What do you do?

I joined Cooper Parry as Finance Director back in 2018 when revenue was £36m and looked after a small (relative to today) talented finance team.  That role has evolved and I’m now a Partner in the business responsible for financial support and control, leading a group of finance business partners for our Wealth, Digital, Advisory and Overhead teams and leading on Special Projects.  And that revenue is now set to be in excess of £250m.

WhY do you do IT?

I was a people leader before an accountant, leading large retail teams at Sainsburys and I get huge career satisfaction in developing people and seeing them thrive and be the best versions of themselves in the right seats.  The fact I can do this in a “numbers” environment is the double whammy and started my path to finance leadership as an Auditor, moving to Transactions Services and Corporate Finance before working in international growing business before joining Cooper Parry.

WhAT KINDS OF PROJECTS HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN?

That’s the beauty of being at Cooper Parry, the opportunity to be involved in varied, fast paced projects and collaborating internally and externally to make things happen.  From the early days, demerger of CPIT, system implementations, and navigating the challenges of COVID, to first and second round of private equity investment, board pack design, further system implementations and integrating our acquisitions.  I am also Chair of Elavare, an East Midlands network of female finance leaders whose purpose is to elevate female leaders through shared conversation and support.

WhAT’S ON TOP OF YOUR BUCKET LIST? 

I’m known for my love of travel and have been fortunate to have travelled to some amazing places for business and pleasure.  More recently I was able to tick off Maldives as a special birthday treat.  A once in a lifetime experience with my family.  It was beyond our expectations with a seaplane flight to resort, over water villas with slides into the ocean, champagne on tap, and plenty of activities for the kids to do, along with awesome marine and island life, people and food.  There are still lots of the world to experience but I have a feeling, if we can, this one will end up back on the list.