Chris Martin Email & Phone Number

Boston Spa, Gb

Todmorden, England, United Kingdom

Weir Minerals is the main Division of Weir Plc (FTSE 100 ).Turnover of £2.5. Weir is a manufacturer of industrial pumps and mining equipment. After one year with Weir I was promoted to a wider Regional role, looking after Finance and IT functions across 18 countries (Turnover £350m), with a team of 50 people. I created new Finance teams in Turkey and Kazakhstan (15 people) to support growth in the Central Asia region which resulted in better local reporting and commercial decision making.I changed functional currencies and re-financed subsidiaries, following £3m FX losses, which minimised balance sheet exposures. I led the closure of the Russian subsidiary following the Ukraine conflict, by withdrawing from contracts, reducing headcount by 250 people and ensuring there was minimal trapped cash.I led and managed SAP implementations in Turkey, Morocco, and Kazakhstan to move from local ERP systems to a Group standard, which resulted in 30% reduced workload and greater transparency of financial performance.I helped support Sales growth of 35% over a 4-year period, including setting up new companies and accounting support in Bulgaria, Serbia, Egypt, Georgia and Uzbekistan.

Todmorden, United Kingdom

In my role I had responsibility for both the Finance and IT functions across 12 countries (Turnover £120m), with a team of 20 people.Major achievements included identifying and rectifying a major balance sheet controls problem across multiple countries due to inadequate controls and staff inexperience, resulting in a balance sheet write-down of £20m. As part of this process I built a new UK Finance team by recruiting higher calibre staff and developing existing staff with potential, resulting in greater governance and integrity of the financial results.I undertook a significant restructure of the business to split it into two sub-regions, in order to be more focused on their end customer markets. This involved de-coupling IT and reporting systems and setting up a new back-office organisation in Istanbul.

Sheffield, United Kingdom

Jeld-Wen UK is a £120m turnover subsidiary of US listed Jeld-Wen Holding Inc. (Turnover $4.3b). It operated five factories across the UK, making timber doors, windows and stairs.In my role I had responsibility for Finance, IT and commercial pricing.I delivered the company's first profit in over ten years by improving margins by £1m, reducing headcount by 15% and reducing Sales and Administration costs by £0.5m in one year. Following a review of both product and customer profitability, margins were improved by implementing significant price increases and walking away from unprofitable customers and product lines.Other achievements included implementing new One Steam financial reporting software and supporting the Group with regulatory reporting improvements as it moved from being PE backed to listing on the NYSE.

Worksop

Laing O'Rourke Group is a privately owned construction company with a turnover of £3.2b.I was responsible for the Finance function of the Manufacturing Division, which consisted of six UK manufacturing sites with a combined turnover of £105m. Legal entities included Explore Manufacturing, Bison Manufacturing, Crown House Technologies Manufacturing and GRC UK. A key part of the role was to create a Divisional structure, drive performance improvement and implement standardised systems. I helped improve profitability by 30% (£6m) over three years by working with Operational teams on cost reduction, factory recoveries and lean improvements. Other main achievements included completing the successful acquisition of GRC(UK) Ltd and completing SAP implementations at both GRC (UK) and Bison Manufacturing.

Scunthorpe

I re-joined the Latium Group to manage the merger of two companies (KestrelBCE and Celuform), turning around a £1m loss (turnover of £50m) into a £1.5m profit. The company was subsequently sold to the Epwin Group as part of the investors exit strategy.The turnaround was achieved by closing a major manufacturing site, reducing headcount by 250 and relocating manufacturing and logistics to other UK sites. A major product rationalisation programme was also undertaken to reduce working capital by £1.5m. I worked closely with Operations teams to reduce unit labour costs by 15% and with Sales teams to improve customer profitability, the gross margin increasing by 4%. I introduced rigorous business modelling to manage a very tight cash flow situation. I re-negotiated funding arrangements with banks and investors multiple times to better suit the cyclical nature of business trading.

Otley

I was recruited to support the future growth of the business following a management buy-out. Managed a tight working capital position post management buy-out. Worked with Quantity Surveyors on the profitability of new tenders and with Contracts Managers on the profitability and cash flow timings of on-going contracts to ensure bank facilities and covenants were not breached.

Macclesfield

I was recruited by Heywood Williams Plc (FTSE 250) to turn around a loss making subsidiary, Spectus Systems Ltd, a UK company with subsidiaries in Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. I implemented major re-structuring to turn around a £5.6m loss (turnover of £67m) to break-even within two years. The company was sold to the Latium Group during this turnaround process. As part of this process I was responsible for presenting the business and it's recovery plan to prospective buyers.Major actions included closing a factory and a warehouse, reducing headcount by 150 people, disposing of non-core operations, re-structured legal entities and re-structuring commercial packages to attract new customers. I completed a major change in key personnel within the Finance and IT teams as part of this process.

Dorking

Lafarge Roofing was part of Lafarge S.A., a CAC 40 listed company with a turnover of €12b. The business is now part of The BMI Group. In this role I had responsibility for Strategic Planning, Finance, IT, Procurement, Property and Company Secretarial duties. As part of the Board, I developed and implemented a differentiation strategy, increasing profits from £15m to £20m (turnover of £105m), the highest profits in the company’s 80 year history. This was achieved by working closely with Operations management to rationalise the manufacturing footprint and improve unit costs. I also worked closely with Sales teams to improve customer profitability following a segmentation exercise.I managed the implementation of an Economic Value Added (EVA) measurement system and Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) to meet Group US reporting requirements.

Frankfurt Area, Germany

I was part of a team of 4 people who managed acquisitions within the Lafarge Roofing Division (Turnover £1.5b). I managed acquisitions and internal development projects in the UK, Italy, Sweden, Germany and Holland. I also coordinated the strategic planning process for all European businesses and maintained continuous competitor monitoring and scenario planning analysis required by the Divisional Board.

Loughborough

I managed a £3m SAP implementation, across 15 sites and 300 users, on time and within budget. The role included selecting the ERP system, implementation partner and business project team. I implemented business process improvements, managed change issues and training requirements with users. I communicated progress to the Board on a monthly basis.

Reigate, Wigan, Redditch

I was responsible for all aspects of company and group financial reporting, including management accounts, statutory accounts, consolidations, budgeting, forecasting, working capital management, cash flow management, capital expenditure, treasury management and key performance indicators.Supported the Board to improve the Company’s operating profit from £3.9m to £11.1m.

Master Of Business Administration (Mba)

Education record

Business Studies