CV

DCLG (formerly ODPM) Group Management Accountant, Fire & Resilience Directorate (FRD)
April 2006 to Date
o Responsible for 18 staff providing comprehensive Financial and Management Accounting; transaction processing, Cash Management, Grant payments, Receipts, procurement and contract management; Prompt Payments, major Programmes manpower and financial control; Business Planning; CSR07; Budgetary Control and Forecasting (Programme £300M and Administration £8M) and variance explanations; support and challenge activities across the Directorate; and close liaison with DCLG Corporate Finance.
o Finance Board Member of the FRD Management Group specialising in Financial Management and Corporate Governance.
o Functional responsibility to the DCLG Central Director General for FRD overall Accounting integrity, reconciled and unqualified Accounts, and Risk Management.
o Internal and external audit liaison.
o Stakeholder management-NAO, HMT, Fire & Rescue Authorities, Scottish & Welsh Assemblies
o Key player in amalgamating two Directorates and delivering 20% Administration efficiency savings.
o VFM analysis of Investment Appraisals
o Sustainable Development and records

Ministry of Defence Assistant Director Corporate Fixed Asset Programme Nov 2003 to April 2006
o Selected in November 2003 without competition by my line manager and Head of Profession as the only person with the requisite skills to set up and run the Corporate Fixed Assets post. Balance sheet value of Fixed Assets of £87billion.
o Formulated policy on the quinquenniel review of Fixed Assets in concert with the National Audit Office to avoid a Resource Account qualification. In particular on Fighting Equipment, a category peculiar to the Ministry of Defence.
o Produced a comprehensive analysis of the MOD’s Fixed Assets element in August 2004 to inform the review. My project management experience has exposed me to the full range of programme and project management procedures and techniques which I employ fully.
o Successful transition to shared service arrangements
o People issues:
o Acted as Cluster Panel chairman deciding bonus recommendations for a group of 40 junior staff
o Policy and Strategy EFQM Champion, undertaking benchmarking with H M Treasury, other Government departments, and the National Audit Office for Resource Accounts, In Year Management and Short Term Planning processes.
o Mentor for 59 qualified and trainee Accountants, keeping them up to date on technical professional developments, group presentations, professional interviews (particularly for trainees) and the increasingly important Continuing Professional Development now mandated by the various Institutes.

Ministry of Defence Assistant Director Corporate Financial Accountant May 1997 to Nov 2003
o Applied as an external candidate originally for a Regional Chief Accountant post but offered the Corporate Financial Accounting post (which had not been advertised) because my background and experience was particularly suited to complex Corporate Accounting. For most of this period I was the senior corporate accountant in the MOD.
o Recruited a small team of accountants to implement for the first time Resource Accounting & budgeting (RAB) into the Ministry of Defence.
o Responsible for:
o In Year Management (IYM) Accounting process, monitoring/reporting progress against overall budgets (including forecasts); including Conflict Prevention (separate H M Treasury funding for military operations). Developed with colleagues a full monthly Departmental IYM process for the Budget Holders, and the Departmental control of cash expenditure at the year end. Full reconciliation and explanation of H M Treasury (HMT) and Parliamentary Control Totals appearing in the monthly IYM and Departmental Resource Account (DRAc) year end reports.
o Production of the first MOD Balance Sheet (£87billion), Operating Cost Statement and Cash Flow Statement and consolidation/publication of the year end Departmental Resource Accounts from regional submissions. Year on year improvement culminating in a True and Fair NAO audit opinion in 2004.
o Initiation and implementation of H M Treasury Faster Closing initiative, bringing forward the accounts production by several weeks every year culminating in the DRAc being laid before Parliament before the summer recess.
o Explanation of highly complex technical accounting issues to non-accountant senior managers up to Finance Director (non-accountant) level
o Organisation of annual customer satisfaction surveys of the DRAc, IYM, STP, and Fixed Assets processes, largely achieving year-on-year results improvement.

H M Prison Service RA B Implementation Manager Jan 2005 to May 1997
o Recruited for industry as the Resource Accounting and Budgeting Implementation Manager responsible for introducing the conversion from Cash Accounting
o Introduced and utilised new software and undertook full staff training in two of Her Majesty’s South London prisons.

BT plc Financial Controller- Southern London District 1989 to December 1994
o Selected, promoted and relocated to take up this post as the District Board Member for Finance. Enabled exposure at the higher level, which included negotiating funding, along with full profitability reporting responsibility to the PLC.
o As a BT Financial Controller I managed the work of 350 staff across the Management Accounting, Financial Accounting, and Accounts Receivable operations including plans/budgets, forecasts and output costing across 3 sites; and the Procurement function.

BT plc Financial Accountant-Sheffield and Lincoln District 1986 to 1989
Northern Gas Systems Accountant 1981 To 1986
Bowater Corporation Cost Accountant 1976 to 1981
Brentford Nylons Assistant Cost Accountant 1974 to 1976
Searle Laboratories Trainee Cost Accountant 1968 to 1974
Ashington Urban District Council Trainee Treasurer 1966 to 1968