John Schilizzi Email & Phone Number

Oxford, Gb

Oxford, Gb

Cowbridge, Wales, United Kingdom

Since 2001, FFT has been providing accurate and insightful information to schools, helping pupils to achieve their full potential and schools to improve. My pro bono role is to support the Directors in all financial matters of this successful and growing SaaS and education services provider. I attend the Board meeting, providing financial scrutiny of the numbers and provide mentoring help to the incumbent Finance professionals, including recently the set-up of relevant SaaS KPI metrics.

Oxford, England, United Kingdom

An interim role to prepare the University’s risk assessment report on exposure to international sanctions. I interviewed key personnel to understand and document the major risks faced and current controls in place and wrote and presented a report to the CFO with suggested improvements to be adopted across the University to reduce risk across all areas. It was great to come back to my alma mater and see behind the scenes of this world class organisation having been a student here many years ago.

Abingdon, Uk

A global stock photography technology company that supplies images to the world’s picture users from a worldwide contributor base. Founded in 1999 to disrupt the stock photography market with its open access platform, the company grew from an internet start-up through organic growth to become one of the major players in the stock photography marketplace and was successfully sold to the PA Media Group in 2020.Senior Leadership team member. Set out the 5 year financial plan to achieve significant company growth in the global stock photography marketplace. Led an international team of 35 personnel responsible for Finance, Credit Control, Data and Customer Billing. Led successful migration onto the Group’s accounting system, coordinated the integration of a smaller image business and oversaw Group’s foreign exchange hedging policy on over £3m of currency assetsSet strategic direction through preparation of 5 year financial plan of combined image business and secured funding from Board for increased investment in technology.Led the restructure of the Data function and setting of the company’s Data strategy. Increased the relevance, accuracy and timeliness of key business data, allowing reports to be distributed daily instead of weekly or monthly.Identified potential budget shortfalls of £0.5m and drove key contract change project to restore profitability in year that enabled targets to be hit and budget EBITDA achieved through Covid pandemic through rigorous cost control.Responsible for all financial metrics throughout the business, from monthly business KPI’s and Management information packs to all financial metrics for Board packs. Responsible for all budgeting, forecasting and the 5 year financial plan that were prepared to strict deadlines.

Led and coordinated all aspects of the sale process involving Finance, Tax and Legal matters enabling the acquisition of Alamy by the PA Media group. Successfully built an internal team and collaborative relationships with external corporate advisors to handle the tight deadlines.Restructured the Finance department and reviewed all working practices in departments transferred over to me when took on the role, resulting in efficiency gains and reduction in headcount by 10% during a period of growth. Involved in M&A work, analysed financial, legal and tax due diligence of a potential acquisition and presented to Board resulting in decision not to acquire. Established new division responsible for the company’s legal compliance, with special emphasis on copyright enabling the company to proactively manage legal issues. Responsible for all Company Secretarial matters and compliance across multiple jurisdictions, including the US and UK. Reviewed large contracts with Sales and Commercial Directors to ensure limited discounting on sales deals and best value for money for company on purchasing, resulting in annualized contract savings.

Led business and delivery of the Board’s strategy and the business objectives through effective management of the senior team. Drove day to day operational performance whilst the CEO took a step back from the business to concentrate on other business ventures. Drove 45% revenue growth mainly in the e-commerce area, increased turnover from £15m to £22m. Restructured format and led meetings with the Board to bring greater clarity and strategic input into the business. Set up from scratch all Board reporting metrics and Board reports.Identified and secured investment for French and ROW sales operations that achieved profitability within a year and now bring in over £3m in combined revenue.Continued to lead, mentor and coach the multi-jurisdictional Finance team with no loss of service levels.

Delivered and produced all internal financial information from Key Performance Indicators to budgets and re-forecasts. Managed the Finance and Human Resources teams in the UK Head Office. Controlled all aspects of the finances from statutory compliance on international tax matters, audit and company secretarial duties. Identified and delivered new revenue stream project that was highly profitable in its first year, and subsequently grew it fivefold. Key leader in set up of the Indian subsidiary that allowed the company’s operational and development functions to be offshored. Finance department move enabled cost saving with no loss of service delivery. Set up US and Australian sales subsidiaries that enabled the company to take advantage of local sales presence and increased revenue after three years by 63% and 33% respectively. Project lead on company reorganisation with detailed business case drawn up, consultations done in line with employment law and resulting in business successfully navigating the economic downturn.

Set up the finance function from scratch with implementation of all relevant controls. A truly hands on role in a fast-paced environment, combining need to think strategically with also a can do attitude to hit deadlines. Raised investment capital allowing the business to scale, delivering reports to key stakeholders in a timely manner to assess performance. Set up Finance team from scratch and successfully scaled team to budget and in line with company growth, implemented KPI’s, cash flows, budgets and forecasting to assess business performance along with all internal controls.

Hammersmith, London

London, United Kingdom

London, United Kingdom