I left school with reasonable, but not outstanding, grades but fortuitously secured an offer from the then RGIT, now RGU, to study Business Studies. Like most young people, I didn’t have much idea about what I wanted to do for a career. As far as any sort of plan went, a Business Studies degree appealed as it was for 4 years (4.5 years if I opted for Honours) and this kicked any career decision down the line. It also covered a wide variety of subjects and hopefully by the end of it, I would know what I wanted to do. That was the thought process anyway, at the age of 17!

Fast forward 4.5 years and after graduating with a BA Hons in Business Studies, I joined a small, independent firm of Chartered Accountants (CA) in Aberdeen, called Ritson Smith & Partners where I undertook a 3-year CA training contract. I learned so much in my time there and will be forever grateful for the opportunity that they provided. This was secured at a time when trying to obtain a CA training contract was particularly difficult owing to the high level of applicants for the small number of positions available.

At the end of my training contract and having successfully qualified as a CA, I elected to join Coopers & Lybrand to increase my knowledge and experience of ‘big company’ audits.

After a spell gaining valuable experience there, I took my first tentative steps into the oil and gas industry with the project management arm of the Dresser group of companies (now Halliburton). My appetite for the oil industry, and accounting I guess, had been whetted by my industrial placement year from RGIT which was spent working at Mobil North Sea in the general accounting department.

There then followed a couple of progression steps before obtaining my first Finance Director position with Salamis at the age of 31. I obtained a fantastic education at Salamis, mentored by Ian Nickerson. Working with fantastic people, we tripled the size of the company within 5 years, and I was part of the team which then successfully sold the group to Bilfinger Berger in 2006. Above all, it was great fun despite the sometimes, very long hours.

Having enjoyed the buzz of that first sales process, and watching others make money from it, I decided to try my hand in the world of private equity (PE) investment, with a view to making a few quid for myself!

With experienced, and more importantly, good guys in Willie Rennie, Bob Forbes and Andy Bruce and backed by Gresham PE, we pursued a ‘buy and build’ strategy at ICR Integrity where we bought 4 companies, grew the sales rapidly and within 3 years successfully exited.

Pretty easy then, it sounds, as I am writing this. However, this doesn’t do nearly enough justice to the hard work that went into this project by all the team at ICR with lady luck a welcome and present companion. We were very lucky to exit ICR just before the next oil price crash in 2015.

This event largely scuppered my next thought about doing another PE project as I found that those PE firms without investments were exiting stage door left, those with existing investments were not looking at adding any more to their portfolios and the Banks were also reigning in their lending facilities, understandably.

Whilst searching for some inspiration, during what was a longer than expected period of gloom for the oil and gas sector, I met with Mark Kerr (of Lloyds Development Capital) who had recently been appointed as Chair of the Aberdeen Sports Village (ASV). He explained that he had a requirement for a fresh pair of eyes to join the team at ASV to help with some funding/budget challenges. With a very keen interest in sport anyway and a hankering to try something outwith oil & gas, I met with Duncan Sinclair, the CEO, and was delighted to be offered the role.

It was around this point that I started to question my balancing of work and life. Up to this point in my career, and like the vast majority of my and earlier generations in oil and gas, I had worked long hours, regularly working in the evenings and at weekends too as I climbed the career ladder. Working at ASV in the public sector was not only interesting and enjoyable but very rewarding from a general wellness point of view too.

I decided therefore that, going forward, I would like to work less hours and to view future roles as ‘projects’ whereby each would have a determinable end, be it a date or an event. At last, a kind of plan, at nearly 50 years of age!

There then followed some short-term ‘project’ type roles when I left ASV before COVID struck in 2020. At this time, I was working on an opportunity with Kenny Woods to potentially ‘buy in’ at FIS Chemicals, a specialist chemical manufacturer with over 1,000 products covering a range of industries, with the financial backing of PE (Maven and Foresight).

At the exact same time, an opportunity arose to help a new startup company (Trojan Energy) in a totally new industry for me, that of electric vehicle charge point infrastructure. Trojan had designed, engineered and manufactured a unique and patented solution (product and software) to alleviate the problem of mass charging on-street, without the need for bulky street ‘furniture’ and designated parking bays.

Like waiting for a bus, the two opportunities converted at the same time, and I accepted a part-time position with both in 2020 which essentially meant I was back working full time again!

As time wore on, the demands from both necessitated a focus on only one and with a heavy heart, I resigned from Trojan Energy in 2023 after nearly 3 years.

And so right now, I am solely focused on FIS Chemicals which is continuing to grow strongly, and which has allowed me to work 4 days per week whilst I keep true to my ‘kind of plan’ of working less hours in my 50’s!

Firstly, I enjoy the camaraderie with work colleagues. You should enjoy your work and the people you work with. Being able to laugh helps to balance all those times when you are ‘grafting’ for the cause.

As a director of the company, I enjoy the variety which comes with getting involved in other areas of the business which are typically non-finance. As we all know though, everything has a financial impact and that is how I justify my involvement.

Finally, as an accountant, I do love spreadsheets!

No, I had never thought of accountancy as a profession but I am a great believer in fate and ‘what’s for you, won’t pass you’.

As a result, when I very nervously wandered over to formally introduce myself to the Head of General Accounting in the Caledonian Hotel in 1989 at a Mobil North Sea industrial placement recruitment soiree, little did I know that out of the 100+ students there, I was the only one who did so and as a result, he remembered my name. I was invited to an interview and was fortunate to be offered one of only 4 places available.

This was the start of my life in accountancy, and I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year, which resulted in me pursuing this as a career when I eventually graduated.

However, like most young lads, I really wanted to be a professional footballer in my youth and for a short while in the mid 1980’s, I trained with many other young hopefuls at Pittodrie under the guidance of Lenny Taylor. However, fate decreed that I wasn’t nearly good enough and football’s loss became accountancy’s gain!

I believe that the role of an accountant will continue to evolve, as it has always done, but we cannot lose sight of our main purpose to be the financial watchdog for the business and to be able to investigate and report when things don’t look or sound right.

Although Artificial Intelligence (AI), technology and automation will continue to make great inroads into our businesses and allow us to focus more on the more strategic and value adding areas, we do need to be able to step back and ensure it is working as it should. As the recent Post Office/Horizon system scandal has shown, technology and innovation does not always work as it should and it is incumbent upon accountants, amongst others, to have the necessary checks and balances in place together with a strong ethical code.

Simplicity should be key, at a time when technological developments (with the best of intentions) are sometimes just a little too complicated for what is actually required.

‘Fit for purpose’ and ‘value for money’ has been my mantra over the years and I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon. Apologies to my current work colleagues!

I’m not sure COVID changed my view too much. I have always been a self-starter so knew what needed doing and by when. Working from home didn’t prevent any of that other than I was very conscious that I was extremely fortunate to have some space at home which I could dedicate as working space. I was well aware that others were not as fortunate, and they would have relied on the work environment to provide that segregation from home.

I am fortunate that I am also equally comfortable working on my own or in the office with the team, but I do believe that flexibility is the key to successful working. I am a night owl rather than an early bird so having the freedom to choose when I worked was refreshing and I’m not convinced I would have seen that without the COVID restrictions.

I believe that successful management would be to trust the team to deliver and then let them decide how best they manage their time to do that. However, always be mindful that not everyone will behave accordingly!

Firstly, and as I have often said to my own team, managers are not mind-readers, so employees do need to speak to them first. No manager wants to receive a resignation letter without first having had the chance to address any issues. Although you might think its blatantly obvious, managers are only human and in the heat of the working day, sometimes things do go unseen.

Secondly, I know it is difficult when you are young and ambitious but try and resist the temptation to simply chase the cash. Instead focus on what you want from your next role and to make sure that it best fits your aspirations and your future employer’s expectations. Cash is important but there’s more to job satisfaction and there is no point accepting a role you are not 100% sold on just because the package is too good to refuse. Ultimately, you will remain unfulfilled and highly likely to leave.

Finally, trust your instinct, if it doesn’t look or feel right, then it won’t be right.

My youngest son has just turned 18 and so my advice to him this year has been the same as I gave to my older children and to which I would ultimately give to my 18-year-old self.

Simply put, you are a long time working (and getting longer!) and whilst you have no real commitments to worry about, take this time in your life to study, socialise, holiday and to just generally enjoy life. You will never be 18 again!

Whilst fate will intervene to steer your ship, seize any opportunity that comes your way and do your very best at it. As my nana used to say, ‘if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right’!

I guess I am also closer to the end of my career than at the start and so in the working time that I have left, I would like to achieve a successful exit for the FIS Chemicals team.

Whilst we are on the bucket list here, I would also like to have a much lower golf handicap!

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends.

I also have two dogs and so my wife and I really enjoy getting out and about in the hills and woods around our home with them too.

I am also a big sports fan so will watch most sports, but I do draw the line at test match cricket!

There’s probably a couple of things:

Firstly, I am a volunteer coach at a local football club – Hall Russell United, having been a player there in my younger days. I coach our under-18 development team, which competes in the Highland Youth League.

Secondly, and quite topical with the recent announcement of the Conservative plan to reintroduce national service (this is not a party political broadcast, by the way!) As an 18-year-old, I served with the Grampian Police Force as a ‘special constable’ for 3 years. This involved working on a volunteer basis, alongside regular police officers, in and around the city patrolling our streets and interacting with the community. It was a real learning curve and an extremely humbling experience, and I would thoroughly recommend such service to all 18 years old’s (I can hear the groaning from my 18 year old as I write this!!)