Q: What first attracted you to Franchise Brands?
A: I moved to Franchise Brands in 2019, having previously worked as a Commercial Business Partner for Whyte & Mackay, a whisky company in Scotland. Whilst the services we were offering at Franchise Brands were less glamorous, I was really attracted to the ambition of the group and the opportunities to grow and develop our franchising services. I was also hugely attracted to the opportunity to work with an experienced management team and I have been very grateful to have had the ability to learn from the wide range of knowledge and experiences in the Group.
Q: Have you ever worked in a franchise business before and what is your view now on franchising?
A: Franchise Brands was my first experience working with franchisees, and having now worked closely with our network for the last six years I can see the huge benefits of a franchise business. The franchisees are invested in the business, and they bring added energy and ambition to the Group that helps continue to drive it forward. But it also creates a much more robust, sustainable business model and, particularly at times of challenge within the wider economy, we see the benefit of having a diverse range of well established franchisees in the network.
Q: What has been the biggest accomplishment over the last 12 months?
A: We made great progress in 2024 towards integration. We integrated the transactional finance function of Filta into Metro Rod, creating a shared service centre at our Macclesfield Support Centre. This had a number of challenges, particularly with the different systems and processes to incorporate. However, I was incredibly proud of how quickly and effectively the team got up to speed with this, and the improvements we have seen already as we start to integrate these processes.
Q: What have you learnt on your development journey that you can take to your new role as Group Finance Director?
A: Having worked with a number of businesses within the Water & Waste Services division, it highlighted the importance of understanding the business to be able to support the key stakeholders to make the best decisions. I have learnt that in order to support the Managing Directors within the business we need to take the finances and a commercial view of the business in order to provide that well rounded approach as a finance director. The importance of this is something I want to take with me to my new role to ensure I can support the wider Franchise Brands businesses achieve their objectives.
Q: What do you see as the biggest opportunity for the Group Finance Function?
A: As the Group has expanded quickly with the acquisitions of Filta and Pirtek, there is a huge opportunity to integrate Group Finance as a core function for the entire group. The move to One Finance, a new Group-wide finance system will create one central database for all financial information. Together with One Reporting, this will allow us to improve the quality of management information within the group allowing for better, faster decision making.
