Nicholas Grobler Email and Phone Number

- Managed & developed a team of 8 that is structured b/w 3 core pillars of finance: Core Accounting, Business Partnering & Transactional. - Team has weekly 1-on-1s, appraised every 6-mths, have clear objectives & development plans, 0% staff turnover.- Oversaw the FP&A process incl the build & tracking of multi-scenario & sensitivity-driven financial models used for budgeting/ forecasting, funding / financial due diligence, and other accounting purposes.-Established myself as a Finance Leader by developing a robust business MI framework to underpin focused reporting requirements, meeting SMT regularly, to drive change through the org that promoted a positive culture of transparency & accountability of performance management. This led to a re-prioritisation & re-focusing of financial resources. - Extensive experience w/ fundraising activities: played a key role in £28.5m secondary raise in Jan 2021, including presenting to investment banks, & a fundamental re-financing through a NPA with institutional shareholders in Jan-Apr 2022 providing a £26.35m debt & warrant facility.-Providing financial support on other corporate activities including M&A opportunities, deal structures, & re-organisations. - Responsible for preparation of Annual Report & audit of financial results as required for an AIM-listed company presenting to ARC and SMT.-Write complex tech accounting papers on revenue contracts, re-structures, convertible debt borrowings, impairment reviews, discontinued ops, & going concern assessments each of which results in complex disclosures.-Responsible for UK & international tax work including tax returns, R&D tax credits (c£8m in cash credits since 2015), VAT group reporting, PSAs, P11ds & implementation of group transfer pricing agreements.- Finance lead on the year-long design & implementation of MS Dynamics 365 ERP through to deployment in May 2022.

IPO: -Responsible for several key workstreams. These included working alongside legal, financial, tax & other advisors during Sensyne’s group restructuring, leading on the admission statement & FPP diligence procedures & coordinating the reporting accountant’s work. The IPO itself raised £60m with a day 1 market cap of £225m.Private fund-raising: -Assisted with 4 x significant institutional backed fund raising (Series B1, B2, C1, C2) providing key financial information for due diligence & undertaking financial modelling, analysis & verification. Total amount raised: £40m between February 2015 and July 2018.Day-to-day: -Developed & managed 2 direct reports.-Managed the design & integration of a new ERP systems (SAP 4HANA).-Oversaw all areas of reporting (corporate reporting & management reporting (actual results & budgets/ forecasts)) & main point of contact with auditors, tax advisors, insurers, and banks.-Managed the budget/forecast corporate process & presented outputs to senior staff.-Oversaw a rapid expansion of operations, adapted with new layers of controls over all cycles of the business whilst maintaining control over working capital -Set up an accounting manual of financial controls, policies & procedures.-Written all technical accounting papers to support underlying accounting policies, judgements, and estimates. Provided IFRS 15 workshop to senior management & commercial teams.-Partnered with senior management team to improve budget/ project reporting & processes & maintain control over spending.-Created reports which allowed project teams to understand the genuine time & effort on their internal & client projects.-Reviewed contracts, negotiated procurement of services & drafted fee proposals and agreements.-Assisted in setting up operations in Mexico and US and managing the local reporting requirements.-Managed foreign exchange exposure & strategies to minimise uncertainties for USD and Euro transactions.

- Managed a portfolio ranging across the technology, media, recruitment & retail sectors - UK and Non UK – with turnover c.£10 M pa- Main point of contact with a focus to develop a trustworthy & reliable client relationship, to identify value adding business & tax advisory opportunities & to broker relations across the professional network- Liaised directly with other service departments to ensure a timely & joined up approach - Championed the training & development of Xero.com cloud accounting software for the firm and provided demonstrations to a variety of the firm’s clients- Recurring work included:o Consolidated/ stand-alone management accounts with a detailed, accurate & organised working papers approacho Cash flow managemento Group/ stand-alone VAT returns for goods/services for UK and International businesseso Statutory (group/ standalone) financial statements mostly under UK GAAP & with experience under IFRS- Ad hoc work included:o Implement accounting policieso Set up financial procedures and environment of systems & controlo Design of financial modelling (annual budgets, integrated forecasts) o New systems migrationo Design of stand-alone/ group/ multi branch chart of accounts, and o Mentoring of client finance staff- Jointly team managed 8 professionals in the London office. Involved with quality control, appraisals/ SMART objective setting and mentor of junior team members- Achieved above target new business growth for the team of c. £125k for the 9 months to 30 September 2014 with a further c. £60k in the pipeline possibly to convert- A member of the firm’s Tech City team that successfully presented a detailed business plan to the management committee leading to a new office opening & development of new marketing collateral- Up to date with technical CPD but also recently undertook ‘Trusted Advisor’ training.

Supervisor / Assistant Manager - Accounts and Outsourcing (January 2011 - July 2012)- Successfully assigned the task to troubleshoot a team in disarray and disorganisation- Team manager of 4 professionals involved with appraisals, job interviews and reporting of team performance to the office principal – improving productivity, client satisfaction and team morale- Managed a portfolio with annual recurring fees of c. £150 K- Dealt with a wide range of clients, owner managed or UK subsidiaries of foreign groups, within the retail, construction and services sectors- Duties included the provision of financial controller services, the design and implementation of management reporting packages and the review of internal controls- Responsible for managing daily client queries and providing appropriate financial solutions on a timely and effective basis requiring sound delegation and resourcefulness- Involved with the continued review of tax planning opportunities with the Tax Department- Involved with writing up and presenting tender documents to prospective new clientsAudit and Assurance Senior - Business Audit and Assurance (December 2008 - December 2010)- Involved in the audit of a wide range of client within the retail, technology and service sectors- Clients included a number of large and small privately owned companies and a range of charities- Responsible for the planning, fieldwork and completion of group audits including the preparation of complex consolidated financial statements- Thrived in supervising an audit team and becoming involved with the training and development of junior members of the department- Additional duties, outside the job remit, included portfolio management and reporting on budgeting and recoverability to senior management on a monthly basis- Relied upon to design and write up tender documents for potential new clients with a sound conversion rate

Audit Senior (September 2008 - December 2008)Corporate Services- Involved in the audit of a wide range of client within the retail, manufacturing and service sectors.- Clients included UK AIM listed Companies, a number of large and small privately owned companies and a range of charities.- Acted as a team member, Supervisor and Assistant Manager on clients during career to date.- Assistant manager role involved supervising the audit team (typically three in size), including coaching junior members of the team, assigning areas to individuals and performing review of working papers.- Responsible for liaising with senior client staff to discuss significant issues.- Reported directly to managers on a daily basis and to the audit partner during internal clearance.- Member of the Hazlewoods LLP Academy involving client relationship effectiveness and personal effectiveness practical training. Improved upon soft skills during client and team positions.Trainee Chartered Accountant (September 2005 – September 2008)Corporate Services - Involved in the audit of a wide range of clients within the electrical, manufacturing, services and car dealerships sectors.- Initially acted as a team member and then assigned responsibility to lead audit teams from the end of the second year of training.- Responsibilities of leading audit teams included training more junior staff on audit techniques and accounting software, assigned roles to individuals and reviewed working papers.- Responsible for preparing corporate taxation computations and liaising with members of the Tax Department to discuss appropriate issues.- Reported directly to Audit Managers on a daily basis and communicated with clients to obtain information efficiently and effectively.