David Chennell Email & Phone Number

Southampton, Gb

Chandlers Ford, Hampshire, Gb

CFO for Private Equity backed Churches Fire, the leading nationwide fully-integrated Fire Safety and Security company in the UK.I'm passionate about creating value for shareholders, employees and customers through delivering more efficient and effective processes, introducing automation and robotics, supporting commercial activities, acquiring new companies and deepening the skills and experience of our employees so we can offer more high quality services to our customers.

Guildford, Surrey, Gb

Stackhouse Poland is a Private Equity backed insurance business with 46 companies, 25 sites and premium revenue over £250m. Since I joined in March 2017, we made 9 acquisitions, increased premium revenue by 150% and refinanced the Group’s debt. In December 2018 we achieved the sale of the business to AJ Gallagher for c£300m achieving a 5.6x return for the PE House. As at September 2020 it is still the highest multiple paid for any UK insurance broker.Achievements (in addition to the above)•Reduction in monthly management accounts production from 30 days+ to 3 days•Implementation of a consolidated management accounts process for the group of 46 companies•Moved management reporting onto a divisional basis requiring the restatement of 30 months of management accounts•Clear up of legacy accounting issues and restatement of previous statutory accounts for 2015 and 2016•Implementation of new purchase ledger, expenses and banking systems and processes•Integration of acquisitions•Production of detailed performance metrics and financial information for due diligence on the sale of the business•VAT registration

Guildford, Surrey, Gb

Head of Finance for Private Equity backed, acquisitive Private Client and Specialist Commercial insurance broker with Gross Written Premiums of £200m. Revenue doubled from 2016 to 2017 through acquisition and organic growth.

Windsor, Berkshire, Gb

Finance lead for starting up a new business within Centrica. Primarily focussed on business partnering, commercial finance and FP&AAchievements- Created a business plan and case for the creation of a new business unit, receiving a commitment to invest £700m- Commercial partner and finance lead on £280m JV including external debt raising- Presented the Distributed Energy business plan internally to >250 colleagues and had the presentation videoed for future use- Created an assumptions book with a strong governance process and economic models to be used by the sales and commercial teams making offers to customersResponsibilitiesFinance Business Partner, responsible for supporting the Head of Distributed Energy and the Commercial, Propositions, Marketing and Strategy teams- Economic analysis of products and promotions- Managed a team of 2 business partners- Analysis and presentation of key drivers, adding insight into future trends- Completing business plans and monthly forecasts- Financial modelling and investment appraisal, including fully integrated financial statements and equity / debt modelling- Producing quality and insightful presentation materials for monthly, quarterly reviews, steering boards and ad-hoc presentations

Windsor, England, Gb

Central Finance FP&A role. Responsible for the coordination, submission to group and presentation of all business plans, forecasts and budgets. Responsible for the monthly reporting and control of operating costs and performance of £300m cost challenge.Achievements- On time, on budget, in full delivery of a new SAP business planning and consolidation system- Transformed planning by creating a new business planning process developed closely with external consultants- Before I joined British Gas the annual and mid-year plans were consistently delivered late. I delivered every plan on time with quality and insightful PowerPoint presentation materials for FD, MD and Centrica Board- Presented, scoped and hosted a conference for 140 colleagues- Automated monthly Operating Cost consolidation through Business Objects saving 1 FTE and reporting 3 days earlier- Saved 1,300 hours of effort by streamlining the inter-company matching process- Presented on planning transformation to senior finance professionals at an external event for planningResponsibilities- Coordination and stakeholder management of ~100 staff involved in creating monthly, mid-year forecasts and 3 year plans- Responsible for the production of quality and insightful PowerPoint presentation materials on planning and actual performance for FD, MD and Centrica Board on a monthly and quarterly basis- Management of a team of 5 direct reports (12 in wider team) and a virtual team of ~100- Consolidation and reporting of £1.6bn Opex each month- Reporting and monitoring of performance for £300m cost challenge

Provexis is an AIM listed life science business. Its main subsidiary, Science in Sport (now separately listed), is an FMCG sports nutrition businessAs Group FC I had full responsibility for the finance function and day to day finance activities in the group, including monthly and statutory plc reporting and consolidation of 5 companies, controls development, tax, treasury, legal, insurance and property matters, review and signing off pricing and promotions, investor relations, due diligence, integration of acquisitionsAchievements- Completed the office move, acquisition of Science in Sport and a year-end during three months in 2011- Negotiated cost savings of 25% on transport and 36% on payment processing costs- Reopened the R&D tax credit return and increased it by 20%- Integrated acquisition: Upgraded accounting system, set-up and documented financial controls, initiated the recruitment of staff, developed existing staff- Led work on pricing and promotions for a range review which resulted in the discontinuation of several products- Evaluated and constructed deals with major customers including domestic, export and multiples- Initiated, specified, tendered and presented the business case for a new ERP system- Developed a commercial reporting process for the group, KPIs and a variety of reports tailored to the specific requirements of the recipients

Farringdon, London, Gb

In addition to my responsibilities as Group FC of Provexis I was Ecommerce Director at Science in Sport and developed a new website and sales channel before I moved to Centrica. I was asked by the CEO to take on this role because of my experience as Group FC and my knowledge of the products, pricing and promotionsAchievements- Launched the new E-Commerce business of Science in Sport in May 2012Responsibilities- Creating the business case for e-commerce- Building and leading a multi-disciplinary team- Developing the pricing and promotional strategy- Project managing the development of the new website and integrating it with back office systems

London, Gb

BDO was the fifth largest accounting firm in the UK. I was part of the mergers and acquisitions advisory team, working closely with entrepreneurial business and private equityAchievements- Completed the private equity backed secondary MBO of a HVAC and building controls company with mezzanine and bank debt- Created a financial model to support a bid for a multinational business which operated in over one hundred countries- Due diligence of a medical foods business that exposed the fundamentals and stopped an acquisition- Led the process to sell a lighting company and receive investment for a fashion retail businessResponsibilities- Advising on acquisitions, fund raisings and disposals- Preparation of information memoranda, management presentations, valuation analysis- Financial modelling of private equity and M&A deals- Preparation of business plans, forecasts and budgets- Project management and scoping of assignments- Industry research for both deal origination and client analysis

Transaction Services- Financial analysis and due diligence reporting on a broad range of businesses involved in a variety of transactions.- Particular expertise and experience in Reporting Accountants’ work on AIM admissions and IFRS conversions.

Audit and assurance- Planning through to completion of investigatory assignments, dealing directly with clients and intermediaries where appropriate.- Statutory accounts preparation including cash flows, consolidations and accounting for mergers and acquisitions.- Working closely with technical teams on client requirements including UK GAAP and IFRS.- Exposure to a wide variety of sectors and an entrepreneurial client base typically with revenues between £10m to £50m. Particular experience in oil and gas, mining, leisure and venture capital trusts.- Supervising, training and mentoring junior staff and leading on site fieldwork teams of up to 5 staff.- Preparing client reports, engagement and arrangement letters for assignments.

Guildford, Surrey, Gb

Bessler Hendrie was a 4 partner firm of Chartered Accountants where I commenced my training in general practice: Accounts preparation, audit, personal and corporate tax. I was seconded to a property investment company, backed by Lehman Bros in my 2nd year

Gb

Building and developing a financial model to analyse financial statements

London, Gb

Managing the credit control function of a £20m turnover business and a department of two staff.

Bachelor Of Science (Bsc), Environmental Assessment

Education record