Success in Finance

Joining me today is Rob Parker.Rob started out in audit with EY on what would now be recognised as a “school leaver scheme” but in Rob’s era was reasonably uncommon. After completing the ACA, he moved into industry with Volkswagen group, where he spent over 10 years with Volkswagen and Audi in operational roles before taking on an FD position with Audi. Rob then took on a couple of shorter term roles, before landing at Biogen, a PE-backed green energy business as FD, where he was involved in M&A, debt-raising and doubling the revenues of the business despite the challenges presented by Covid.

Joining me today is Charlie Heald. Charlie started his career with KPMG, where he spent 3 years during his ACA qualification, before transitioning into something more commercial as a Finance Analyst with Sky. Over 4.5 years, Charlie progressed to FC level before moving across to Softcat. Charlie spent almost 9 years with Softcat, joining the business shortly after an IPO and assisting them in growing to £3bn market cap and FTSE 250 status.

Joining me today is Azmina Airi. Azmina started out her career with PwC, where she gained the ACA before spending 2 years with Halliburton in Internal Audit. Azmina then moved to Sky as a Senior Analyst, where she spent 8 years, progressing to FC level. Dow Jones then approached Azmina about an EMEA FD role. She progressed to VP level with Dow Jones before accepting the opportunity to join Colt as Group FC. Today Azmina is Group FC at Channel 4.

Joining me today is Chris McQuaid. Chris started his career as an Accounting Assistant with British Heart Foundation before joining Landor as a Credit Controller. He then spent 6 years with Cohn & Wolfe, progressing to Divisional Accountant level before moving to Carat where he became Finance Manager. Chris has spent a number of years within the Dentsu group, spanning commercial finance, R2R, financial reporting and, more recently finance transformation.

Joining me today is Ali Greatbatch. Ali started his career in practice with Grant Thornton, before landing at Fujitsu where he held international roles in Singapore and Thailand. He then moved to Dubai with Aegion before relocating back to Europe, as Director of Accounting & Compliance with Walgreens Boots Alliance. Ali then returned to the UK, undertaking an interim role with Just Eat before joining CBRE, where he has spent the last 5 years.

Joining me today is Gary Hanson. Gary started out his career with Winney Murray, who were then what we would class as a "Big 4" firm today (although there were 5 of them). He then went onto Binder Hamlyn and EY, progressing to Senior Manager level, before making the move to BDO, where he spent 34 years, many of which as Partner. During his time as Partner, Gary built out the Cambridge office, operated as a point of liaison between the UK and US and sat on the Partnership Council.

Joining me today is Terry Reynolds. Terry began his career straight out of school, choosing to dive directly into the world of law through a Legal Cashier Assistant role with Linklaters. Terry has remained in the legal space every since and over the last 10.5 years progressed to Assistant Financial Analyst with Linklaters before transitioning to RPC. With RPC, he has developed from Finance Analyst to Senior Finance Practice Manager over 6.5 years, obtaining the CIMA qualification along the way.

Joining me today is Elaine Darby. Elaine graduated from Southampton University with a degree in English and decided to join PwC's grad scheme. Having qualified as an ACA with PwC, Elaine moved on to a Consultancy role at Arthur Andersen before becoming a Senior Consultant at KPMG and then joining Deloitte. She spent 6 years at Deloitte, progressing to Senior Manager level, before ultimately deciding to make the move into teaching. After 3 years as a BPP tutor, Elaine became a Lecturer in Accounting at Henley Business School. After 8 years there, she joined Royal Holloway, where she is now Director of Undergraduate Education.

Joining me today is Amit Lakhani. After graduating from UCL with a degree in Economics & Statistics, Amit explored a few potential career opportunities, with roles as Investment Assistant at Thomas Miller and then Data Analyst at Geonomic and Arriva Bus respectively. Having settled on Data Analytics, Amit moved to The Zeal Group, where he has spent the last 4.5 years progressing from Investment & Data Strategy Analyst to Head of Corporate Development and now Investment Director. Amit now also undertakes a number of NED / Advisory roles for related ventures.

Joining me today is Ibrar Raja. Ibrar joined Deloitte having completed a degree in Management & Systems. He also spent some time at Wilson Wright & Co, a smaller firm, before moving into industry with TJX Europe. Here, he undertook roles as a Senior Internal Auditor and European Corporate Accounting Manager before moving to Telecity Group. At Telecity Group, Ibrar first operated as FC, before taking on a role as FD of part of the group. Since leaving Telecity Group, Ibrar went on to a Group FC role with Bestway for 2 years and now is FC of the Restaurant Group.