The Only Way is Up - with Bo Timms - Group Financial Controller with the Quadrant Group.

Bo trained in ACCA whilst working in financial accounting at Barclays in Poole. In 2008, Bo qualified in ACCA and moved to Fitness First in 2009, joining the Group Finance Team where she worked as a Reporting Accountant.   At Fitness First, Bo worked in various roles to include Statutory Reporting Accountant as well as heading up the Group Reporting team. In 2018, Bo moved to her first Financial Controller position within an SME in Dorset, since then she has moved up the career ladder to her current role 'Group Financial Controller' with the 'Quadrant Group' an engineering services business, who supply technology solutions to the flight training industry.

We are luckily enough to hear her thoughts on her career to date, what is takes to reach a Financial Controller role as a female and she shares her own business challenges over the past 18 months.

Q1) Clare "In terms of your current role – what is your remit?"
A1) Bo "Day-to-day, I work across the businesses within the Group to keep a coherent set of financial data from multiple companies, group cash forecast, quarterly forecasts and annual budgets, produce financial reports, liaise with business leaders on finance matters, respond to specific requests for financial data, work with internal sales and project teams to ensure success, manage improvements within the finance department and many other things!"


Q2) Clare "What role has your finance function played to enable your business to manage through the pandemic?"
A2) Bo "Providing up-to-date financial data more often to ensure the businesses are able to move quickly while adapting to the new challenges and changes required. Regular and accurate cash forecast production was vital during this time."


Q3) Clare "What challenges has your business had to face in the past year?"
A3) Bo "As with every industry we had to re-evaluate our business activities and make use of support schemes where possible, yet over the course of the global challenges the businesses adapted their product delivery to be more remote and flexible."


Q4) Clare "What is your biggest learn from the past year?"
Q5) Bo "Having the right data at the right time can make or break a decision, even more so in times where everything is far more sensitive."


Q5) Clare "Why did you choose a career in Finance?"
A5) Bo "Finance was not my first choice of career but one I fell into! I realised I enjoyed it and was good at it!"


Q6) Clare "What advice would you give a female embarking on a career in finance?"
Q7) Bo "Set your ambitions high, never think you are not worth what you believe and stand your ground. Understand the potential there is in the career and take every opportunity you are offered to grow personally and professionally."


Q7) Clare "Even though the numbers are increasing there are still less female Finance leaders!! – why do you think this is the case?"
A7) Bo "I think some businesses haven’t made the right changes to allow a more equal and balanced workforce to take hold, mainly due to flexible working which had not been a viable option (until more recently) and because some companies with male management are not willing to drive change by employing women in the management seats!!"


Q8) Clare "What do you think the world of work should do or women should do to encourage more female leaders?"
A8) Bo "Businesses should continue to adopt flexible working practices to make their roles more inclusive to those with family and external commitments, being more open to someone working at different times. Provide a culture where people’s wrong doing is not tolerated, male bravado isn’t treasured, and anyone has equal opportunity to succeed."


Q9) Clare "If you could give your younger self one piece of advice what would this be?"
A9) Bo "Do a lot of listening and trust your feelings/gut."


Q10) Clare "As Group Financial Controller, what do you enjoy most in your job?"
A10) Bo "There’s something different every day in finance, it’s not just spreadsheets and numbers. You are in a position to have a view of the entire business, gain understanding of different areas and provide input to decision making. The contribution you make to each part of the business can be very rewarding."


Q11) Clare "What are your thoughts about flexible working?"
A11) Bo "I believe flexible working is the key to a greater diverse workforce and equal opportunities for all. This past year has proven that a larger number of careers can be done effectively whether from the office or remotely. Personally, it enabled me to have better work life balance, be more efficient and give even greater commitment to my employer."


Q12) Clare "When hiring staff what is more important attitude, qualifications or experience?"
A 12) Bo "A person's attitude is usually a good indicator of the potential working relationship. Qualifications and experience are important but these can be gained with the right training but you cant change a person’s commitment to work and their drive."

 
Finally, on a lighter note!


Q13) Clare "Who would you most like to be stuck in a lift with?"
A13) Bo "Vincent Sant – Is that shallow of me to say?! A little bit, but I mean come on! Martin Lewis the Money Saving Expert as he’ll always have something new and interesting to say while saving you a few quid too!"

Q14) Clare "Can you share an interesting fact about yourself?"
A14) Bo "I was born in Slovakia and have a brown belt in Judo!"


Thank you so much Bo for sharing your career and thoughts with us - its been amazing catching up with you!


If you would like to share your career to date and appear in our next Q & A contact Clare on 07816 873747 clare@vardeyrecruitment.com

Clare


January 2022