After gaining two very “useful” degrees in Archaeology and Classical Humanities, I moved to London in summer 2009 and began working at a small consulting firm as a Tax & Treasury Analyst. As it was a small team, I got heavily involved with all aspects of the Treasury and Tax department's responsibilities which really helped to develop my core Treasury skills and knowledge. After a few years it became clear I needed to move in order to continue to grow my Treasury skillset and soon joined a privately owned international industrial commodities group as Cash & Treasury Manager. In 2015, I was keen to get experience in a larger, public company and joined Capita’s Treasury team as the Treasury Integration Manager and co-head of Middle Office. This was an extremely interesting and dynamic role, however when the opportunity was presented to join Logicor as Assistant Treasurer in 2016, I accepted the offer knowing it would be an extremely challenging but rewarding role. I was then promoted to Group Treasurer.
Treasury is a very dynamic, interesting and fast paced function which suits my personality well. Additionally, getting to work with various internal and external stakeholders brings a commercial and human element to the job – it’s not just about the numbers.
Getting to work on the recent sale of Logicor from Blackstone to CIC. After a year’s work of building the Treasury function from the ground up to be ready for the sale, we finally completed at the end of November. It was the second largest European real estate transaction in history and knowing that I had some part in that is extremely rewarding.
One of the biggest challenges is keeping up with technological trends. As the industry is constantly evolving and progressing, keeping abreast of new technological advances to enhance the Treasury function can be difficult even if it’s necessary.
It’s essential to consider and develop the younger members of the ACT as well as those students currently studying to gain their qualification – at the end the day we are the next generation of the Treasury profession so our thoughts and voices need to help shape this future. The Future Leaders in Treasury working group aims to do this by holding events and providing content that is particularly relevant to this demographic.
As I started the role of Assistant Treasurer at Logicor with no Group Treasurer above me and reporting directly to the CFO, I wanted to ensure I had a support network of Treasury professionals to rely on as a sounding board. The ACT’s Mentor Me scheme was the perfect solution.
After being matched with a Group Treasurer, we have met ever few months to catch up. We discuss an agenda of current issues which range from technical Treasury questions to career development, and he provides feedback and tangible steps I can take to reach a solution or my goals. He has also been kind enough to introduce me to some of his network where he thought they could assist with specific questions or projects I was working on.
Know your drivers and goals and relay these to your mentor at the start of your relationship. Additionally, although mentoring can be casual, keep sight of your goals and ensure you provide an agenda for each meeting to stay on track. If you are given sound advice that you agree with, take action! Lastly, put it the time- life is busy for everyone but finding a few hours every other month should be possible for everyone.
I’m going to go old school and say my laptop. My life is on that thing – photos, work, ideas and most importantly my calendar.
"Applied Corporate Finance" by Aswath Damodaran – I am currently studying towards my MCT so reading for pleasure is a thing of the past!