ACT 10 Questions: Andrew Hughes

1. Tell us about your career to date.

I qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1998 with Arthur Andersen and I moved from practice almost immediately as I felt that I wanted to work in industry where you could make a difference to the business you worked with. In the last 20 years I have worked in wholesale, multi-site retail and online businesses from multi-billion pound businesses to fast growth start-ups. I became a member of the ACT in 2014 as I felt that this would help me in the transition to Finance Director.

2. What has been the most interesting project you have been involved in and why?

When I was working at Alliance UniChem in 2006 we purchased the largest pharmacy chain in Northern Ireland and I got to go and spend a year in Belfast as Financial Controller working with the Regional Manager of Scotland, John Whigham, as we integrated the business into the group. It was a fantastic experience working with a great bunch of people and was my first role where I was heading up the finance function for a £50m business unit.

3. Tell us a bit about the company you currently work for?

Bloom & Wild invented the concept of letterbox flowers. The founders identified that one of the biggest frustrations when sending flowers was the need for the recipient to be at home. They designed packaging that fits through the letterbox – something that wasn’t available before. One of the things that often surprises people is that Bloom & Wild are actually a tech company. 50% of the team work in tech and everything you see when you go online or on the app is developed in-house.

4. What has been the most important lesson you have learnt in the last 12 months?

Whenever you set up a new supplier or receive a request to change bank details always confirm these details/changes through, at least, one other method (e.g. phone your supplier contact). Scammers are getting smarter and more prevalent. Everyone in the finance team and the wider business should be watching out for this and it should be part of the company culture that we expect these sorts of checks to take place.

5. How has the AMCT helped you in your work environment?

The in-depth knowledge of treasury that you get from studying the ACT qualifications is invaluable in any senior finance role, particularly when dealing with fund raising and interactions with banks. It has been a significant addition to my skillset as a Finance Director.

6. How has technology changed the way you work in the last 5 to 10 years?

I remember my first job working for Arthur Andersen and having to go to the file store to fetch files if we wanted to see any correspondence that had been made with our clients. The amount of time we used to spend going up and down the lift fetching files and having to make multiple copies of every document so that they could be stored is crazy. Nowadays with everything in the cloud it is all available without having to leave the comfort of your desk and we now have paperless offices.

7. What gadget could you not do without and why?

It would have to be my mobile phone. The convenience of being able to do everything with one device is fantastic.

8. What three words would you use to describe yourself?

Friendly, loyal, easy-going.

9. What book are you reading at the moment?

Gnomon by Nick Harkaway.

10. Who is your business hero?

My dad, Eric. He set up in business with his mate, Brian, and they made a success of their start-up before start-ups were cool!