Who am I, what is my key professional background?
I am a former Royal Navy officer, Fleet Air Arm, who came out of the RN in 1980, and ran my own business until 1989. At that point I became an articled clerk and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1991.
Left Practice in 1992, having been recruited by the NFL, (American Football company), to be the Financial Controller of their newly formed professional team based at Wembley, “The London Monarchs”.
Subsequently, I was FD of a London based Corporate Finance House, then CFO of first, a City Based Merchant Bank, and then a Software Company. Both of which were listed on the London Stock Exchange. This led to me being on the LSE’s “Issuer Committee”.
I left the Software Company, when it was bought off the Exchange, and then spent about 18 months teaching Chartered Accountancy around the world, including USA, Russia and China.
Subsequently, in 2009, I was appointed CEO of a Global Accountancy Alliance, with offices in over 100 countries. A position I held for almost 12 years, raising the turnover 5-fold over that period. Additionally, in my role I met with, and often made strong contacts with, senior individuals in Government and finance in over 60 countries, from New York and Washinton, Brussels and Frankfurt, to Beijing, Singapore and Sydney. As a result, I was presented with a lifetime achievement award on my retirement, by the International Accounting Bulletin.
Who am I in City Terms?
I am a Past Master of the Chartered Accountants Company, (2020-21, the Covid years), a Court Assistant of the Feltmakers Company and presently the Accountant of the Pewterers Company.
I have been involved with numerous City events, functions and such. From being the Accountants’ pageant Master for the Lord Mayor’s Show 2018 and assisting at Livery events at Henley Royal, to setting up, and overseeing, the revised accounting and cash collection system for the bi-annual Red Cross Christmas market.
Additionally, in the Shrieval year of Alderman Professor Micheal Mainelli and CC Christopher Hayward, I Chaired their AML (Anti-Money Laundering) Task Force which attempted to convince legacy banks to adopt the AML process of challenger banks. Thus, enabling investors to more easily set up within the City.
