the role of business partner to both the divisional MD and site general managers taking a lead in the review and authorisation of all significant bids and investment business cases.Oversaw the preparation of and presented business performance updates including rolling forecasts, annual budgets and five year strategic plans.Performance managed staff in the UK and overseas.
-
-
-
-
Finance Manager
-
2001 - 2001
Company was merged with Doncasters during a private equity deal that took Doncasters into private ownership.Established a finance team and interim controls immediately following acquisition from Honeywell.Oversaw the implementation of a new ERP system.Business partnered with the management team to provide insightful analysis and management information. Company was merged with Doncasters during a private equity deal that took Doncasters into private ownership.Established a finance team and interim controls immediately following acquisition from Honeywell.Oversaw the implementation of a new ERP system.Business partnered with the management team to provide insightful analysis and management information.
-
-
-
-
Financial Controller
-
1997 - 2001
Reporting to the Finance Director I was responsible for the financial reporting and analysis of the division including the consolidation of results of 4 legal entities based in the UK, US and Japan. Held direct reponsibility for staff in both the Uk and US.Finance lead on ERP system implementation. Reporting to the Finance Director I was responsible for the financial reporting and analysis of the division including the consolidation of results of 4 legal entities based in the UK, US and Japan. Held direct reponsibility for staff in both the Uk and US.Finance lead on ERP system implementation.
-
-
-
-
Management Accountant
-
1996 - 1997
Hands on management accountant role. Hands on management accountant role.
-
-
Education
-
2015 - 2016
University of Oxford
Meggitt executive strategic leadership programme -
2013 - 2013
Parallel Project Training
APMP - IPMA Level D Certification, Programme Management -
2002 - 2004
Bath Spa University
MBA, Business Studies -
1996 - 2000
Chartered Institute Of Management Accountants
ACMA, Chartered Accountancy -
1993 - 1996
University of Hull
BA, Business Studies
Community
