ROLE MODEL 31
BIOGRAPHY
UK BAME Role Model
Daryl Scales, Vice President of Finance for UK / Ireland, Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Daryl Scales shows how dedication, determination and diversity are the key tools to generating success within a business on both a national and international level.
Early Years
After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accountancy, Daryl began his career as a staff auditor at Arthur Andersen. In 1986 he made the move to car rental giant Enterprise Rent-A- Car, joining the St. Louis head office as a group auditor. This role introduced Daryl to the ethos of Enterprise, a company founded on principles of diversity, employee empowerment and customer service.
With each branch operating as an independent small business with its own profit and loss statement, Enterprise has a decentralised and autonomous structure that can make financial control a challenging task. Daryl’ s role was to provide that control while focusing on key areas such as service improvement and employee development.
Achievements
In 1988 he was promoted to regional controller and moved to New York City to help manage the‘ green field’ opening of the New York City operation. Six years later, Daryl was invited back to Enterprise’ s St Louis headquarters to share his Big Apple success and customer focused expertise as a Corporate Business Manager. This role involved working with a range of senior managers and handling a number of new initiatives, ranging from cash and risk management to ways to reduce fuel costs.
Enterprise is a founding member of MSDUK, which is committed to encouraging and enabling mutually beneficial relationships between minority-owned businesses and Corporate Britain. It enables entrepreneurs from all back-grounds to offer products and services to national and global organisations.
Current Role
All this means that Daryl’ s current role as the UK’ s head of finance, to which he was promoted in 1997, is not confined to the four walls of his office. In fact the majority of his time is spent with customers and employees at branches and divisional head offices. His view, and that of Enterprise, is that diversity is not just something to be handled by the HR department, but is a vital and rewarding part of the entire business process.
Family
Daryl lives in Surrey with his wife and two sons, aged 21 and 16.
Within a year of being promoted to Assistant Vice President for Business Management in 1996, Daryl accepted the challenge of relocating to the UK. The firm had opened its first UK branch in Reading two years earlier, but it was eager to grow its British presence and Daryl’ s experience from opening the New York region would serve him well.
Over the last ten years Daryl has played a prominent role in successfully managing the huge expansion of Enterprise Rent-A-Car across the UK market. He has also spearheaded the company’ s push for supplier diversity and is on the board of Minority Supplier Development UK( MSDUK) as Treasurer. He has held this role since July 2006 and is also a member of the Business in the Community London Regional Leadership Team.
ISSUE FOUR 2007 engage | uk