Simon Whale Email & Phone Number

Berkhamsted, Gb

Berkhamsted, Gb

London Area, United Kingdom

London, England, United Kingdom

Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom

London, United Kingdom

Finance Team Leadership – Led the finance team of 9 qualified and non-qualified across AP, AR, FP&A and Statutory Accounting. Identified KPIs and balanced scorecard for the function.Finance Turnaround – Shaped finance strategy to clear debt and improve results from a $40m loss in 2019 to a $45m profit in 2020 which has continued to date.CASHFLOW MANAGEMENT - Managed company cashflow in times of challenging liquidity and under extreme scrutiny. Prepared urgent vendor payment plans and forecasted company cashflows based on asset sale.DEBT NEGOTIATION / REPAYMENT – Negotiated vendor payment plans and group debt repayment. Executed a plan to improve the company’s net debt from $35m to net nil by the end of 2021. Planned and repaid group loans of $9m by end of 2021.FINANCING – Organised new banking arrangement for the company to generate improved financing opportunities.STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR INVESTOR APPRAISAL – Worked with the CEO and COO to develop a 5 year business plan for investors.LEASE NEGOTIATION – Negotiated with vendors to secure engine leases at preferential rates.COST REDUCTION STRATEGIES – Devised an cost reduction plan to improve profitability. Monitored progress to maximise results.CAA FINANCE REPRESENTATION – Represented CLA in discussions with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regarding CLA’s financial transformation program. Communicated monthly updates and negotiated loan repayments and offerings in line with company deeds.AIRCRAFT INDUCTION ANALYSIS – Devised financial model and analysis supporting induction of a new aircraft, Boeing 777F.

London, United Kingdom

Improved aged debt balance (15% reduction) by establishing an innovative automated process within the department.Built a relationship with the offshore shared services team that drove further debtor balance improvements.Created new departmental reports analysing SG&A expenditure against budget to highlight areas for cost saving.Collaborated with the business to produce an innovative review of overheads for cost saving purposes. Developed an action plan for achievement. Presented the data and recommendations in a simple graphical form for ease of explanation.Transformed the banking and treasury function supporting the corporate rebranding initiative (name change). Drove bank account updates across 20 multi currency entities in EMEA. Streamlined bank accounts across the business and provided guidance on B2B banking relationships using pivot tables to summarise data in a clear manner.Implemented a procedure that formalised the reconciliation of company bank accounts across three different banks and 20 EMEA entities. Performed detailed analysis and correction of historic issues to bring all statements up to date.Supported the migration of the finance ledger to a new upgraded system. Help to problem solve issues with the ledger.

Berkhamsted

Analysed client financial performance and recommended strategies to improve long term profitability. Prepared accurate financial and management accounts, annual budgets and cash flow forecasts for a variety of businesses.Managed company payroll and VAT submissions including submitting RTI (real time information) submissions to HMRC.Convinced clients on decision making when setting up and closing down limited companies

Berkhamsted

Career break from finance to look after children.Helped establish a football coaching business, coached tennis and gained a teaching qualification.

Maidenhead

Provided financial leadership to GSM Supply Chain Cost Leadership Team. Analysed price variances, FX movements and inventory levels and made recommendations to help the business operate more profitably.Showed resilience preparing confidential business cases and headcount summaries that were used to divest the GSM business unit.Lead finance support to the EMEA service delivery teams. Managed a team that reported monthly costs and prepared budgets and outlooks. Partnered with the service teams to reduce costs and improve profitability by 10%.Developed first EMEA proposal for Fair Value calculation to support timely revenue recognition adhering to US GAAP. Acted as central point of contact for revenue recognition guidance for the optical product team.Supported the Wireline Voice team to achieve record levels of revenue, $250m, by providing planning, analysis and reporting guidance. Approved bid financials and improved profitability by determining causes of margin deviations from plan.Managed teams of varying sizes up to 10 qualified staff. Heavily involved in recruitment. Managed 2 remedial employee performance improvement plans (PIPs).Determined and managed sales incentive plans for service delivery team.Directed financial leadership of the data business analysing the cost base, earnings and revenue projections. Responsible for financial support enabling the team to achieve record revenue target of $600m.Analysed account team project margins to drive margin improvement. Shaped a new presentation of the financials to project managers enabling them to better understand project overspend. Restructured contract analysis schedules to include impact of cost overruns, price erosion, cost reduction. Communicated and explained revenue recognition principles to project managers.Lead balance sheet analysis and drive for cash improvements by producing analysis of receivables position to identify key overdue accounts.

London, United Kingdom

Transitioned from management consulting at Andersen Consulting to management accounting at MFI obtaining first time passes and qualifying as a management accountant through CIMA.Gained experience across a wide variety of finance departments as part of their finance training program.

London, United Kingdom

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), Economics And Econometrics

Activities and Societies: Captain of British Universities Badminton Team. Two times winner of the British Universities Badminton Singles.

4 A Levels, Statistics, Economics, Maths, English

10 O Levels