Director of Finance Summer 2021

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Summer 2021 | £4.95

Time to check your Sent Items

The danger’s in the data Rising Cyber attacks need new thinking

Mistakes are proving costly for finance teams

SPECIAL REPORT

2021 WORKFORCE TRENDS Where we work, how we work and just how much will it all cost?

Advanced CFO Andrew Hicks reveals the latest Workforce Trends Survey results

PLUS

HYBRID WORKING

Derek Bates Andrew Vaughan Saj Manzoor Dr. Jim Golby

It’s time to try something new!

The latest Appointments in business across the UK

CONTENTS | Summer 2021

WELCOME BACK SUMMER 2021 | The hybrid working issue

How far we’ve come since they locked us down...

HYBRID WORKING | It’s time to try something new

Inside this issue...

4 | Is the future hybrid?

Now we can return to the office, do we want to and what are alternatives?

7 | Unhappy returns?

The arguments for and against and the long-term implications

SOME OF YOU may actually be reading this from the office, although I doubt it will be as many as the Government envisaged when it was making plans for “Freedom Day”. Truth is, for many businesses, especially those comfortable in their own skin; it doesn’t always make a lot of financial sense, given what we’ve learned over the past 15 months.

What began as an experiment, and morphed into an entirely new corporate culture, actually prompted many to question bigger issues, especially those involving such things as AI and Iota. Decisions they had been putting off suddenly didn’t appear so daunting when there was a far bigger enemy at the door than a brief uplift in CapX. We see this coming through time and again in the sheer level of innovation demonstrated by companies that have adjusted their internal operations and found new confidence in what they can achieve going forward. This year and next have been widely starred as ones of revival. You only have to look at the appointments pages to see how seriously they are gearing up for that. For many, with the right mindset, ‘Freedom Day’ came a long time ago.

Richard Burton Editor, Director of Finance

12 | Cover story Q and A on the implications of a major new work trends survey 16 | The cyber threat New insights on security by Jerry Ray, chief operations officer at SecureAge 18 | Think before you send Why finance professionals are particularly vulnerable to email errors 20 | Comment Our expert columnists discuss the key issues affecting the finance sector 27 | Appointments Who’s doing what, and where they are doing it

Director of Finance Magazine is published by Publications UK. T: +44 (0)20 8238 5023 | E: info@publicationsuk.co.uk | www.publicationsuk.co.uk

EDITOR, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE MANAGING DIRECTOR, PUBLICATIONS UK CREATIVE DIRECTOR PRODUCTION

Richard Burton Stewart Lee David Hicks Angela Brown

ON THE COVER: Advanced CFO Andrew Hicks Whilst every care has been taken in compiling this publication, and the statements contained herein are believed to be correct, the publishers and the promoters will not accept responsibility for any inaccuracies. Reproduction of any part of this publication without permission is strictly forbidden. ©Publications UK Limited 2021. The publishers make no recommendation in respect of any of the advertisers, and no recommendation may be implied by way of the presence of their advertisements.

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DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | 3

H Y B R I D

4 | DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

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WORKING

LEAD STORY | Hybrid Working

Renting office space used to be one of the biggest annual outlays for a small company. These days, writes Richard Burton, that’s debateable as firms downsize, embrace hybrid models or get rid of them all together... dofonline.co.uk

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | 5

LEAD STORY | Hybrid Working

THERE’S BEEN A LOT of evidence that remote working pays dividends for companies who get the formula right and as much debate about the financial advantages for staff themselves, now they’re spared the cost of daily commutes, lunches – end even dry-cleaning bills.

We’ve been calling it the new normal for some time but there is evidence that the UK had been on the path to hybrid working long before the pandemic began.

Recent Google search data shows that the interest in hot desking – often, the main route to hybrid working - has been climbing steadily since 2004, rising from on average 13 to 61 last year, an increase of 457 per cent.

None of this surprises Tony Gibson, co-founder of the workplace management specialists Clearooms who thinks that the pandemic has merely accelerated a way of working he has seen coming for some time.

“While things are certainly not going to change overnight, I think hybrid working is going to outlast the pandemic. We’ve seen a culture shift in the way we work 6 | DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

THE SHIFT TO HYBRID-WORKING HAS BEEN STEADILY GROWING OVER THE PAST DECADE, BUT THE PANDEMIC HAS ACTED AS A CATALYST BY BRINGING IT TO EVERY BUSINESS ACROSS THE UK en route for some time, but it’s been hyper-accelerated by a pandemic that essentially forced businesses around the world to do a trial run of working from home,” he said.

According to a report by Microsoft, over 70 per cent of employees want flexible remote working options to continue and 65 per cent want the chance to meet their colleagues in person. In both cases, most want the ability to do both.

It’s no surprise that tech giants such as Microsoft and Google have already

implemented working models like this and those such as British Airways and Capita announcing a permanent shift to home- based working.

Gibson added: “Tech companies always seem to be ahead of the curve for this stuff.

The question is, how long will it take more ‘traditional’ businesses to get with the programme and realise that their workforce is calling out for flexibility?”

But before we celebrate the potential savings, one law firm has suggested the reverse may be true with staff used to working in large corporate environments now paying up to £300 per month as they seek out hiring their own desk spaces post-pandemic – that’s £3,600 a year just to avoid working from the kitchen island.

Employment lawyers at Richard Nelson LLP analysed the data and even found the top cities where employees can expect to pay the most for the privilege of having their own co-working space, with workers in Northampton and Peterborough paying most for their desks, even ahead of London which came in third place.

The data, taken from Coworker.com dofonline.co.uk

LEAD STORY | Hybrid Working

showed Stoke was the cheapest with an average of £18 a month, followed by Bradford and Coventry.

Jayne Harrison, Head of Employment Law, said: “Working remotely can be lonely, with many feeling isolated from their colleagues and family if they live alone. With some companies closing their headquarters, we are predicting an increase in employees hiring their own co-working space to ensure they can still get a feel for an office environment. As the data shows, this can end up being a significant cost to employees.”

Julie Lock, Commercial Director at workforce management firm Mitrefinch described new working models as “an evolution in the industry”, adding: “With a large number of corporations announcing the closure of their offices, employers will be looking to facilitate their employees’ needs with the necessary tools and processes for a more flexible working environment.

“For employees, they may be seeking support in securing a remote working space and in setting up their equipment for a longer-term and more practical way of working.”

Cloud communications firm NFON UK, agrees that Lockdown prompted a focus on cutting office costs. They spoke to 500 firms and found more than a quarter were

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OVER 70 PER CENT OF EMPLOYEES WANT FLEXIBLE REMOTE WORKING OPTIONS TO CONTINUE AND 65 PER CENT WANT THE CHANCE TO MEET THEIR COLLEAGUES IN PERSON. planning to downsize or ditch the office as soon as their lease allowed. If that figure is representative, it equates to over 1.7 million of them.

More than a third admitted they had been pleasantly surprised by their team’s remote performance, while a quarter thought it enhanced team spirit and a similar number felt they actually worked harder.

MD Myles Leach said: “The shift to hybrid-working has been steadily growing over the past decade, but the pandemic has acted as a catalyst by bringing it to every business across the UK. Companies that had been culturally adverse in the past had to make the shift, and they have seen first-hand a host of benefits – to their staff, operations and costs.”

Ricoh Europe polled more than 1,400 office workers and found that almost three

in five anticipated being office-based after Covid restrictions ease. But they also foresaw barriers and bottlenecks to working in the dynamic manner brought about by ever-evolving customer demands.

Almost half said they would be more productive if they could find ways of reducing their “administrative burden”, citing cumbersome and traditional ways of working as preventing them from achieving a stronger bottom line, with staff having less time to upsell or propose new business models.

While these opportunities are missed, employee creativity, motivation and job satisfaction are being shackled by the necessary undertaking of laborious and mundane tasks.

This is significant because workload was cited as a central driver in the perceived requirement to return to the office, something exacerbated by a lack of tools to support high-value tasks while remote working, and an underinvestment in automated processes.

Two in five employees said they struggled to access insights and information from company systems they need to deliver better customer service while working remotely thus limiting the fast, convenient and personal service that small businesses are known for.

This could play into the hands of larger

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | 7

LEAD STORY | Hybrid Working

competitors whose staff typically have ready access to the sort of data needed to optimise the customer experience. Half of the respondents believed automated processes are the answer.

As well as improving the working experience, this would support efforts to retain top talent such as salespeople who are often the face of the company, a view supported by the fact that one in four was considering a move to somewhere better equipped for remote working.

David Mills, CEO, said: “Through no fault of their own, many small businesses lack the deep knowledge required to automate processes in an efficient way to achieve crucial cost savings. Finding dependable support for this could form that pivotal moment in laying the foundations for solid continued growth into the digital age.”

And there are new opportunities emerging. Workspace platform Kitt recently raised £3.6million in seed capital to scale the business internationally in the face of changing workplace demands.

Founder Lucy Minton (pictured right), said many companies keen return to the office are re-assessing their use of space.

“We have experienced a 600 per cent growth in revenue since August and we 8 | DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

“ WE EXPECT GROWTH TO CONTINUE AS OFFICES NAVIGATE AND UNDERSTAND THE CHANGING NEEDS OF THEIR TEAM” Lucy Minton, Kitt expect this growth to continue as offices navigate and understand the changing needs of their team,” she said.

What is emerging in cities all over the world is the prevalence of so-called “Third workplaces”. And I don’t simply mean the traditional WeWork spaces, now allowing workers to rent space by the hour, but hotels and restaurants keen to find new

ways of making money as they emerge from the pandemic.

March saw the launch of Flown, a UK company described as an Airbnb for teleworkers in which individuals or teams can book time at Any number of remote-work-ready properties here – or in Spain and Portugal if a change can help productivity.

The company also offers virtual co-working sessions with other Flown users if people crave some company while working remotely.

And in the US about 65 per cent of companies — startups and major employers alike — say they want a hybrid office after the pandemic, according to the commercial real estate firm CBRE. Global Head of Occupier Research Julie Whelan summed it up when she said: “Hybrid work is not a binary choice between home or the office. As the majority of large companies are hybrid-focused, these third places are going to be a huge part of work.”

How do I know? I researched all this with the aid of a laptop, an airpod-enabled mobile phone and high-speed broadband at a rather idyllic country café. And all for the price of a brunch and three lattes. ◆ dofonline.co.uk

NEWS | Human Resources

UNHAPPY RETURNS? Work choices – it’s not a level playing field.

Back-to-work strategies may have unintended consequences, writes Patrick Voss. But they’re not merely practical or financial. Employers need to be aware of the potential for societal gaps to open up and with them consequences...

Most businesses have been grappling with the implications of a post-Lockdown return to work. The approach organisations take will vary and we have already seen examples of leading companies taking radically different stances – in particular around the amount of time employees are expected to spend in the office. At the same time, companies are being encouraged to focus on, not just the employee experience, but the customer and the community more widely, with environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues playing a key role.

As it was when working from home landed on us in the Spring of last year, there will be winners and losers from any move back to the office. But it doesn’t end with employees. There are a number of wider societal issues that management teams and boards might want to consider. The first is what might be called the flexibility gap and the impact of “choice of home vs office working”. A major focus of a return to work has been the different ways of hybrid working. But these only really apply to those who can perform their roles with a laptop, effectively not being physically needed in an office.

What about those whose physical attendance is required - construction workers, those in retail and manufacturing and transport? Not to mention the potential challenge for those lacking in IT skills – or fast broadband. An additional gap is likely to emerge between those who have the option to work remotely and those who don’t. This will have implications on the perceived value of roles and the appeal of certain careers - let alone the impact down the line of the ability to take time off, manage their commitments outside of work or simply eat healthily, as doing that from home for many is much more achievable.

Then there’s the question of vaccination. Whilst it may well remain a private issue, there may be occasions when this could impact an individual’s role – for example, if working on a sensitive client site, or needing to travel for work. Indeed, some workplaces - such as care homes and more recently, the likes of Morgan Stanley – have been announcing that all staff will need to be fully vaccinated to be allowed on site. This will have a clear impact on the access to employment opportunities for some.

But equally, in terms of treatment of others who may not have been vaccinated, this may lead to public awareness of vaccination status and potentially, “us and them”, discriminatory behaviour, or even harassment. ◆ dofonline.co.uk

I had the Moderna jab, what about you?

WITH SO MUCH in-depth analysis, we’re all experts now, right? On the efficacy of the different brands, we are starting to see individual organisations, not just nations, propose different rules for those who have had different vaccines.

AstraZeneca recipients may have been miffed to note the policy floated - but now withdrawn - that they would not be granted access to Bruce Springsteen concerts as one well-reported example.

Whilst this may not become widespread, issues will arise if a formal hierarchy of vaccines starts to emerge - especially as most of us have not had a say on which one we get.

The robustness of certain jobs and sectors and the repression of wages remains an ongoing challenge, but one clearly exacerbated by the pandemic.

Job security looks as if it will remain high for those in sectors such as IT, high finance, construction and certain sectors within FMCG. But those working – or thinking about where to work – in future may well think twice about retail, events or travel, even if they do bounce back.

And this will have knock-on effects on both the perception of people in those roles, but also the long-term viability of staying in those sectors. That said, any lack of resources may well drive wages up – or force employers to be more creative in their contracts, who they hire – with older workers potentially playing a big role here.

Some opportunities remain stubbornly closed to a large chunk of candidates – without the right perceived skills or experience. As jobs require more IT skills, as well as an ability to learn them quickly, these softer skills will be lacking for a wide range of potential employees. The gap between the tech ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ will continue to grow.

Technological and personal service evolution have been accelerated by Covid, but many of the new physical services offered are only available to some. From healthy, pre-prepared food to the sort of 15-minute grocery services now offered in some city centres; these will not be for everyone, but they offer time-saving options to those able to access them. Those needing to commute to work could miss out. ◆

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | 9

NEWS | Human Resources

The office may be safe, ‘but getting there isn’t’...

Many finance professionals are reluctant to return to their offices, despite the lifting of restrictions because they fear it’s not safe to commute.

The ‘social’ factor of the return to office working A lot is said about the benefits of remote working, with a stereotypical view being that younger generations are keener than their older peers - think images of working for a few hours a day on your laptop at the beach.

That may never quite be the reality of “home-working” but there will be elements that non-office workers miss out on. Key elements of being happy at work, have been engaging with colleagues, collaboration and being able to let off steam, as well as engaging with the wider organisation.

Whilst these are all possible, home-workers will be much more self-reliant in creating their own social group – which again, will work well for some, but not others.

So what can you do about it? There are a number of potential options you might consider attempting to avoid the broader societal impact from any return to work strategy. Embracing part time/ contract working where you have bespoke projects might allow more

10 | DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

flexibility for you, but also for those who may be keen to work in different ways.

You also might offer additional benefits to those who need to be office/ location based, recognising the restrictions this puts in place for some.

For jobs that can be done remotely, ignoring location requirements when hiring will enable you to refocus and seek out the actual skills and experience needed for a role – allowing you the widest set of candidates to apply.

Finally, recognise that we’ve had 18 months of change. Don’t forget what you’ve learned during this time and stay open to evolving as you go. Keep up the engagement surveys – and actually speak (and listen) to different types of staff to understand their perspective.

Change is inevitable, but thinking through the potential consequences of your colleagues and wider society can be easily integrated into your planning. ◆ Patrick Voss is CEO at D&I consultancy Impetus & Momentum

As many as one fifth say they plan to never do the daily train, tube and bus trip again, according to a recent survey of 2,000 staff.

Nearly six in ten across the UK expressed real concerns, particularly among those in management, with 85 per cent of directors and 77 per cent with the title manager among the most reluctant, according to corporate transport specialist Kura.

Researchers found the main concerns were infection control and lack of social distancing on public transport. This was something expressed by 36 per cent nationwide but rose to 54.4 per cent for those in and around London. The findings revealed a strong cry for help with commuting, particularly among recent graduates and junior executives. But, apart from London firms, most did not see this as a priority, with just 16 per cent nationally expressing any desire to monitor or support employees on their journey to work in the future.

Kura CEO Godfrey Ryan, said: “As Covid-19 restrictions lift and employees are requested to return to the workplace, there will undoubtedly be more thought and consideration given to the regular commute.

With increased awareness around factors such as infection control and social distancing, we will inevitably see a shift in the commuting landscape.

“For public transport commuters in particular, the perceived lack of infection control, unreliability of service and overcrowding is hampering employers’ hopes of an office-based or hybrid workforce post-lockdown. As these fears continue to prevent workers from wanting to return to the office, it is time for employers to step up and offer alternative travel support to their employees where necessary.

“It is reassuring to see that the home to work journey is becoming an increasingly important consideration for businesses across London, with 30% expressing a desire to support their employees on the commute. Hopefully we will start to see other regions follow suit in the coming months, as the capital sets the precedent.”

Another study suggested that decisions on office returns tended to be geographical. Small businesses in Scotland were found to have been the least likely, while Welsh were the most likely. And for London – it’s evenly split as a survey found businesses there were as likely to be planning remote working as they are to return to an office, according to Hitachi Capital Business Finance which spoke to 1,464 small business owners. ◆ More on the Kura research: https://ridekura.com/request-commutingreport/ dofonline.co.uk

THE POWER OF DOING LESS DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | Partnership Content

Advanced CFO Andrew Hicks discusses the insights, statistics and analysis that have come from the Advanced Workforce Trends Survey. The Q&A analyses the key takeouts from a finance perspective

THE PAST 18 MONTHS completely changed the way finance teams operate.

Typically an office-based function, the move to remote working combined with new expectations and priorities from the wider business flipped things on their head. It was their finance teams who rose to the challenge and steered the ship with strategy, analysis and foresight. However, this changing world of work required new ways of working achieved through the adoption of Cloud technology and adjusting to working from home.

Being agile and delivering real-time insight while remaining productive has been a key priority for financial professionals throughout the pandemic.

However, overcoming the distractions of new working environments and monthly reporting becoming daily updates has not been easy.

In June, Advanced commissioned its first Workforce Trends Survey with over 1,000 UK business professionals and leaders having their say on key areas affecting work productivity since the start of the pandemic. Our productivity survey examines how challenging it has been for finance teams, and gives some food for thought for finance leaders on how to improve productivity for their teams moving forward.

With 20 years’ experience in the software sector in senior finance roles, Andrew joins us to discuss the Workforce Trends Survey results and prepare to take the next steps for a future of improved productivity at work for finance teams.

12 | DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

Q: How has productivity changed in your view?

A: Productivity in the workplace is not strictly a new thing. When we think about productivity at top level, it refers largely to how much work is accomplished in a work environment over a specific amount of time.

The idea of “being productive” was, and still is, commonly mistaken for multitasking during meetings, taking on more than you can handle and working overtime. It’s about working smarter, not harder, to meet work objectives and monthly targets.

Q: Do the survey statistics correlate with this?

A: The journey to a truly productive

workplace isn’t over. The Workplace Trends survey found that over 60 per cent of finance professionals have received urgent work requests from their boss to be completed outside of working hours.

Over a quarter of finance professionals feel they have so many distractions that their working day is impacted and never fully spent on actual work. Concerningly, almost 40% of people had taken less sick leave in the last 12 months as they felt they were able to continue working from home while ill.

It’s clear that productivity needs to remain a visible business matter, and every employee within the organisation should understand what productivity actually is, and how it’s measured.

Q: What was expected?

A: The pandemic shook up the status-quo of the 9-5 office overnight. Many finance teams, including my own, have made significant strides to boost productivity through the adoption of Cloud technology.

The automation and digitalisation of day-to-day mundane tasks has given finance teams the opportunity to work on value-adding projects such as scenario planning to ensure business stability and continuity. This in turn has boosted agility and efficiency without compromising any delivery of work from the finance function.

Digital transformation in the workplace was always going to be inevitable.

However, the pandemic fast-forwarded what was once considered a one-threeyear IT integration plan into a one month implementation of Cloud software.

Seventy six per cent of finance professionals saw an increase in the number of software and apps used during the pandemic. With statistics as clear cut as these, the short-term pain of implementing Cloud technology has already reaped long term gain. It has enabled a stronger understanding of cash flow, a clearer overview of business activity, opportunity for real-time reporting and the automation low-value tasks that previously held finance teams back.

The Workforce Trends Survey results also showed that 44% of finance professionals agreed that the Cloud had supported them to work from home, with a further 48% seeing an increase in flexibility during their working day.

Q: What wasn’t expected?

A: On the other hand, the survey results also highlighted that almost 50 per cent of finance professionals felt that the introduction of new software platforms and apps has hindered their productivity. Some of the contributing factors included too many notifications from messaging tools like Microsoft Teams and Skype (32%) and not switching off emails for an hour each day to focus on urgent work (75%).

Ultimately, technology should not be used as a silver bullet to boost workplace productivity. CFOs and Finance Directors must recognise that software isn’t here to “replace”, but to advance the operations of the finance team.

Q: Does this apply to your team at Advanced?

A: Understanding what helps and what

hinders work productivity has been of paramount importance for me when leading my team over the past 18 months.

Team culture and connection in the remote workplace has been essential.

Giving regular, positive feedback and dofonline.co.uk

Advanced CFO Andrew Hicks reinforcing the positive impact of work and completed projects has helped my team members recognise that their time and effort is valued. One of the ways we have achieved this is through Advanced’s acquisition of Clear Review back in October 2020.

The platform itself opened up the opportunity for myself and my team to set and track clear and short-term goals, schedule ongoing conversations to discuss individual targets and ambitions for career growth. By eliminating the once-a-year PDR session with each team member in exchange for regular catchups and setting monthly/quarterly goals has helped motivate each individual member in their career through clear purpose and direction.

Maintaining a work-life balance throughout the pandemic has also played a key role in productivity amongst my team. As we navigated multiple lockdowns and a pandemic, we found ourselves evaluating the different elements of our lives and really taking into account what makes us happy and brings value to our lives.

Ensuring that people were having regular breaks, working within work hours only and taking the time to go for lunchtime walks are some of the ways I have contributed to a healthier and more productive team relationship with work.

Also, Advanced rewarded us for our perseverance and hard work through dofonline.co.uk

60 PER CENT OF FINANCE PROFESSIONALS HAVE RECEIVED URGENT WORK REQUESTS FROM THEIR BOSS TO BE COMPLETED OUTSIDE WORKING HOURS Summer Fridays which has entitled all staff to half-a-day off work per week in July and August 2021. The improved flexibility offered by Summer Fridays has allowed my team to be one step closer to achieving a healthy work-life balance.

Q: Are there any actions readers could take away from the productivity survey?

A: Being empathetic is a new soft skill that CFOs and Finance Directors have had to develop over the past 18 months. Fear, uncertainty of the future, keeping up to date with the latest lockdown rules and adapting to working remotely are all factors that have understandably hindered focus and work productivity.

Mental health and wellbeing are now more important than ever, with the human crisis of the pandemic requiring a human response from CFOs and Finance Directors.

Invest some time in understanding your finance team. The Workforce Trends Survey found that 67 per cent of finance professionals wanted to play an active part in the decisions to adopt new technologies.

Lead from the front and involve your team in the digital transformation journey. Do they have any reservations? What tools do they need to do their jobs effectively?

Find ways to engage and stay connected with your team – be it working from home, in the office, or through hybrid working arrangements.

Team members should feel connected, not bombarded, with their broader team through open communication channels.

Hold regular team catch-ups to help ensure everyone is on the same path throughout this productivity journey.

Whichever way works best to motivate your team, do so with purpose and authenticity. ◆

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER Access the eight secrets to workforce productivity in the Advanced 2021 Workforce Trends Survey Report based on independent research and influencer insights into the changing face of business productivity as we get ready for a new era of hybrid working - revealing urgent trends for leaders. The report is available here: oneadvanced.com/ productivity-report DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | 13

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REPORT | Cyber Threats

TIME TO FOCUS ON THE DATA 16 | DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

Jerry Ray, chief operations officer at SecureAge looks at the rise in cyber attacks at SMEs and why just trying to stop people getting in is not enough...

HARDLY A WEEK passes without news of a breach at a well-known multinational corporation, with either company or consumer data being taken by disgruntled employees, malicious insiders, professional hackers or state-sponsored hacking groups. Yet, it is far less common to hear anything about the very many smaller businesses also under attack, increasingly targeted with ransomware and facing demands for money to regain access to their data or avoid it being made public.

While these attacks do not make the headlines, they can be even more devastating for the businesses in the crosshairs. The difference is that bigger enterprises have the luxury to choose to invest in data security solutions before an attack happens, or can spend the money afterwards on ransoms, penalties and fines. Paying any ransom demands is a simple business decision. For SMEs, a cyber attack can be a matter of survival. dofonline.co.uk

REPORT | Cyber Threats

The numbers don’t lie

Cloud Cuckoo

Globally, small businesses represent the largest group of employers and economic contributors. According to the World Trade Organisation, SMEs represent more than 90% of the business population, 60-70% of employment and 55% of GDP in developed economies. However, small businesses have a misguided view that breaches and cyberattacks only happen to multinational corporations. The 2019 SMB Cyberthreat Study, which surveyed more than 500 senior decision makers at SMEs, found 66% of owners don’t think they will fall victim to a cyber attack Truth be told, this myth is perpetuated by media headlines of the biggest breaches as well as major cybersecurity firms financially motivated to chase security contracts with large enterprise customers or governments. Most smaller businesses are targets of opportunity and not necessarily carefully planned, targeted attacks but are no less damaging.

The meteoric rise in the cloud is attracting many SMEs as they increasingly migrate away from on-premise systems. While the security of many cloud hosting providers may be a step up from the security in place at many SMEs, there are also potential new security gaps and risks to data stored on cloud systems and in transit. Many large companies have reported cloudbased security lapses including Dow Jones, Verizon and the US military intelligence agency INSCOM. If authentication and access controls are not strong enough, they can be bypassed or breached, leaving data exposed for the taking.

Ransomware time-bomb Ransomware is probably the largest threat facing SMEs, meaning a cybercriminal could easily be inside an organisation’s network, preparing for data exfiltration or destruction without them knowing. The ensuing ransom demand would be issued days or weeks later, well before the owner becomes aware. A data breach report by the IBM-Ponemon Institute in 2019, showed it takes an average of nine months for a small business to discover an incident and even when it is detected, these businesses typically don’t have the resources or software in place to halt it, let alone remediate. Big firms, on the other hand, usually have in-house capabilities on standby 24/7, or contracts with thirdparty security operations centres.

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IT TAKES AN AVERAGE OF NINE MONTHS FOR A SMALL BUSINESS TO DISCOVER AN INCIDENT The enemy within SME businesses can often face disgruntled staff who have the potential to cause harm. These insiders have easy access to company systems and files. In fact, the majority of data stolen from SMEs is taken by someone inside the organisation.

Most of these data breaches occurred because information was simply left exposed and unprotected.

But it goes further than employees.

Today, it is common for known customers, suppliers and business partners to have access to an organisation’s data in some form. Of course, humans make mistakes and allow accidental access to sensitive data, but it is also easy for malicious stakeholders to manipulate access, install keystroke loggers, compromise IoT devices or simply buy ransomware-as-a-service off the dark web. We simply have to conclude that SME security solutions are just not providing effective data security, putting more and more small business owners at risk. Further investment in security defences often goes to the back of the queue behind lead generation services, or systems to increase productivity and cut costs with more immediate returns. Of course, return in investment is important, but there won’t be any if the company cannot survive a cyber attack.

Of course, there are the basics – such as downloading patches and updates for software, using robust access controls without relying on simple passwords and education to create a strong cyber security awareness. A solid cybersecurity culture requires employee buy-in at every level.

Time to focus on the data The traditional approach to cyber security is to add more and more layers of security to prevent cyber criminals getting in.

The problem is that someone always will and of course, it does little to prevent the insider attack. So, it’s time to stop adding more layers and focus on protecting the data itself. This means encryption but to be fully secure it is vital to protect all of the data, all of the time in all of its states: at rest, in transit and in use. But for this to work for all companies – whatever the size – security and usability need to be on an equal footing. Data encryption needs to be inherent, invisible and instinctive.

There is no need to decide what data is important and needs to be encrypted. To avoid any doubt – everything is encrypted.

And it does not rely on humans making decisions or changing the way they work.

So, if a cyber criminal breaks through the perimeter security, a click on a malicious link downloads some ransomware, or a misguided employee attempts to steal sensitive information – the data they end up with will be totally useless. No data, no ransom. ◆ www.secureage.com DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | 17

REPORT | Data handling

OOPS.. I’VE JUST EMAILED YOU THE PAYROLL!

Email may have become the communications route of choice for most of us, but it’s one that’s open to mistakes - and most of us have made them, writes security expert Tim Sadler 18 | DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

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REPORT | Data handling

THE SHEER AMOUNT OF DATA in the financial services industry, and the nature of it, makes the sector incredibly vulnerable to breaches - caused by both external actions and insider threats.

The fact that 57 per cent of employees in the financial services industry have sent an email to the wrong person might not seem all that serious. But when you consider that one in five companies have lost customers as a result of this simple human error, you can see why not catching these mistakes is a huge gap in organisations’ ability to prevent data loss today.

Data handling is a crucial part of most professionals’ working lives, whether it be an accountant, a broker, or a financial planner. As such, millions of terabytes of sensitive data - including personal and financial, merger and acquisition - and intellectual property are managed every day. It just takes one mistake, or one disgruntled employee, for that to be leaked and for it to fall into the wrong hands.

In fact, financial services are among the most likely industries to experience an incident involving employees misusing their access privileges and it sees the second-highest number of human errors – such as an email containing company data being sent to the wrong person.

According to our own data, at least 800 emails are sent to the wrong person in companies with 1,000 employees each year - equivalent to two every day. What’s more, at least 27,500 non-compliant, unauthorised emails are sent every year in organisations with 1,000 employees.

Depending on the company and the employee, these emails could contain bank account numbers, loan account numbers, debit/card numbers, social security numbers, and highly sensitive corporate documents.

This, combined with the rising number of advanced phishing threats, explains why nearly half of IT leaders in financial services believe that email is the threat vector causing the biggest concern in their organisation.

The security headaches of remote working

Remote work has exacerbated the DLP issue. Not only have we become more reliant on email to stay connected, but employees have had to deal with other factors that impede their concentration

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at work.

Stress, fatigue and distraction peaked over the past year, as many employees juggled a hectic home life, personal difficulties and the stresses associated with Lockdown, all while continuing to hit deadlines and maintain performance at work. Let’s be honest, cybersecurity was rarely front of mind for many.

What’s more, the use of unsecured personal devices, unprotected WiFi networks and the lack of security on endpoints, such as smart devices and printers, also significantly contributed to surging threat levels.

Perhaps most shockingly, 56 per cent of employees working in financial services

team looking for the employee that is exfiltrating data to their personal email account is akin to the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Make no mistake, data loss prevention in a distributed workforce is not easy. And with remote work here to stay - a whopping 69 per cent of the financial services companies we surveyed say they’ll have over half of their workforce working remotely at least once a week going forward - security leaders have their work cut out.

For instance, 44 per cent of those in financial services say they’re concerned about employees’ unsafe security practices in a hybrid working environment.

So what can be done?

Tim Sadler, co-Founder, Tessian

56 PER CENT OF EMPLOYEES WORKING IN FINANCIAL SERVICES ADMITTED THAT THEY’RE LESS LIKELY TO FOLLOW SAFE DATA PRACTICES WHEN WORKING REMOTELY admitted that they’re less likely to follow safe data practices when working remotely, while nearly half working in financial services admit to downloading, saving, or sending work-related documents to personal accounts before leaving or after being dismissed from a job.

There are a number of reasons for this, one is that “safe” operations are sometimes considered to be time-consuming or a hindrance to getting their jobs done, with employees unaware of just how damaging this behaviour can be.

The other problem is a lack of visibility of such threats. Many incidents of human error go unreported, while a security

Reputation is a huge concern when it comes to this services sector, and a data breach, or mishandled data, causes damage to public image, customer trust, valuations and revenues. Many financial services firms, particularly the startups and smaller organisations, can’t afford to face the consequences of a severe breach of data, but they can afford to put the provisions in place now to prevent it.

But, one single solution isn’t enough.

Employees don’t always follow policies and procedures, and there’s no guarantee that security awareness training alone will change behaviour long-term. Rule-based data loss prevention is also a blunt instrument that impedes employee productivity and creates too much noise for thinly-stretched security teams.

It takes a village to prevent data loss and the best data protection programs take a nuanced and holistic approach by combining all of the above.

Software that analyses risk and uses artificial intelligence to adapt in real time to suspicious activity, based on an employee’s normal behaviour and risk assessment, should be part of your data loss prevention strategy if you are going to mitigate the threats that are slipping past your current email security solutions.

Combine this with training that is tailored to each employee based on their security weaknesses, and delivered consistently, to manage many of the human-error based risks which threaten each data security in your organisation.

Tim Sadler is Co-Founder and CEO of Tessian

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | 19

COMMENT | Recruitment

COMMENT

How to attract and retain top talent in the world of finance Attracting and retaining top finance talent in the UK can be tough even without a global pandemic Gregory Leyne offers his insights

BY GREGORY LEYNE

FIRSTLY, BUILD A BRAND that Provide ongoing training talent will be proud to work for. That and development. One way financial involves time, effort and commitment. enterprises can stay at the top of their The important thing is, throughout this game is by driving professional journey, the organisation is confident in development in their greatest asset - its what it is conveying to the market. talent. The direct cost of training is the At every step, your business needs to indirect cost of not doing so. express its real value, what it stands for, The most successful organisations offer and how it is helping the world in which programmes to develop team members, we live and the customers it serves. This whether that’s broadening their industry is attractive to potential employees. knowledge or supporting them in Get your brand out there, in an becoming a chartered practitioner. Not organised way and with purposeful only does it demonstrate commitment campaigns using a variety of different, yet to the employee but it reinforces a relevant, media channels. From social brand culture which increases loyalty media to traditional job listings in trade and retention. publications, there is an abundance Encourage employees to become available to organisations looking to members of industry bodies and attend attract talent. conferences and networking events. They’ll To help select the right ones, keep in meet, or at the very least be in the presence mind those you are targeting: If you are of, people who are doing similar jobs who attempting to attract apprentices then may approach their roles differently. your organisation needs to work closely Listening to insight from these with UCAS and invest in industry peers may ‘ JFK asked a NASA janitor placing communications make them review cleaning the floor what he your own business where these, presumably was doing. ‘I’m helping to youngsters, will be to practice and put a man on to the moon,’ consider suggesting capture their attention. he said.

To position yourself as and implementing more authoritative within improvements to the industry media in particular, lean on perform particular job-related tasks, your communications teams to support which could lead to significant efficiency positioning the business and its people as gains. innovative thought leaders via interviews, Shape a people-centric culture business profiles, awards and opinion This is a state of mind – it’s an attitude, pieces. And if you don’t have a where everyone is considered part of the communications team, invest in one. team. To illustrate this, I normally use the Such professionals and tools are, sadly, story about JFK visiting NASA and not always valued by some organisations, asking a janitor who was cleaning the yet the ROI will definitely be there. floor with a broom what he was doing.

Another significant and important way “I’m helping to put a man on to the of getting your brand front-of-mind with moon,” he said. potential customers and employees, is Everyone, no matter what role they boasting positive customer testimony play, is contributing to the success of the whether in the shape of a five-star Google organisation or a project. When people review or a detailed case study on your in a business can see that, the building website. Customer testimonials are an blocks of a people-centric culture are excellent validation tool to those in place. researching your business.

Engaged employees produce better

20 | DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

business outcomes, according to Gallup.

That’s across industry, companies of any size and nationality, and in good economic times and bad. Everyone has ideas - even if a project is not related to their job - so it is important that you offer confidence to employees to share them.

Remember to be open about the suggestions being made too - although they may differ from your initial intentions, they could hold a solution to a particular part of a project.

Always be mindful of the Why Factor.

Why do you want an individual to do something? Why do you want them to go in a specific direction? Having the answers to the why, will help employees understand their contribution, identify where they are adding value and how the business is leveraging their input.

Another area which can help a company create a people-centric culture is provision of the right technology. Does your organisation have the tools employees need to do their work? Are they able to use it effectively? Do they have what’s necessary to ensure their personal wellbeing is being looked after?

The link between attracting and retaining talent and new technology in the workplace is not always obvious but it’s been growing over the past 18 months with the rise of disruptors such as Challenger Banks and FinTech. The way we work has changed fundamentally and digital transformation needs to consider truly flexible and collaborative ways of working for new generations.

Attracting and retaining top talent is essential to any enterprise building its reputation as a desirable employer. The key is to look beyond the perks and gimmicks and offer talented professionals a purpose, a future, a vision - with an organisation that encourages them to be the best they can be. ◆ Gregory Leyne is Chief People Officer at Sidetrade

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COMMENT | Employee Training

FOR BUSINESSES, HIRING the right people is usually only half the battle. Even the best candidates can be lost without the right guidance as they become used to their new roles. Therefore, the role of structured training and development as soon as employees arrive will help them hit the ground running and ensure they reflect their employer’s core values from the outset.

A report by the CBI found that nine in 10 UK employees will have to reskill by 2030 as a result of accelerating changes. It also found that 26 million workers will require upskilling to keep up with technological and business developments as their roles evolve. Meanwhile, another five million are set to go through a fundamental job change and require retraining.

A huge part of this responsibility must sit with businesses. With the accelerated digital change we’ve seen in the past year, the workforce is desperate not to be left behind.

For example, customer service agents have seen their jobs change drastically and this role provides a good way of illustrating the tips in this article. Customers are more connected than ever to the businesses they buy from, and that means they’re constantly sharing their experiences positive and negative. Providing top-notch support is directly related to customer retention, loyalty and satisfaction.

In an ideal world, employee training should start straight away, but what should employers’ key considerations be for the career development?

Start small and increase complexity

Alternatively, if incoming support tickets are sorted by topic—such as billing, login problems, and technical issues—employers should pick a queue to have a trainee focus on, then expand to others over time.

making the mentor someone on a different team to help the new employee branch out and meet others, as well as give them a space to talk openly in a way they may hesitate to do within their own team.

Train directly in the relevant support channels

Break down company silos

New employees will struggle to adapt if Training should not be theoretical. While they aren’t given access to all the data they it’s okay to start need which is why teams explaining the basics need to collaborate effectively.

26 million workers in training software, Without 360-degree insights will require upskilling text documentation, or to keep up with on relevant information, less a video example, experienced employees won’t technological and employers must ensure business developments be able to perform to the it’s not the only place highest standard. In fact, as their roles evolve their new agent learns research from Freshworks how to work in a found that when internal particular support channel. They need to sales and marketing teams aren’t aligned, know best practices for a channel, plus both teams suffer from greater drops in how to actually use each one effectively. revenue and conversion rates.

Each support channel also has its own Ensure new agents know the challenges, and a new agent will need to be product inside and out trained on the specifics for the type of support they’ll be providing.

No matter how much training an employee For example, if an agent handles live has, if they don’t know the product well, chat, their training should include a they’ll struggle when it comes to actually section on chat-specific skills, such as how helping customers. New hires must be to handle multiple chats and tips for given time to try out the product or service pacing the conversation. This is supported they are supporting. Those training them by our recent research, which found that can create a way to assess their knowledge, customers assign significantly more value such as a short quiz built into training or to responsiveness than the time taken to by having a teammate run through how resolve a query. they’d help a customer with a handful of common issues.

Assign mentors to new hires

A mentor can check them in and help them grow over the first few months. While they’ll have other colleagues to go to for assistance, this relationship will go a long way. Employers should also consider

Employers must avoid overloading new hires by bombarding them with every piece of training they’ll need at once. Using the example of customer service, they could consider introducing a new team member to one support channel at a time so they can focus on fully learning that tool and process. The use of AI tools can also help by identifying the next best actions and learn on-the-job more effectively.

COMMENT

For example, customer service agents should approach providing support as, not only an opportunity to assist customers, but also to continuously learn and improve.

Employers should work on creating a team culture that feels welcoming, so that any time an employee faces obstacles, they won’t hesitate to reach out to a peer.

Companies taking responsibility

BY YISHAY TRIF

Six key considerations for employee training and upskilling Corporate responsibility in the modern workplace dofonline.co.uk

Establish a “learn on the go” culture

Companies have a responsibility to upskill their staff to help them meet expectations quickly and move with the current trends.

Well-trained employees are better at supporting their businesses and building better customer relationships, using emotional intelligence and a broad communication skillset. When customer service is good, people remember. They tell their friends, they feel loyal to the brand, and they’re more likely to trust their money with the company they’re having a good experience with. ◆ Simon Johnson is General Manager, UK and Ireland, Freshworks DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | 21

COMMENT | Starting a New Business

STARTING A BUSINESS means taking a leap of faith. Making sure you have a successful landing hinges on three key factors: Planning, know-how, and mindset.

I spoke to some business leaders and Sage customers about how these three critical elements have contributed to their success.

Few of those dreaming of business success are qualified in accountancy or the ins and outs of the tax system.

However, developing a solid, sensible financial plan is critical to establishing a sustainable business.

Barry Leahey, CEO at playground equipment maker Playdale told me that he ensured his financial plan “had been rigorously challenged by all stakeholders to ensure global success”. Being willing to take criticism, especially from key stakeholders or those that have experience, ensures your financial plan is more likely to support your business ambitions.

This is particularly important when personal savings are on the line.

Protecting and growing them with a rigorous, long-term financial view is essential, says Ella Jade, Director and Co-Founder at ROOBBA, manufacturer of affordable furniture. Every new business owner is likely to have financial pressures and anxiety. But, she says, when managed well, “these bumps will become barely noticeable as your moves

COMMENT

from strength to strength”. “pre-planning and researching Finally, being realistic with finances is every element”. key to sustainability. Sam Mitcham,

Boss the business mindset founder at SJCM Accountancy, believed in her business idea but knew she needed That isn’t just about working hard – it’s to supplement her income until it reached about working smart. That means a certain level. She noted: “When I first making sacrifices, creating motivation began self-employment, I kept two days and using the resources around you. per week in an employed role to give me When it comes to sacrifices, Barry enough financial security to feel safe yet was “prepared to accept them” on his not quite enough to stop me from pushing journey to build a business he was hard with my own business.” A balance of passionate about. Understanding that drive and security is this is part of the process critical for a fruitful means you’re thinking “Maintaining business in the early days. Inspiration and long-term and looking at If you don’t have the motivation is key. That’s the bigger picture. His know-how, get learning! why it’s so important to sacrifices paid off: “I Running a successful lived out of a suitcase have a strong support business means wearing in hotels for many network” many hats - meeting the years and had 600 expectations of flights in economy in customers, stakeholders and legislative 10 years all on the journey to growing requirements all at once. Juggling them is my business.” never easy, but those who are willing to Maintaining inspiration and learn new skills and processes are more motivation is key. That’s why it’s so likely to succeed. important to have a strong support What is your motivation for learning network – both personal and professional. new skills? Keeping your promises is a For Ella, that supportive figure was her fantastic place to start, as Playdales’ father who built his business working Barry pointed out. “We do what we say seven days a week. This is how she we are going to do, when we said we fostered her business mindset – “always were going to do it”. With the right learning, reading, manifesting goals motivation, the drive to pick up new skills – which keeps me and my co-founder and meet expectations won’t be a chore; on our toes”. it will simply confirm that you are in And proprietor Sam’s approach to the control and motivated to make your business mindset reminds us that a business succeed. balance with your personal life cannot be Good working practices require overlooked: “I spent long evenings constant iteration and improvement. working to enable me to have the time I ROOBBA founder Ella believes “if you wanted with my daughter.” This, too, can don’t want to sit at your desk unwillingly, take sacrifices, but each entrepreneur find ways of working and create a should ensure that they are working lifestyle that means you don’t want to within their abilities to avoid burnout. stop working”.

Ultimately, finding the right balance to Work may be changing, but many support yourself mentally and physically, would argue that legal, tax and as well as meeting your own aspirations, compliance remain as rigid as ever. This should be the goal. is true, says Sam of SJCM Accountancy, What helped these three entrepreneurs but they needn’t intimidate those who are find a successful landing? All the passionate about the flexibility of the entrepreneurs I spoke to lead businesses new normal. “Having the confidence and that are moving from strength to full understanding” of these elements was strength. That’s not to say it wasn’t “paramount to success”, she said. Take difficult at first – each has mentioned the back that feeling of control, getting to sacrifices that needed to be made and the grips with the requirements by resilient mindset that saw them through those early hiccups.

Ensuring you have sound financial planning, the necessary right know-how and a strong business mindset an outlook will give you the confidence you need to start and succeed. ◆

How to tell if you’re ready to start your own business Small business expert Michelle Bissett sought the views of three clients

BY MICHELLE BISSETT

22 | DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

Michelle Bissett is VP, Small Business Segment (UK) at Sage dofonline.co.uk

COMMENT | VAT & Brexit

COMMENT

How to ensure success on your digital finance transformation journey As businesses look to become more agile in response to our fast-moving economy and use technology and data to achieve organisational-wide efficiencies, they are increasingly turning to the finance team for guidance on analysis for operational decision making, says Nick Felton, senior vice president MHR Analytics

BY NICK FELTON

FINANCE PROFESSIONALS are needing to anticipate their organisation’s next move, adapt quickly to meet market trends and fulfil the demands of their increasingly digitally savvy customers.

With a growing proliferation of data which needs to be analysed effectively, they are increasingly leaving behind traditional manual processes and, instead, turning to digitally transformative technologies to help them access key insights into their businesses.

The move to digitising key processes can be daunting for financial professionals who may be unsure where to start. However, it’s important not to fear transformation, but consider it as a continuous process of improvement and change.

Preparation is key. We often see senior execs keen to dive straight in with ‘the sexy stuff’ such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) or advanced analytics. However, time and specialist resources are needed to deliver these significant changes, both of which the finance team often lack as they continue to fulfil their usual daily roles.

Start by reviewing where you are today and identifying the processes where improvements can be made and those ripe for automation. Day-to-day processes such as Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable are well-known for being time consuming and laborious and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can be applied here to automate these processes.

Financial close should also be considered for automation as speeding up this regular process will also help deliver significant productivity gains. By automating these slow, manual tasks it will free up time and resource within the finance team to help them continue to identify and deliver ongoing transformation.

To deliver true transformation that doesn’t stop at process improvement and productivity gains, finance also needs to deliver change – not just in terms of what it delivers but also how the department is perceived within the organisation.

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Take the report-and-analyse process as the board, but also to empower and an example. There’s a real opportunity encourage the finance team and make here for the finance team to demonstrate them central to the journey. As for cost, change. There are many solutions now Finance needs to own the transformation available that can be used to interrogate journey rather than outsourcing it. data and present the results visually and Excessive use of external expertise can it’s then down to finance to turn this into hinder rather than help the valuable information by adding a transformation process. narrative which tells a clear and Making the technical choice between a compelling story with actionable insights single platform that delivers everything and strategic thought. the finance team needs in one solution, or Another process where productivity a best-of-breed approach for different gains and real change can be applied is elements of the transformation process Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting can be a tough choice.

(PB&F). Automating the collection and There are pros and cons to each: with a consolidation of data and model single platform it’s easy to share data and maintenance can have a real impact on metadata and provide users with one the wider organisation by increasing the interface, but its functionality in other frequency of planning; encouraging areas may be inferior to a best-of-breed involvement from other parts of the solution; while the alternative approach business; enabling key business and value means you are investing in rich drivers to be identified; and also functionality, but multiple solutions can connected planning e.g., the HR plan is mean integration is needed and users are linked directly to the Sales and managing a variety of different interfaces.

Operational Plan (S&OP) and Profit and However, the real benefit of the best of Loss Account. breed approach is that it can achieve Reluctance to embrace new ways of quicker wins, deliver faster ROI and is doing things is not lower risk than a “Finance needs to deliver uncommon and there single platform. change – not just in terms of are many reasons for Finance will also what it delivers but also how need to consider this. The first one is the department is perceived whether to opt for a cost – competition for within the organisation” funds is fierce and it’s Software-as-a-Service critical that finance (SaaS) or a cloudgains the senior team’s buy-in for its based model to support their transformation projects. Secondly, legacy transformation journey. While SaaS systems such as the underlying offers a subscription-based model accounting systems or ERP, which often without the need for a large upfront lack functionality, are still used investment, cloud-based solutions offer enterprise-wide and may be too remote accessibility and the ability to flex expensive or disruptive to replace. And, to meet the needs of the business. thirdly, let’s not forget people and their Finally, in addition to choosing the right fear of change. It’s important to get the technology and delivery model, finance whole of the finance team onside as they also needs to consider the right partner to are the ones who will drive and deliver ensure implementation goes smoothly transformation. from the outset, and that they can work Achieving an adaptive or growth with them on an ongoing basis too. ◆ mindset is not easy, which is why the CFO’s drive for change is crucial, not only Nick Felton is Senior Vice President at to promote the transformation vision to MHR Analytics

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | 23

REPORT | Education

SCHOOLED FOR SUCCESS The universities that create the business leaders of the future IF YOU WANT TO BECOME A CEO or Managing Director, it appears there’s one sure way to get off to a flying start – graduate from LSE. It topped table of universities which produce senior management in a major study involving more than 8.4 million people who had left 121 UK colleges.

The study found that 16 per cent of LSE graduates went on to hold one of these positions, beating Cambridge and Oxford which both scored 13 per cent.

Although the top three on the list are

ranked among some of the best in the country, the study revealed a pattern that shows budding business leaders need not only apply to Oxbridge and Russell Group universities to stand a chance of success.

The average university guide ranking of those in Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance’s top 20 list was 70, with London Metropolitan (118), University of Westminster (117), Middlesex University (111), Goldsmiths (105) and University of Bradford (99) all featuring.

A clear North-South divide was also

evident, with 12 of the top 20 based in London. The University of Cumbria is the highest ranking northern university on the list, while those of Leicester, Bradford and Manchester also featured highly.

Edge Hill University was revealed as the one producing the least number of CEOs and MDs, with just four per cent going on to the boardroom.

Researchers also examined the best to attend for those looking to launch their own business and the University of the Arts London has the highest rate of former students that go on to start up their own venture (16 per cent).

Two other London universities make up the top three: LSE with 14 per cent and Goldsmiths University of London with 12 per cent. Falmouth also ranked highly (12 per cent), finishing above both Oxford and Cambridge in 5th and 6th.

Edge Hill University was, again, at the bottom of the pile, with only five per cent of students who attended the university going on to begin their own venture.

Andy Dodd, Managing Director at Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance, said: “Our research proves that you don’t necessarily need to go to the top universities – according to the guides – to ensure you enjoy a highly successful business career.

“Many of the top universities for producing CEOs and business founders are among the lower-ranked university guide schools, which should provide food for thought for many beginning the long process of applying.

“Hopefully some of our research helps to inspire the next generation of small business owners.”

What are the skills we need to teach?

Employers believe a portfolio of skills for innovation is needed urgently for the UK to compete, including problem-solving, communication and creativity.

More than half of 2,000 quizzed by researchers on future skills expressed concerned about increased competition from emerging economies such as China and Singapore.

These are nations putting creative education at the heart of their plans for growth, with Singapore having recently established a commission on design education.

But in the UK, creative subjects have been described by the Department for Education as “strategically unimportant”, according to Kingston University which commissioned the research from the polling company YouGov. 24 | DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

And they point out that government figures clearly demonstrate the importance of the creative industries, which contribute £115.9bn GVA to the UK economy – more than the aeronautical, automotive, life sciences and the oil and gas industries combined.

A third of creative jobs are not in the creative industries themselves, but in other sectors. The polling followed discussions with companies including Deloitte, Mastercard and Lidl about what challenges the UK faces to remain globally competitive and the skills needed to achieve that.

The top “skills for innovation” identified were problem-solving, communication, critical thinking, along with those involving digital and analytical prowess. Others included an ability to build

relationships and a critical mindset.

Prof Steven Spier, ViceChancellor of Kingston University, said: “Creative skills drive business transformation and regional growth and have a tangible impact on local communities.

“The application of such skills is not only central to the creative industries in which the UK is world-leading but also a catalyst in others, such as healthcare, local services, sustainability and regeneration.

“This is the environment in which the rigour of creative problem solving prospers and helps grow new approaches, products and industries.”

Rick Haythornthwaite, Chair of Ocado, said: “As we emerge from the pandemic, even the most successful companies will be

required to adapt and change.

This requires the ability to think creatively, to question how processes can be improved, and to identify solutions for a raft of new challenges.”

Mr Haythornthwaite, who also chairs the Creative Industries Federation and Creative England, added: “The skills needed to achieve this – the very attributes identified – are invariably skills developed and nurtured through a creative education that ignites rather than squanders innate abilities.

“If the UK learns to value and truly harness its collective imagination, our country’s brilliant creative minds will be enabled to not only rebuild the UK post-pandemic, but drive it towards an inspiring and sustainable future.” dofonline.co.uk

REPORT | Education

ACCA HAS LAUNCHED AN ONLINE programme offering practical insights into all aspects of Fintech such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and intelligent automation.

Such technologies, along with the likes of robotic process automation (RPA), and blockchain could change the way financial services companies and practices over the next decade.

McKinsey identified in 2018 that technology could fully automate 42 per cent of finance activities and automate a further 19 per cent. For example, over 80 per cent of accounts payable processes could be automated using intelligent capture and RPA. A year later PwC’s Global Fintech Report found that 80 per cent of technology, media and telecommunications companies and 75 per cent of financial services organisations are creating jobs related to fintech. But 42 per cent of companies in each group are struggling to fill these roles.

Hybrid professionals with broad skillsets, that include technical finance expertise with increasingly deep technological nous, have been talked about for some time, but meeting the capability needs is becoming critical.

ACCA’s Professional accountants – the future: Drivers of change and future skills released in 2016, found that over half of respondents identified intelligent automated accounting systems as the factor likely to drive the most change.

Five years later, three of the five career zones of opportunity identified in our Future ready: accountancy careers in the 2020s report can be linked to technology, data and disruption: the business transformer; the data navigator and the digital playmaker.

JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon in April called fintech an ‘enormous competitive threats’ to banks.

Fintech is often associated with banking and financial services, but it goes beyond this to the heart of most enterprises, interconnecting various functions and channels, and ‘de-silo-ing’ operations.

Fintech can cover payments, insurance, regulations, wealth management, cybersecurity and blockchain, all of which can have a direct or indirect impact on finance functions and how they interact with a business.

Furthermore, the digitisation and automation of finance tasks provides greater volumes of data from which machine learning and AI can then illicit deeper and more insightful management information. Finance professionals will be called upon to then add value on top of this, to think strategically and integrate dofonline.co.uk

ACCA RISES TO THE FINTECH CHALLENGE

Accountants know continuous learning is key to maintaining professional standards. But, with rapid business transformation now a priority, the need for techno-savvy leaders is paramount, writes Neil Johnson.

finance into the engine of a business.

McKinsey’s report, The future of capability building, says that the next 10 years will bring ‘fundamental changes to our working world, and to adapt, employees in almost every role and industry will need to acquire new skills.

The Covid-19 crisis has only accelerated these shifts’.

Graduates of the ACCA’s online programme are awarded a Certificate in

The ACCA’s Certificate in Fintech for Finance and Business Leaders provides professionals with practical insights into all aspects of Fintech Fintech for Finance and Business Leaders.

The programme was developed in conjunction edX, to provide professionals with practical insights into all aspects of fintech.

It comprises three programmes:

Machine learning with Python: What lies beneath machine learning output? How do you better interrogate models? Partnering with data scientists for deeper understanding and wider adoption. How automation can finance function efficiency

Managing the cyber threat:

Facilitating risk assessments, identifying potential threats and addressing basic hygiene factors. Understanding the vulnerabilities cyber criminals might exploit and the business impact of a cyber attack. The risks posed by third-party suppliers and how to select and manage these relationships.

Robotic process and intelligent automation: Understanding how automation can make finance functions more efficient and support organisational strategy. Identifying the opportunities for automation, develop the business case for investment and support implementation.

Why now?

In ACCA’s The digital accountant: digital skills in a transformed world report surveyed 4,264 accountancy and finance professionals globally. Eighty-nine per cent felt digital skills were necessary, while 68 per cent said they use digital skills all the time in their work.

Thirty-seven per cent said they needed machine learning skills and a further 35 per cent said developing cyber security skills was essential to their careers.

PwC’s Global Fintech Report identified key barriers to organisations fully embracing technology as concerns around inexperienced and unskilled workforces, security and data privacy, and the transformation process, as new systems clash with legacy systems.

The pace of change and technological innovation and adoption is so fast that skills gaps will only increase. It’s time for finance professionals and business leaders to try to get ahead of the curve, to embrace the disruption, be a part of the transformation and take their careers on a wild digital ride.

Neil Johnson writes for ACCA’s AB magazine and its Student Accountant audience. He is editor of ACCA Careers’ advice section.

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | 25

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APPOINTMENTS | Summer 2021

APPOINTMENTS Key hires to drive Clearco expansion

Tax Partner role for Bowness

you’re a founder building a Clearco, the world’s largest business, you should be e-commerce investor, recently working with Clearco.” announced plans to expand Longtime Clearco advisor across Europe with two key and investor, Bose, said. “I executive hires, including a am inspired by the way UK Head.

Clearco is democratising Ruma Bose, a best-selling access to capital and the author, and former president real impact that it has had in of Chobani Ventures and the Ruma Bose changing the face of Chobani Foundation, has entrepreneurship by funding joined as Chief Growth more female business founders and Officer. She will ensure the company has entrepreneurs of colour. the right strategy to win outside North “This company is doing industryAmerica, and enter multiple markets changing work with its technology and across Europe. products, while defining a new category Sarah Clark, who led Paypal’s growth for itself and its competitors. With global across EMEA, has joined as UK Head and markets preparing for a recovery in 2021, Clearco’s first international country this is a critical time to support the manager. She will bolster and expand businesses that can create jobs and Clearco’s presence in the British Isles, fuel growth.” building a stronger brand presence.

Clark, who has held senior roles at Barclays Bank, Virgin Group, Sainsbury’s, Sarah Clark and British Airways, said: “Since entering the UK market beginning in October 2020, we’ve invested £70 million into more than 250 UK companies, including Druids Golf, Safiyaa, and Piglet. I believe every founder building a business in the UK should be working with Clearco and I’m excited to help make that possible.”

CEO Andrew D’Souza said: “As we look to expand across the globe, we know there are almost 600 million entrepreneurs in the world who will be fuelling the future of the global economy. We believe ultimately that whoever and wherever you are, if

Armstrong Watson have promoted Becky Bowness to Tax Partner, only two years after she joined the firm.

Bowness arrived as Corporate Tax Director from PwC and has since played an integral role in the development of services to corporate businesses across the North East and Cumbria.

Becky Bowness Becky has extensive experience advising entrepreneurial businesses of all sizes, including listed businesses and international groups across all sectors.

Becky said: “It is testament to the commitment and resilience of our firm that we have been able to promote through all levels up to Partner during this past year and I am so excited to lead our Corporate Tax practice in supporting our fantastic and exciting clients through the next phase of our new normal.”

Becky’s career began in Carlisle, where she advised clients across the North of England for 12 years before working in PwC’s New York office and its London International and M&A tax teams.

CEO Paul Dickson said: “Becky’s promotion is a key milestone in the development of the tax team, as we look both to ensure that we can meet the more sophisticated needs of our client base in challenging circumstances, as business becomes increasingly international and more complex; and to grasp the opportunities to look after the requirements of significant regional businesses looking for local advice of the highest quality.”

McIntosh CFO at medical edtech specialist

Mark Mace dofonline.co.uk

Continulus, the online video-learning platform for health professionals, has hired Scott McIntosh as CFO and Mark Mace as Software Architect.

McIntosh is an experienced finance director with 20 years’ experience across the private equity sector. He joins from Scottish Enterprise where he was responsible for managing a portfolio of

equity investments in high-growth companies, investing alongside business angel syndicates, venture capitalists and other early-stage investors.

A chartered accountant and a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland, he has served also as finance director of Kilmarnock-based charity “Partners for Inclusion”, an

organisation with over 300 staff and annual revenues of £8 million.

Mace, a software engineer with 24 years’ experience in developing a diverse range of software across multiple sectors, has worked for such organisations as Keyfuels, Capgemini, Bet365, DeMontfort Fine Art, the NEC Group and Next Retail.

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | 27

APPOINTMENTS Redwood appoint new Director of Operations

Neil Wood

Industrial estate appoints new MD George Moss and Sons have named a new managing director to drive the business forward into its second century.

Neill Wood has been appointed by the current owner, Sebastian Moss, to drive the growth and sustainability of Moss Industrial Estate, in Leigh.

Wood was the financial controller of City Football Group, where he was responsible for the group’s financial accounting, risk management and finance systems as well as all the external reporting for Manchester City.

After graduating from Loughborough in 2006, he completed the graduate scheme at Ernst & Young and qualified as a chartered accountant in 2010. He spent seven years consulting with EY including

secondments with RBS, Thomas Cook and Microsoft, in Dublin and Seattle, where he led the global rollout of new accounting software.

Sebastian Moss, who met Wood at university, said: “Neill is someone I have known personally for many years and trust implicitly. He brings a wealth of experience that will be of great value to the business both now and in the future.

“As we enter our second century, our first priority is making the industrial estate fit for the future and that will mean a significant focus on sustainability and ensuring that we are doing everything we can to reduce our impact on the environment, improved health and wellbeing at work.”

Another senior appointment has been made by a Challenger Bank as it secures a new Director of Operations with nearly 20 years’ experience in the financial services sector.

Over the course of his career, Sebastian Mrotzek has worked in multiple roles across commercial Banks, start-ups and regulators. He joined Redwood Bank from a London Fintech start-up where he was Deputy COO and Head of Banking Operations.

Mrotzek has also held senior positions at the Prudential Regulation Authority and was a member of the Bank of England’s Technology and Projects Board.

He said: “Working in a challenger bank provides me with the opportunity to influence the direction of the company, without the constraints of legacy systems and set ups. In addition, it also provides a platform in which one can engage in the end-to-end operations.”

CEO Gary Wilkinson said: “This is a key role as it supports the smooth-running and full operations of Redwood. Sebastian’s job involves ensuring all activities are conducted in a regulatory compliant manner, while also making sure all our customers are well looked after.”

Sebastian Mrotzek

Mani’s the man for Pleo

Arun Mani

28 | DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

Fintech scale-up Pleo, which offers expense and bill management automation tools and smart company mastercards, has appointed Arun Mani as its Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).

Joining from FreshWorks Europe, Mani brings more than eight years’ experience leading and growing successful start-ups.

At FreshWorks, he was responsible for launching the EMEA business, building a team of 150 people from scratch. Before than, he oversaw sales at AppNexus. An Engineer by background, he also holds an MBA from INSEAD. Jeppe Rindom, CEO, said: “He will play a crucial role in guiding Pleo’s growth over the coming months. Arun brings invaluable

experience. He intimately understands what it takes to scale a business across Europe, and, with his expertise, I am confident that Pleo is well on its way to reaching unicorn status imminently.”

Mani, said the company was at “a great inflection point, and is riding the wave of digitisation in the business spend management market”. He added: “In my role, I’ll have a personal goal of ensuring that Pleo has one million engaged users by the end of 2025, which is a 25 times increase from now. With the rate that Pleo’s customer-base is growing, and the engagement it has built so far I’m confident that this goal will become a reality.” dofonline.co.uk

APPOINTMENTS | Spring 2021

Emma Tempest

Pair join Sancus team

Samir Kurti

Specialist property lender Sancus has appointed two new business development managers, Emma Tempest and Saimir Kurti to their UK team to expand their bridging finance division.

Sancus specialises in property bridging and development financing from £100,000 to £10 million-plus throughout the UK, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar and the Isle of Man with a niche in client focussed lending and extensive experience in handling more complex lending proposals.

Tempest has experience in commercial lending, developing and designing new products and generating business from

the broker market, having owned her own broker business. Past roles include National Commercial Manager for Clever Lending and Business Development Manager for Hope Capital and Together Money.

Kurti has been a personal banker at Santander and more recently, Business Development Manager for First 4 Bridging.

Sales Director Richard Whitehouse said: “They bring knowledge, energy, dynamism and a network of established contacts to the business.

I am really looking forward to working with them.”

CIMA name Ash as new President Paul Ash has been elected the 88th President of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the 6th Chair of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the most influential body of professional accountants in the world.

Combining the strengths of AICPA & CIMA, the Association represents 696,000 members, students and engaged professionals in management and public

Paul Ash

dofonline.co.uk

accounting across 192 countries and territories.

During his one-year term, Paul will concentrate his efforts on a digitally focused agenda, re-imagining the services that accounting professionals provide and demonstrating the value they bring in a fast-changing business world.

He will encourage members to take new opportunities to help their organisations adapt and thrive, working closely with Bill Pirolli, who will serve as AICPA Chair and Vice Chair of the Association. He said: “I am proud to have been elected. It will be a privilege to serve our members and students around the world.”

Ash became a CIMA member in 1981 and was awarded his fellowship in 1986.

He first volunteered with CIMA during the mid-1980s while with the London Stock Exchange, where he initiated and managed a CIMA-approved training programme and was a founder member of the CIMA City Interest Group.

He has a degree in economics from the University of Leicester and began his career in the industrial manufacturing sector. He then moved into the financial services sector and joined the London Stock Exchange in 1980 as a management accountant.

Axon Board role for Rob Burrell Axon IT has promoted Rob Burrell to Sales Director. He began his new job in June after three years with the company.

In his new role, he will be responsible for the strategic leadership of the sales department and deliver Axon’s commercial strategy alongside the other directors.

Burrell was originally brought in as Sales Manager to build relationships with key customers the company had grown “organically”. He is now recruiting further team members. Before Axon, he worked for managed service providers and resellers, such as Channel MSP, Claranet and Advanced.

He said, “Axon are really agile and gave me autonomy from day one to build the sales department and to adapt our approach. I feel passionate about leading the sales team; I want everyone to embody the role of Microsoft and technology specialists – like technology evangelists.”

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE | 29

APPOINTMENTS | Summer 2021

Blanc takes top job at CII

Lisa Marie Smith

Sara Bridgen

Trio in ForrestBrown reshuffle R&D tax relief consultancy ForrestBrown has announced that it is making a trio of changes to its senior management team as the sector gears up for a market shake-up.

Sara Brigden becomes Managing Director, taking over from founder Simon Brown, who is now Chairman of the business. He will be joined by Lisa-Marie Smith as Vice-Chairman.

Simon Brown

30 | DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

Sara said: “The new leadership structure coincides with the changing market conditions for the wider R&D tax landscape. As a result, I’m looking forward to leading the charge as we not only navigate HMRC’s new approach to R&D tax relief, but continue to champion a very necessary level of increased professionalism in the industry. I think that being at the forefront of this is really powerful.”

Commenting on the changes, Simon said: “I’m immensely proud of the strong foundations that we’ve built over the past eight years . . . but now’s the time for change to ensure we continue to move forward. With strong credentials and an appetite for success, Sara is the natural successor to take the company forward as we look to harness fresh energy and ideas to keep the business evolving.”

The Chartered Insurance Institute has appointed Aston Lark CEO Peter Blanc as President for 2022. Mr Blanc leads one of the largest Chartered Insurance Brokers in the UK with more than 1,500 staff across 53 locations in the UK and Ireland. He is also non-executive chairman of Hastings Insurance Services, and until recently served as chairman of the Large Brokers’ Advisory Board at the British Insurance Brokers Insurance Association.

In the coming months he will work closely with current CII President and CEO of Aon UK Ltd Julie Page, before taking over as President and Chair of the President’s Forum on January 1 2022.

The CII President’s Forum was created earlier this year to explore new and emerging risks and ways the insurance profession can address the unmet needs of consumers. Mr Blanc said: “The pandemic has shone a light on how important it is to have insurance solutions that can keep businesses going, so I look forward to becoming President of the CII in 2022 and continuing the professional body’s amazing work to examine ways to close the gap between what consumers expect insurance services to entail and the reality.

“As a profession it is vital that we get to grips with the cause of the expectation gap and how to better educate consumers around coverage. Having cover in place is essential if our customers are to do and achieve more in the years to come.”

Russell Higginbotham was appointed deputy president. He became Swiss Re’s CEO Reinsurance Asia and Regional President Asia in 2019. Now based out of Singapore, he oversees more than 2,000 staff in 11 Asian cities.

Sian Fisher, CEO of the CII said: “I look forward to working closely with Peter as our new President in 2022 and look forward to working with him on how our profession can adapt, evolve and innovate our products and services in order to maintain the importance and relevance of insurance to the customers it serves.”

CII President Peter Blanc dofonline.co.uk

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