My career started at EY in Aberdeen after doing a placement year with RMD (now Deloitte) while at Robert Gordon University. I had a fairly “traditional” start to a big 4 career working my way through audit and qualifying as a CA. It was the early noughties and a great time to be a trainee; the comradery amongst our group was fantastic and many of us are still in touch.

After qualifying I transferred into the M&A department and was involved in various deals particularly around oilfield services before transferring to EY M&A in Melbourne, Australia.

My time in Melbourne was fantastic. A complete change in dynamic from Aberdeen both on the work and personal front and Melbourne is a great city. I made some great friends and do miss the vibe of the place. I’d recommend to anyone who wants to broaden their horizons to seek out the opportunity to work internationally.

Reflecting on these earlier years its amazing to see what individuals have gone onto do: set up and run international businesses; partnerships in many accounting and advisory firms; CFOs within listed businesses. It reminds you of the fantastic training ground it is at accounting and advisory firms as it gives huge exposure to a wide range of clients, business environments, strategy and people.

When I returned to Aberdeen in the early 2010’s I was advising the shareholders of a company on its sale and the CEO asked my to join another investment of his as CFO with some equity; the company was SPEX.

SPEX is a service business specialising in downhole cutting tools using energetics. After a couple of years we raised additional capital for the business taking equity investment from Business Growth Fund with a plan to develop its own suite of tools protected by intellectual property.

We did this successfully however the business become involved in some complex cross border litigation which required significant further capital to defend and continue to grow the business. After a long haul and many sleepless nights we successfully exited the business in 2025 to a large US listed trade player.

I’m now CFO at a subsea value manufacturer, Interventek, and help lead the senior management team alongside the CEO.

I like the variety and having a seat at the top table to influence and make decisions.

There are clearly different “types” of CFOs; from technical and finance function focused to those seeking to climb the ladder as a CEO. Smaller companies, bigger companies, private, private equity backed, listed. My background has been varied being involved in financial matters (month ends, year ends, board reporting, fundraising, M&A) to commercial (contracts, pricing), HR, legal/litigation and intellectual property. Being involved in private equity and private businesses that ultimately are seeking an exit and how we bridge from where we are today to that ultimate objective of maximizing shareholder value really drives me. This includes determining and implementing strategy that will (hopefully) deliver this exit event including things like considerations of corporate structures years before exit (e.g. tax planning and implications that often cannot be changed after the passage of time). In smaller businesses these matters are often not actively considered regularly – i.e. is what we are doing today aligned to that strategy? I often find that those in other areas of a business think a CFO is just the guy that does the numbers so communication of all of these other aspects and how they join together is key!

Whilst my title is CFO it often has COO/CCO elements which is common in smaller businesses where you sometimes need to wear many hats; however never forget cash is always king!

When I was young I wanted to be a train driver (very young) and then an architect (teenager)! I would have loved to be a professional golfer but alas I’ve never been anywhere near good enough. I’m not sure there are many people when they are younger set out to an accountant mainly due to the stigma as a “boring” profession. The reality is of course completely different and as you grow older you appreciate the huge opportunity it provides and many who have chosen different paths become interested in understanding more about the “business side” (i.e. finance) of an organization. Ultimately no one goes into business to lose money so in the end of the day its where the action is!

If I didn’t say AI then the answer would be wrong!

Having said that although AI will drive processes, performance and productivity smart people will always be required to be able to make judgements; and remember ultimately its people that own businesses so you still need to deal with people and decision makers.

Not personally although as part of senior management at SPEX and Interventek we have reacted to the demand for hybrid working and put policies in place to enable this. However I think it’s important that senior management are visible and as such whilst I occasionally work from home I do not do it regularly. Whilst video calls are good I can’t ever see the way past face to face communication; as often its what’s not said or how something is said that often makes a difference; its very difficult to pick such things up on a video call. I also think there is a difference between larger companies and smaller companies; with larger companies where systems are maybe readily set up and focus a bit more on working within departments, working regularly from home is more than feasible. Whilst it may be the same for some smaller companies I often find, particularly as part of senior management, being physically present allows you to pick up on information that might otherwise be missed and also quickly react and respond to opportunities and challenges.

Seize the day!

Whilst it’s important to balance things up I think most of the time a change is good to challenge yourself and grow. I think its very useful to have a broad plan about where you want to be in 5, 10 or 15 years but be flexible enough to understand life isn’t linear and opportunities often present themselves at the least likely time. In your planning you should also consider what skills you may need and therefore what progression or ladder you need to reach those goals. Also surround yourself with good people and listen to the experience of others

Enjoy being so young - it doesn’t last long!

Delivering the SPEX exit was rewarding in the end but I continue to be focused on building shareholder value and ultimately exiting businesses.

Whilst the oil and gas market in the UK is challenging there is a whole global industry out there and there remains a lot of value to be created particularly with the backing of technology and IP.

I’m a bit of a sport junky and would watch most things on TV, live or take part! Golf, football, skiing, rugby - its all great. And I have 2 teenage kids that keep me pretty busy with everything they have going on although my fantastic wife is pretty proficient at managing all the family demands – thankfully!

As many of my mates rib me for I was once in the Yellow Pages modelling a kilt. Some of the younger readers won’t even know what the Yellow Pages was!