I served as the Interim Finance Director from 2023 to 2024, where I successfully re-established on-time monthly financial reporting across nine countries, three factories, and nine sales regions. This ensured error-free outputs and provided detailed analyses of Trading Margin and Gross Margin relative to prior results and budgetary forecasts. I spearheaded a culture change initiative, effectively integrating finance and data analysis teams into a unified force with aligned goals. This included a comprehensive restructuring and revision of job descriptions to optimize team performance. Additionally, I led projects focused on enhancing costing measures, reducing obsolete inventory, and eliminating backlogs in accounts payable and bank statement processing, significantly improving the efficiency of financial operations.

• Enhanced cooperation with external auditors, achieving a significant reduction in hours spent on accounting issues, including impairment issues compared to previous years.
• Terminated consignment stock setups, aligning inventory management processes with strategic business needs.
• Prepared annual Budget for 2024 and 5-year strategic plan, forecasting long-term financial health and business growth.
• Implemented a new purchase-to-pay application (Medius) and upgraded reporting software (TM2), enhancing procurement efficiency and financial reporting accuracy.
• Implemented new 8-week forecasting model, regaining control over cash flows and streamlining timely funding requests, significantly enhancing financial operations.

As the Interim Site-Controller, I was instrumental in preparing extensive documentation of systems, policies, and procedures. This initiative was crucial for the smooth transition and training of the new permanent site-controller, ensuring continuity and adherence to compliance standards. I also advised on and implemented significant improvements to administrative processes, optimising staff costs for both fixed contracts and temporary workers, and refining Goods Received Not Invoiced (GRNI) procedures. In collaboration with the Group Financial Planning Officer (FPO), I developed sophisticated financial models and templates that enhanced the efficiency of monthly reporting and budgeting processes. These tools were planned for rollout across the EMEA region following their successful implementation in the Netherlands. Additionally, I facilitated the General Manager (GM) and the Netherlands Management Team, focusing on enhancing their understanding of financial metrics and contributing to more informed decision-making.

• Re-established control over timely and accurate financial reporting after significant disruptions due to the departure of the previous site-controller.
•Restored monthly Outlook/Rolling Forecast, Flash, and Month-end pack processes with minimal documentation and many broken systems.
•Conducted a comprehensive clean-up of financial administration back to the end of the year 2022, rectifying previous discrepancies and ensuring accuracy.

During my tenure as Director, I managed multiple departments totalling nine full-time employees across various sectors including Finance, Tax, Legal, HR (including Payroll), ICT, and Facility operations. I was responsible for overseeing financial, statutory, and tax reporting and compliance across all 17 legal entities of the DEM-group. My role was crucial in addressing and resolving significant backlogs, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. I successfully re-established and enhanced financial and operational processes, implementing robust controls and reporting mechanisms that streamlined operations and significantly increased transparency within the organisation.

• Expanded operational responsibility for website business, including oversight of Purchasing, Auction Management, Webshop Assortment (Gaming), and Monthly Membership Renewals, driving business growth and customer engagement.
•Led a corporate restructuring initiative, successfully consolidating the group from 17 to 5 entities, which resulted in annual operational expenditure (OPEX) saving of $150K.
•Resolved long-standing tax and legal disputes, ensuring compliance and stability across the remaining corporate entities.
•Redesigned financial administration policies and systems, enhancing control and improving reporting on essential Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to support better decision-making and financial oversight.

While serving as a member of the Board of Directors alongside the Managing Director and the Commercial Director, playing a critical role in strategic decision-making and corporate governance. It is worth mentioning that I spearheaded diverse departments totalling 15 FTEs, including Financial Administration, Financial Control, Business Analysis, HR, Payroll, IT, and Facility operations, ensuring effective and cohesive departmental functions.

• Served as a member of the Board of Directors alongside the Managing Director and the Commercial Director, playing a critical role in strategic decision-making and corporate governance.
• Integrated 10 different sales organisations into a single entity with a unified strategy, structure, and shared targets, enhancing operational synergy.
• Simplified the administrative organisation, reducing the number of reporting entities from 8 to 3, streamlining processes, and improving efficiency.
• Achieved cost savings of EUR 1M per annum, significantly reducing operational expenses through strategic restructuring.
• Led the implementation of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and an AI model for sales forecasting, which enabled prescriptive buying and optimized sales strategies.

Under my capacity as the Finance Manager EMEA, I managed the EMEA Finance Shared Services Center (SSC), which provided oversight across 20+ countries and included 19 full-time employees spread across various departments such as Financial Administration, Financial Control, Retail Control, Master Data & Business Support, Enterprise Risk & Process Analysis, Internal Audit, and Local IT. My responsibilities included monitoring the quality of local Finance departments in countries like France, Ireland, Denmark, Turkey, and the Middle East, ensuring they maintained consistent performance and adherence to corporate standards. I also oversaw compliance for Tax and Legal matters, guaranteeing all operations met regulatory requirements. Furthermore, I developed and proposed strategies aimed at reducing operating costs through process improvements, role reallocation, and the implementation of advanced automation technologies, including Robotic Process Automation (RPA).

•Restructured and realigned all departments to align with the company’s strategy and the core value of 'Excellence,' ensuring cohesive and efficient operations.
•Designed and implemented back-office solution for e-commerce to streamline processes and enhance operational efficiency.
•Implemented a new monthly closing and reporting process, as well as a contract register (DocBase) and SAP Consignment, improving accuracy and transparency in financial operations.
•Designed and implemented a new purchase-to-pay process, including the integration of supporting software, to optimize procurement and payment procedures.
•Provided financial and M&A advice to the General Manager Retail, establishing stable reporting, controls, and performance management with clear KPIs for the retail sector.
•Developed and implemented a standard for process documentation and risk analysis/control framework for all significant processes, ensuring robust internal controls and risk management.

EHF appoints Technical Officials to EuroHockey competitions. Since January 2013 I have had the honour to have been appointed as a Judge to a number of EHF competitions, including the Unibet EuroHockey Championships 2015 in London.

As Director of Finance, I played a crucial role on the Management Team, contributing significantly to strategic decision-making and leadership initiatives. I actively participated in semi-annual meetings with the Supervisory Board, delivering insightful updates on organisational performance and strategic initiatives. I conducted monthly budget versus actual meetings with headquarters in Paris to ensure alignment with financial targets and to facilitate informed decision-making. Additionally, I was integral to a major project aimed at re-evaluating and re-establishing the company's mission, strategy, and organisational structure, thereby playing a pivotal role in shaping the company’s future direction.

• Led legal and fiscal restructuring efforts, optimising organisational structure for enhanced compliance and efficiency.
• Managed acquisition of CineMec group in 2014, expanding company’s geographical portfolio and market presence.
• Oversaw the sale of Pathé Thuis, a video-on-demand service, in 2014, strategically divesting assets to align with company goals.
• Implemented Exact Financials for accounting and 2020 Vision for purchase-to-pay processes, streamlining financial operations and procurement efficiency.
• Developed a new format for monthly reporting, enhancing clarity and effectiveness in financial and business performance communication.