Finance Monthly CFO Awards 2016 Winners Edition

www.finance-monthly.com 37 also by their absolute belief that the company was going to succeed and grow into a major global market leader. Having been involved in a number of companies in my career, I could see that Mal and Paul had identified a major market that was ripe for disruption, knew their market inside out, had the technical expertise with the team to develop the required scalable product and had already attracted interest from professional venture capital investors who were committed to the business’ success. It was an easy decision to join the team since it was clear that the business was poised for some enormous growth. Managing this growth effectively has certainly been interesting and challenging over the last few years! What motivates you most about your role as a CFO? As a member of the senior management team that drives the business, it is exciting to be in a position to influence and help drive the business as it expands its customer footprint around the globe. My broad role includes involvement in commercial discussions—including significant input into strategic and business planning— alongside the day-to-day running of the business. Since arriving, I have looked to develop a great finance and HR team that delivers ahead of expectations even as we continue to rapidly grow. Continually seeking to nurture, mentor and motivate the team is top of my agenda. It was great for the team to be recognized for their excellent work and team spirit by winning “Finance Team of the Year” at the 2015 North East Accountancy awards. Since our payments service plays an integral role in the sales process, it is really interesting to work with the sales teams in talking with prospects— mainly FTSE250 or Fortune 500 companies—who are looking to grow their business by using the Performance Horizon platform. This enables me to get closer to some of the operations in the business than would normally be expected of a CFO, particularly in the various global offices in USA, Japan and Australia. I find that my overall role is enhanced by my active involvement across these many facets of the business, which also certainly leads to a challenging programme of activities! This role also provides me with the opportunity to help support the drive for the recognition of the tech industry in the north of England, in particular the North East. Through Performance Horizon’s involvement as a member of the Future Fifty programme managed by Tech City, I have the chance to spread this message in London and within Government whenever I can to ensure that we continue to grow and develop the resources we will require as a region to support future activity. USA Contact Details Chris Blaxall Chief Financial Officer Performance Horizon Email: chris.blaxall@performancehorizon.com Tel: +44 (0) 191 261 2444 Web: www.performancehorizon.com Twitter: @tweetphg Finance Monthly CFO Awards 2016