I have always been interested in financial markets and worked for John Keells Stock Brokers, a subsidiary of the largest quoted company on the Colombo Stock Exchange, as an Investment Advisor. From there, I moved to First Capital Group, gaining considerable experience in both equity and debt markets.
My arrival in the UK coincided with the 2007/08 Global Financial Crisis and I joined the NHS. It was not by choice but in hindsight it was a good opportunity as it provided me with an exposure to financial management. Although I was a CIMA qualified accountant I had never worked in operational finance before.
As a CIMA member I was eligible for the fast-tracked AMCT qualification. AMCT equipped me with the skills and confidence needed to work in treasury. Simply put, I wouldn’t have been able to break into treasury or secure any treasury role without this.
I then joined Watford Community Housing to head up the Treasury and Business Planning team and establish the treasury function. I moved on to Swan Housing as Head of Treasury and in June 2019, I joined Golding Homes as the Group Treasurer. I am now responsible for leading treasury and financial planning functions, building and maintaining lender relationships and securing funding for the organisation.
Treasury is at the heart of the business. It’s dynamic, exciting and rewarding and provides you with huge opportunities to make a real difference to the success of the organisation. The decisions you make will have a direct impact on performance and profitability and you can help shape the future of the organisation’s financial strategy. It’s a high-profile area of the business and you have the privilege to work closely with key internal and external stakeholders.
Professionally, dealing with the economic turbulence and resulting changes in interest rate and inflationary environments; attracting, developing and retaining talent that’s critical to the success of the treasury function; and personally, getting used to the new normal when our only daughter left home to attend medical school.
While working on c£200m refinancing and raising new finance to fund an ambitious development programme, we had to engage with the Regulator regarding a safety compliance issue. The lenders were nervous as it would have been challenging to obtain credit approval amid Regulator involvement and the formal process was paused until we had a better idea of the immediate implications.
When we finally got the 'green light', we had just over three weeks before the Christmas holidays and the development team had lined up few contracts to be signed upon completion of funding agreements. The refinancing and the new funding with an existing lender were completed in record time, and when the terms were agreed for the remaining £100m with the new lender we had exactly two weeks for completion. It took 15+ hours long days, seven days a week, but the hard work paid off and the optimism and determination to get this done helped to make this become a reality. On the afternoon of the last business day before the festive break, the £100m deal was completed and within hours the development team signed their contracts.
No matter how trivial, whatever you do, put your heart and soul into it.
The Treasurer magazine and the webinars are valuable to develop your knowledge and keep abreast of current treasury affairs. ACT events are also useful for networking and sharing views with likeminded individuals.
My iPhone – it provides instant access to most of the things I need to get on with my day and gives me the sense of feeling that the world is in the palm of my hand.
Becoming Supernatural. It’s a fascinating read, where the author Dr Joe Dispenza looks at what would it mean to become supernatural and what would happen if you could change your brain chemistry to access transcendent levels of awareness.
Resilient, Optimistic, Honest.
Yes, to pay more attention to my physical and mental wellbeing. I need to be kinder to myself.
On a personal note, it would also be great to have more family holidays and as a former cricketer I hope to be able take full advantage of my MCC membership and watch some cricket at Lords!