David Needham Email & Phone Number

Whitwick, Nr Coalville Leicestershire

Responsible for the financial affairs of a medium sized quarrying business (Turnover £75m), covering all areas of financial management including monthly management accounts, budgets, systems development and Vat. Management of a team of three. The business consists of one very large quarry with an output of 3m tonnes per annum, and 2 smaller quarries selling directly to customers and internally to 6 Asphalt plants located in the East and West Midlands who in turn supply coated stone to customers in these areas. My main task is to act as financial support to the production managers at all the sites and improve the performance of these businesses by ensuring costs are controlled and the plants run efficiently. Key Achievements:Improved performance of production units through regular contact with production management.Reduced costs through a review of headcount and by identifying benefits of cheaper replacement materials.Identification of improvement in management accounts process so that the monthly accounts are produced faster and more efficiently.Member of the successful management team charged with the disposal of the business.

Chesterfield

Chartered Accountant working with SME's and owner managed businesses to help them manage their business finances more effectively, and ultimately making their business more profitable! I specialised in providing management information, such as monthly or quarterly management accounts, budgets, forecasts and KPI's, and helping firms understand their cost base, to add real value to their business.

Australian owned multinational manufacturing companyResponsibilities:Recruited to close a factory located in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and then took over responsibility for all financial affairs of two sister sites with a combined turnover of £60m, employing 300 people, for 12 months whilst incumbents on maternity leave.All day to day accounting for the sites including statutory accounts, budgets and forecasts.Implementation of robust financial controls and reporting to ensure efficient processes. Management of risk. Working capital and cash flow management.Financial point of contact between factories and UK shared Service function, sector Finance Director based in Barcelona, and European Head office in Brussels.Management of team of 6 employeesKey Achievements:Development of closure plan for factory. Closure of the site within budgeted timescales and cost budget, and successful transfer of business to sister site.Management of expansion/restructuring of businesses within budgets.Identification and introduction of cost saving opportunities to flex business in line with market conditions.Upgrade of information systems including migration from Hyperion to HFM.Reduction in Accounting deadlines (Monthly accounts 3 days), and achievement of Key performance indicators.Achieved best internal audit rating for a UK plant.Retention of key customers.

£100m Turnover business employing 2000 peopleResponsibilities:Responsible for the financial affairs of a medium sized Brewery business, and the subsequent transfer of the accounts function to Greene King Plc, who acquired the business in September 2006.Production of the year end statutory accounts, and liaison with auditors and tax advisors. Act as key financial point of contact in all dealings with Greene King, and ensure the accurate and timely transfer of accounting information/systems to their employees/businesses.Retain and enthuse existing team of 17 employees throughout the handover period.Key Achievements:Minimised the number of employees that have left the business in advance of the planned transfer date.Acquired an in depth knowledge of the business quickly, enabling me to make a significant positive contribution to the business at this difficult period of change.Ensured that the department was able to provide a quality service to all customers throughout the period.Successful transfer of the accounting functions to Greene King.

£ 600m Turnover business employing 2600 ResponsibilitiesResponsible for all financial affairs within a multi-site division of Tarmac Limited, the major quarrying and related activities company within the United Kingdom, supplying financial and commercial information to local management, the shared service function within Tarmac, and the ultimate parent Anglo American PLC.Provide support to Commercial management as required, including assisting in contract tendering and pricing.Manual and computer systems specification, implementation and development.Lead and inspire a team of 30 people.Key Achievements:Integrated the Financial accounting systems of Tarmac and Tilcon, following the acquisition of Tarmac by Anglo American, with no disruption to the core business, and savings in both time and money.Worked closely with all areas of the business to implement a business strategy to restructure the business to deliver a more customer-focused culture, operational efficiencies and reduce the cost base. This included introduction of single supplier agreements both as supplier and customer and the use of EDI for invoicing.Introduced and developed KPI's, analytical techniques and reporting to rapidly gain confidence of main board and management and create a solid platform for business decision making.Responsible for the successful acquisition of 6 companies/businesses and their integration into the business. Additionally responsible for the disposal of non core business disposals, and the disposal of operations that the business was required to dispose of by monopolies and mergers authoritiesControlled capital expenditure, so that the total spend was always within budget, and on the major projects (£110m cement plant) that costs and risks were minimised, by for example arranging foreign exchange forward contracts.

£250m Turnover Business employing 1100 employeesResponsibilitiesResponsible for all financial accounting, including the production of statutory accounts for 6 companies, and all cashier functions including the payment of suppliers.Targeting and assessment of acquisitions. Management of post acquisition integration.Working capital and cash flow management. Development and monitoring of key KPIs and development of short-term forecasting, reporting and analytical techniques. Represented business on Finance user group, which developed these management tools.System development to improve financial control and commercial decision-making.Placement of foreign exchange contracts to minimise risk on non- sterling contracts, both imports and exports.Key Achievements:Successful transfer of accounting department, this included the recruitment of a completely new Finance team.Spent two years as Finance team leader on the successful introduction of a new accounting system (Sap). This included the implementation, design and introduction of completely new business processes throughout the company, and the wider Tilcon business.As part of the Sap implementation I produced user manuals, and designed and delivered training courses to employees at all levels in the organisation.

Positions included Group Financial Accountant, Project Accountant and Management Accountant

Supervising Senior in large audit firm.

2.2, Economics And Accountancy

Activities and Societies: Outdoor club, Orienteering Club

Education record