Experience

Wavelength

• India
• Design Services

• Director

  • Feb 2015 - Present

  Wavelength serves ambitious businesses and the people in them, people just like you. If you have a purpose and a plan, you’ll understand that building the right team is crucial to achieving your goals.Over the last ten years, research reveals business leaders find getting the right people on their teams a significant worry. It has such an impact, it ranked it as either the first or second biggest barrier to their business success.You’ll already know, when recruiting for your growing business, success or failure compounds. Getting the right people can positively transform your business but equally hiring the wrongpeople can have the opposite effect.



Grouptrader Networks Limited

• Director

  • Jul 2012 - Aug 2015

  The initial idea for Grouptrader came about as a culmination of working with numerous private businesses, and also seeing how difficult it is to compete with large multinationals.We wanted to create a trading network for private businesses, where they could buy and sell to each other, promote and advertise their products and services, and offer loyalty rewards. Ultimately to create buying power to buy products and services cheaper. This was clearly a huge undertaking, and I learned a huge amount about developing an online product, as well building a team, branding advertising and business development. The business has grown to be a substantial size with over 1,000 business members, and a large team of people in a very short space of time; which was a huge challenge but also a fantastic learning experience.Being a bit of a nerd I was focused on innovation and the development of the system, and also looking at cutting edge methods being employed by companies in a new digital world, which could be utilised in the business.



Market Fresh

• Canada
• Retail
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Finance Director

  • Jul 2011 - Mar 2015

  Having been in accounting practice for my whole career, and meeting, and working with some really interesting people and businesses; I had always wanted to be involved in the day to day management of a business, where I could have direct input in the direction we were taking.Market Fresh is a food marketing and solutions company to the major supermarkets. As the Finance Director I was directly involved in all aspects of the business including commercial deals, cashflow management, forecasting budgeting, staff management and development of new products and ideas, then working on advertising and marketing budgets and strategies with the rest of the team.. Working as a supplier to multi-national retailers was completely different to my experience of predominantly working with private businesses, and taught me a lot about teams and people. Also being a small supplier to a large business means you need to be quick thinking as a business and team of people.



CBHC LLP

• Australia
• Accounting

• Corporate Finance Partner

  • Jul 2010 - Jul 2011

  In 2009 building on the success of the growth we had achieved I created the Business Advisory Department specialising in forward thinking planning and consulting for our clients. Advising clients on all aspects of strategy and business planning, corporate finance and any other non-compliance based work.We won a business award for innovation. My department and practice is featured in the UK's Best Accounting Practices book which highlights excellence in the profession.I had the pleasure of heading up the complete rebranding of the business, as well as all the PR and Marketing, which I am also very proud of.In 2010 I became a Partner in the business which is one of the highlights of my career so far, and the new department had become an integral part of the practice.

• Corporate Finance Manager

  • Jul 2008 - Jul 2010

  I had always wanted to get back to working on Corporate Finance, and I was given the opportunity to start a brand new department which would focus on offering Corporate Finance, but also non-compliance services to clients. This was a brand new approach and made use of my broad experience base. I have always been interested in trying a different approach to things. Launching a brand new concept during the recession presented a challenge to everyone trying to raise finance particularly in the SME sector. However, we grew the department into an integral part of the business; this is also where I got heavily involved in the marketing and advertising side of the business. This is something that I have been very passionate about ever since.



Deloitte

• Business Consulting and Services
• 700 & Above Employee

• Assistant Manager

  • Jan 2008 - Jul 2008

  I was lucky enough to be approached by Deloitte to join their Creative Talent Team running and managing all the financial aspects for major global performance artists, sports people and musicians. This role was a great opportunity to put into practice all the skills I had learned, as we were managing all aspects including accounting, taxation, managing finances, investments, dealing with banks, lawyers and other professionals. It was a very challenging role, dealing with a huge variety of people and issues.



BDO

• Investment Advice

• Audit & Accounts Senior

  • Jan 2007 - Dec 2007

  BDO are consistently voted one of the top companies in the UK to work for, and working with them this was proved to be right. I worked with some great people that I am still friends with today. The company had a strong set of values (that I can still remember years later), we all knew what our targets were and where we were going. This created a really positive environment to work in, which whilst tough was also really fulfilling.I got a lot more experience here running jobs, managing teams and budgets, as well as working with senior people in some very successful businesses. I spent a lot of time working at clients premises, which whilst relentless, meant I gained a lot of experience in producing a result within a time frame, and working on my own whilst managing a junior team. A lot of people think Audit is about checking things and finding issues. To me I think the best thing about it is you get to see first hand how a business is structured, the things that make them great; but also hear about the challenges they face directly from the people involved. Then you see how they work on those challenges to fix them. Also there is a lot that can be learned from different industries and then applied to other ones, I think this experience has really helped me when trying to solve problems, and also to look at things from a different angle.



RSM Tenon now RSM UK

• Accounting
• 300 - 400 Employee

• Accounts & Audit Senior

  • Mar 2004 - Dec 2006

  I wanted to live and work in London so I joined Tenon Group who were a Top Ten national accounting practice. My office had specialisms in Media and Entertainment. I worked on the finances for media, advertising, production companies, bands, actors, and large Hollywood films. I have always been interested in advertising and marketing so this was very fulfilling and challenging work.As part of the audit team I got to work with businesses across a wide variety of different sectors and industries. This was really fascinating work, as I got to see what it was like inside a lot of companies, and meet the people who made up the team. You get to see first hand how a business is structured, the things that make them great but also hear about the challenges they face directly from the people involved.After I qualified with the ACCA, I got the opportunity to work as part of the Corporate Finance Team, working on company valuations, mergers, acquisitions and company sales. I loved working in this area, as you are involved in so many different things such as advertising, marketing and promoting a business if it is being bought or sold.I was involved in writing the sales prospectus, looking at different ways to find potential buyers online, or creating mailshots and negotiating amongst the different people involved in the process.You have to really think on your feet, and it can be very emotive; as a business is ultimately made up of people and they can be built up over a lifetime of work and effort. It shows how important having a good team is to creating success.



Carlton Baker Clarke

• United Kingdom

• Accounts Junior

  • Oct 2002 - Mar 2004

  I got my first break to join a large regional accounting practice in Chelmsford as an accounts junior. I started by working producing accounts, VAT returns and basic elements of accounting. I worked on a range of clients from sole traders who would hand in a shoe box of receipts, to large muliti-million pound companies. It was a great learning experience, where I worked with some great people and was lucky enough to train with an excellent manager who showed me the ropes. I was soon going out to work at clients premises, and meeting lots of people at all levels from different businesses.