Meet the Trainers

Michèle Allman-Ward

Michèle is the Managing Partner of Allman-Ward Associates, a company specialising in strategic planning, training, project management and market research in international treasury management. With over 20 years of banking and consulting experience, Michèle is an internationally respected expert on cash and treasury management. She has contributed to numerous publications and is the lead trainer for the ACT’s CertICM qualification.

Gary Ashworth

Gary specialises in providing training, coaching and consultancy on advanced business performance management approaches and is a regular speaker and published author on the subject. Gary led Ernst & Young’s Performance Management Service Line in the UK and has established a number of successful entrepreneurial companies. Gary is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants and a Certified Management Consultant.

Gerry Bacon

Gerry currently works as Senior Advisor for Anthem Corporate Finance, a small London based corporate finance advisor, specialising in M&A advice, debt refinancing and raising capital for small to medium size ventures. Until December 2008, Gerry worked for Vodafone where he was Group Treasurer and CFO for its central services subsidiary. Previously Gerry worked for Kingfisher, Merrill Lynch and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Stoy Hayward. Gerry has an MBA from Cranfield School of Management.

Wayne Bartlett

Wayne is Senior Manager, Finance for the HELM Corporation. He has many years' experience in financial management as a consultant and a senior manager. He has worked with leading government departments on new ways of working in developing countries and has developed business and financial recovery plans for large organisations. Wayne continues to advise governments and is currently involved in several major change projects.

Stephen Berry

Stephen is a former CFO, current international MBA lecturer in business strategy, author, strategy consultant and company director. Stephen has trained delegates in 25 countries on 4 continents on areas as diverse as finance, strategy and performance management from top executives to middle managers. Stephen excels at making complex matters understandable with real life examples and always with practical application. Stephen's book Strategies of the Serengeti has been read by executives from many blue chip organisations, UK and global.

Garry Buick

Garry has had extensive experience with GlaxoSmithKline, including a number of area finance director roles in the manufacturing division. He also worked in China as a key member of the implementation team for low cost product sourcing.

Anthony Birts

Anthony is a lecturer in finance at the School of Management, University of Bath lecturing on MBA, MSc and undergraduate programmes. He is also Director of Studies for the BSc Accounting and Finance degree. Before joining the University, Anthony was with Bank of America NT&SA, starting as an account officer in the energy section and moving via international treasury services to end as a vice president in the payment services area. He is Chief Examiner for the CertICM.

Professor Andrew Chambers

Andrew runs Management Audit, specialists in audit and governance advice and has chaired several audit committees and a listed company’s remuneration committee. Andrew was a Professor of Internal Auditing and a Dean at Cass Business School and is now professor emeritus. Andrew has been a director of The Institute of Internal Auditors and is currently a member of their standards setting board. He chairs the Corporate Governance and Risk Management Committee of ACCA.

George Fildes

George is Managing Director of Qualitas Training & Consultancy, and specialises in commercial and financial training that delivers sustainable business improvement. His training programmes give participants the confidence to become more involved in the commercial aspects of the business

Mike Griffiths

Mike was Deputy Head of the School of Law at the University of Wolverhampton and is now a lecturer and writer on commercial law, particularly company law and insolvency. He is the co-editor of Loose on Liquidators and Loose on the Company Director and a contributor to numerous publications. Mike is also the author of Corporate Insolvency for General Practitioners and The Insolvency of Individuals and Partnerships.

Mark Ingram

Mark is the lead tutor at FME Training Limited. A highly respected and experienced tutor in finance and financial markets, he has provided training for the Securities Institute Diploma, the CFA, tailored investment bank courses and consultancy services for NGOs and HM Treasury. He specialises in corporate finance and risk issues.

Ian Jakeways

Ian has over 20 years’ experience in designing and running financial training programmes for both bankers and treasurers. This experience covers Europe, the United States and Asia. Ian was examiner for the MCT Advanced Funding and Risk Management exam until the end of 2002. Since then he has been involved in the Certificate in Financial Mathematics and Modelling, the Certificate in International Treasury Management and the Certificate in Risk Management. He regularly trains on ACT courses.

Bob Lyddon

Bob is a strategic consultant specialising in banking, payments and cashmanagement. Bob is Head of the Secretariat of IBOS Association in London. He runs numerous seminars on SEPA, Payment Services Directive and International Payments & Cash Management. In a banking career spanning over 17 years Bob was latterly Director of European Cash Management at BankBoston, where he created the Connector multibank payments network. Bob's earlier career was spent at Manufacturers Hanover Trust/Chemical and Lloyds Bank International.

Sue Mainwaring

Sue is a member of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Finance & Treasury Tax network and leads their team in the firm’s southern region of the UK. Working with multinational companies from all sectors, she has many years’ experience advising on the tax implications of UK and cross-border financing, global liquidity arrangements, and hedging techniques. Most recently she has been focussing on the impact of evolving accounting standards, and the implications of the UK’s new ‘debt cap’ regime. Sue has written and lectured extensively on all these topics.

Mike Northeast

Mike has held a number of senior finance roles at companies including Rover, BAe Systems, Dixons and Kuwait Petroleum International. In 2003 he set up Gairloch Consulting, an independent corporate advisory consultancy. Mike has recognised teacher status at Cranfield University, and has lectured on both the MBA and MSc courses. He has been consulting on the development of blended learning Post Graduate Degrees in Finance and Risk Management with the University of the Highlands and Islands. A past chairman of the ACT, Mike is currently a senior tutor for the MCT and a trainer on the risk courses.

Pat Scott

Pat is a founder partner in Leading Edge Change, providing business improvement coaching to business owners and managers. She is also Finance Director of the Swindon & Cricklade Railway. Formerly Group Treasurer for Redland and Director of Tax and Treasury for Thorn EMI, she consulted in corporate treasury for a number of years. Pat has also taught finance and financial management with several professional organisations including the ACT, ACCA, IoD and CCH, and is co-author of Having their Cake and How the City and Big Bosses are Consuming UK Business.

Brian Welch

Brian has wide experience as a corporate treasurer with a range of companies including Gulf Oil, the Willis Group and the House of Fraser, and also as a treasury consultant. He is a former non executive advisor to the Investment Committee of the London Stock Exchange and a member of the ACT Policy & Technical Committee. He represents the ACT on the Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee which oversees the London Foreign Exchange Market. He is actively involved in education serving on the boards of a leading Sixth Form College, and an independent junior school. Brian has been an ACT member since 1985 and trains on a number of ACT courses.

Will Spinney

Will has been a practising treasurer for nearly 25 years, working for several companies including Eaton Corporation and Invensys plc where his experience ranged from risk management, cash management and extensive refinancings to pension investment strategies. He has been involved in education and training programmes with the ACT for several years, both writing resources and as a member of the examination board.

Doug Williamson

Doug is the ACT’s Chief Examiner for the Certificate in Financial Maths & Modelling. He has taught on the ACT’s training courses since 2001. Doug has over 15 years’ experience in financial education and training, specialising in financial modelling, corporate financial management and finance for non-financial managers. He has also worked as an accountant in public practice, an interim treasurer and a chartered tax advisor.