Finance Monthly CFO Awards Winners Edition

Finance Monthly CFO Awards 2020 www.finance-monthly.com 23 UNITED KINGDOM Finance Monthly CFO Awards 2020 What’s your advice to younger and less experienced CFOs? I was fortunate to take on the mantle of CFO at Shawbrook at an early stage in my career, being only 35 years old when assuming the CFO role when the bank was part of the FTSE250. However, my advice to those less experienced CFOs is to firstly to be patient and secondly to truly understand the role of a CFO, particularly in heavily regulated sectors such a Banking. However, granted, until you make the leap into a strategic CFO role there is always going to be nervousness and slight apprehension. My advice is to be patient with stakeholder management and amongst your desire to show strength of leadership and decision making, pause often enough to allow you to reflect on the observations from the more seasoned players around the boardroom table. Only recently have I learned that I have a lot to learn! Thankfully for me, prior to my official appointment I had already been given the honour of carrying out the role in an Interim capacity for nine months while the business conducted an extensive market search. However, I had performed well in the role and I was delighted that the Board showed faith in me, I was also fortunate that I had some great support from my peers across the Group as well as from one or two individuals externally which made the transition easier. The learning journey never ends, but the one thing that has helped me succeed during these difficult times has been to ensure moments of reflection, sprinkled with patience and a common-sense approach. It is better to remember that the discipline of Finance is an art not a science. In your opinion, what makes a great CFO? A great CFO is someone who always knows that there is room for improvement and that the learning journey never ends. Certainly, the technical aspect of our discipline becomes ever more complex but human intuition and sound judgement can only develop more fully with time and experience. What does this award mean to you? Although not usually one for personal accolades, I am honoured to be recognised so soon into my journey as CFO. This award is pleasing in that it signifies recognition from peers across the financial services industry. Shawbrook has been on a whirlwind journey since its inception in 2011, and I have been very lucky to have played a part in that journey since 2013. Throughout my career here, one constant is that I have always been part of a great team and surrounded by talented colleagues, and so this recognition is for everyone at Shawbrook throughout my tenure as much as it is for me. We have achieved outstanding success so far together and I have thoroughly enjoyed my career at Shawbrook. I believe the future is extremely bright for the bank, and I am particularly excited by the specialist banking industry in general, how that evolves and where we can play our part in helping to shape it. www.shawbrook.co.uk Shawbrook Bank Profile Shawbrook is a UK-based specialist lending and savings bank which provides both lending and savings products to small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) and consumers. Launched in 2011, the bank is split into four main operational divisions focussing on Property Finance, Business Finance, Consumer Lending and both Business and Personal Savings. The bank has established itself as a responsible lender, differentiating itself by concentrating on markets where its expert knowledge, judgement and personalised approach to underwriting offers it competitive advantage. Through a combination of good sense human judgement and innovative technology, Shawbrook proudly serves the poorly served by challenging the conventional approach to lending, thriving on the niche and complex and specialising in providing finance to customers that are not serviced by the larger banks and lenders. Q Q Q