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recall many a
I conversation throughout my time at UBM when disgruntled members of the team would complain bitterly that the whole business was being run by accountants , that creativity was being stifled and the business was not willing to back their great ideas . I also remember some of the best and most insightful conversations I have had taking place with these numerical magicians , enlightened FDs and CFOs who helped provide sage advice and gave huge support for our plans . As is usually the case the truth probably lies somewhere between the two . I felt it was well overdue for EN to give a platform to our unsung heroes from finance and therefore assembled three of the industries finest . Armed with a complex spreadsheet and a brand-new calculator , I |
spoke with Alex Simm , CFO for Informa Markets , Rachel Swann FD at DMG Energy Events and Ben Grover , CFO at Easyfairs ; three very important people . I start with asking them about what their key areas of focus are :
Rachel Swann : “ I think you ’ ve got two parts to an FDA or CFO in the traditional sense you ’ ve got the backwardlooking finance , which is the statuary accounts and the order everything has historically happened and has to be checked . “ Then you ’ ve got the forward-looking finance as well which should be more strategic and involves business partnering . It largely depends on the size of organisation you are working for as managing the cash and tax in a smaller company is vital and you
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don ’ t have the same level of resources that larger companies have .”
Ben Grover picks up the theme : “ The biggest changes for me moving from a bigger company to a smaller one is the ownership of everything finance related , my career in UBM was more a business partnering role so I certainly learnt on my feet when starting at Easyfairs .”
Alex Simm points out that “ A CFO ’ s role is definitely to look forward and to ensure we continue to grow . The key for me particularly now is to be agile , of course you need to ensure we have the right levels of control and reporting , but we also need to be planning for the future and identifying opportunities to launch , acquire and grow . “ Some of the strategic
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plans that we ’ ve been looking at in the past month are incredibly exciting and it ’ s really given us an extra boost of energy of the what ’ s been tremendously tough period .”
It is great to hear that there is a growing sense of optimism from a group of people not ordinarily famed for looking on the bright side , I ask what these opportunities look like :
Simm : “ Although we sell customers square metres , it ’ s not really what they are buying : they are buying leads , opportunities and the chance to build business relationships . I think it ’ s been clear that our business model was going to migrate at some point . That ’ s why I say if anything , the last 12 months probably just pulled that forward .”
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42 — June |