The Only Way Is Up with Simon Willington - Finance Director
October 18th, 2021
The Only Way Is Up with Simon Willington – Finance Director with Pennyfarthing Home Limited.
Simon started his career fresh out of university at a manufacturing company called Rollalong, where they sponsored him to undertake his CIMA studies, qualifying in 2000. He then moved to Peverel (now FirstPort) the largest property management business in the UK, where he was Group Financial Controller, managing a team of 20. In 2014, he landed his first Financial Directorship post at Appello. Currently, Simon is the Finance Director with Pennyfarthing Homes, a rapidly growing property developer covering the New Forest, Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire.
We are luckily enough to hear his thoughts on his career to date, what is takes to progress to Finance Director and he shares his own business challenges over the past 18 months.
Q1) Clare “In terms of your current role – what is your remit”?
A1) Simon “Cash, cash, cash. My role focuses on cashflow and ensuring that cash is available at the right times”.
Q2) Clare “What role has the Finance Director played to enable your business to face the pandemic?”
A2) Simon “At the start of the pandemic it was very uncertain times which meant we had to scenario plan a doomsday position to establish how the business would fare in the short to medium term. In addition to this, it was understanding how the Government schemes would work such as the Job retention scheme and CIBILs loans”.
Q3) Clare “Why a career in Finance?”
A3) Simon “Choosing a career for the next 40+ years at a young age is tough. I had an eye for numbers and saw that there seemed to be good well paid jobs in finance, I thought I would do that if my football career didn’t work out”!
Q4) Clare “What career route did you take to qualify? (Degree/A’ Levels etc?)
A4) Simon “A levels, Degree and then professional CIMA exams. I chose a university course that was geared to real life and it gave me a number of exemptions from my professional exams”.
Q5) Clare “What advice would you give a someone embarking on a career on finance?”
A5) Simon “I think the advice is the same for any role which is you must enjoy it. The good thing is that it can open up many doors, not just purely in finance because it gives an overarching commercial view across all facets of the business, because everything has a financial impact”.
Q6) Clare “What skill set do you think makes a successful Finance Director?”
A6) Simon “You need to be analytical and able to understand the data to make key decisions which also comes from questioning, challenging and supporting the business to ensure the finances are aligned to the business objectives.”
Q7) Clare “Has the DNA of Finance Director had to change over the pandemic?
A7) Simon “I don’t think the pandemic has changed the DNA because an FD today is different to 20 plus years ago. The Finance Director today is more of a business partner and not just the stereotypical grey suited accountant tapping numbers into a calculator! The pandemic just reinforced that the FD had to be dynamic, assertive and responsive to constant business challenges”.
Q8) Clare “If you could give your younger self one piece of advice what would this be?
A8) Simon “Learn excel sooner!”
Q9) Clare “As Finance Director, what do you enjoy most in your job?”
A9) Simon “ I enjoy working with the people. Everyone contributes to your personal, team and business success as each plays a part”
Q10) Clare “What are your thoughts about flexible working?”
A10) Simon “I think the pandemic has proven that this can work. I am a great believer of people taking responsibility for their role and as long as they understand what is required, I get less concerned about how they do it”.
Finally on a lighter note!
Q11) Clare “What is your most unusual talent?
A11) Simon “It has to be my ability to tell a good dad joke!”
Q12) Clare “Who would you most like to be stuck in a lift with?”
A12) Simon “I’ll give 3 people. Jennifer Aniston, David Attenborough as I find him fascinating and Simon Sinek who is probably one of the most interesting business speakers I have listened to”.
Thank you Simon for joining me in our first Q&A session "The Only Way Is Up! To hear you say "People" is why you love your job is great to see. To be a leader particularly a Finance leader its very important to have those people skills!
It is a pleasure to be sharing your insights and success story and good luck for the future!
By Clare Dear
October 2021