Photos from the CIMA West Midlands 2015 Christmas Black Tie Ball in Birmingham



CIMA WM Chairman, Paul Hooper-Keeley, with CIMA Global President, Myriam Madden

CIMA Members and guests at the 2015 Christmas Ball

Star of The Apprentice, Jo Cameron was the keynote speaker

Area Secretary, John Hindson, introduces Myriam Madden's address

Shaylor Group PLC 'Site-Link' day at Aston Villa FC a huge success



Shaylor Group CEO, Stephen Shaylor, presents the awards

Investment, Risk & Longevity at Hotel Du Vin, Birmingham, on Tuesday24th November

The 2015 Finance Directors’ Forum aboard P&O's Arcadia a great success

This year’s Finance Directors’ Forum was held aboard the P&O cruise ship Arcadia from the 7^th to the 10^th October and proved to be a great success. And I was delighted to be on-board and a part of it representing Shaylor Group plc.

The opening night’s keynote address was given by ex-Newnight and University Challenge heavyweight, Jeremy Paxman, and focused on The UK Political Landscape. Humorous, witty, entertaining and followed by a typically prickly Q&A session (albeit somewhat tongue-in-cheek), it was the perfect way to start the Forum proper. His banter with Justin Urquhart Stewart (in the circle of the theatre) was a joy to behold.

These Forums are well known for being busy and concentrated affairs, and this year was no different (with delegates kept focused from 7.30am to 10.30pm to ensure that benefit is maximised for taking precious time out of the office in addition to the CPD accreditation).

Day 2 started with an excellent presentation by Virgin Atlantic Airways FD, Liz Collins, entitled ‘Building a Finance Centre of Excellence the Virgin Atlantic Way’, which demonstrated the steps taken to streamline the finance function and deliver a leaner, more commercially focused organisation. My schedule followed this up with the workshop, ‘Leading The Finance Function During Uncertain And Volatile Times’ delivered by Tim Pullen of Telefonica UK.

The keynote address on Day 2 was ‘Courage, Vision and Values’ by Roz Savage MBE, the solo women’s ocean rower who not only rowed across the Atlantic Ocean (3,000 miles) to raise environmental awareness, but followed this amazing feat of endurance by then rowing across the Pacific (8,000 miles) and the Indian Ocean (4,000 miles). I was also fortunate enough to attend Roz’s ‘eVALUEation’ interactive workshop on the same afternoon before I, myself, delivered a presentation on being an Interim/Equity Finance Director.

Around the presentations and workshops were a number of meetings with suppliers, so many new contacts were made and hopefully much business will result from this opportunity (from both sides) to explore and discuss opportunities in this captive environment.

Our Forum Facilitator, the irrepressible Justin Urquhart Stewart, opened up the first main session of Day 3 with an interview of/audience with Mark Hesketh, UK & European Finance Director of Standard Life plc, with the working title of ‘Setting A Standard In The Finance Function’. Justin’s questions about Mark’s time at RBS resulted in some surprising and positive comments regarding working with Fred Goodwin.

Following this, the Day 3 Keynote Address was given by Jas Hawker, past Commanding Officer of the Red Arrows and currently a Director of Mission Excellence (and organisation focused on improving clients’ execution – closing the gap between what gets talked about and planned, and what gets delivered). This was an enjoyable session that mixed lots of anecdotes and footage of the Red Arrows in action with some key pointers on how to lead a world-class and highly performing team in the corporate world.

Perhaps the finest presentation of the event was reserved for later that afternoon when Justin Urquhart Stewart gave his presentation, ‘Post General Election Economic Update – What It Means For You And Your Organisation’. Irreverent, amusing, fast paced but also interesting, relevant and cutting through the nonsense so often reported in the media to give the real bottom line. An amazing hour that seemed to fly past in minutes – top class.

My pre-dinner day ended with a very useful one-to-one coaching session with Aim Higher Leadership, with a post-dinner keynote given by Austin Healey and aptly titles ‘The Rugby World Cup (Amongst Other Things)’.

Day 4 was all about packing, disembarking the Arcadia in Southampton and driving back up the country reflecting on what had been packed into the previous 3 days (and the meeting and business that would be inevitably be done in the weeks that will follow).

And a big thank you must go to Richmond Events for their excellent organisation once again.

BREAKING NEWS: Jo Cameron of The Apprentice & Achievers Academy for Women confirmed as Key Note Speaker at CIMA West Midland's Christmas Ball in Birmingham on 20th November

CIMA FOC Leadership Event in Cannock on 16th September – ‘Can I bury my grandmother in the garden: the dilemma of leadership’ - joint event with the Chamber of Commerce

Working life is full of surprises and none more so when we are asked something rather bizarre. Our experiences as managers, colleagues, advisors and leaders expose us to challenging conundrums where we are often asked to advise, take a position or solve an almost unsolvable problem.  

So what do we do as a leader when we are faced with these challenges? We often sort it all out in some way or other or we make a mess of it all. 

What is the role of a leader and, more importantly, what is their purpose? When faced with the mountain of work, the targets of success and the moans of the staff, what is the true function of leadership? How can we do it best and what makes a difference to the business?  

...and at the same time find out if Granny can be put to rest in the back garden.  

Date:           16 September 2015 - 18:30   

Location:     Roman Way Hotel, Cannock WS11 1SH 

Price:           Free 

Buffet served on arrival  

To reserve your free place email julie.witts@cimaglobal.com  

Speaker Details: - 

Dr Philip Lloyd-Williams is the founder of Lloyd-Williams & Associates, a business he established with the clear purpose of making business more successful by developing their people. 

What differentiates Philip's approach in doing this is his personable style and his ability to make individuals think differently and deal with issues and challenges that others fear to address. He is pragmatic in his approach and understands the reality of commercial expectations. 

Having worked as a solicitor and strategic director in a number of large organisations, Philip understands the complexities and challenges of effective leadership and has managed a variety of challenging and high profile services. As a result he has a real life and pragmatic approach to the challenges of business and people in organisations. 

CIMA West Midlands announce Christmas Ball in Birmingham on Friday 20thNovember sponsored by SF Group

Shaylor Group appoints West Midlands Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants as new Finance Director

Shaylor Group is delighted to announce the appointment of Paul Hooper-Keeley, West Midlands Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), as Finance Director.

 

A highly experienced Finance Director, Paul brings with him over 30 years experience in both PLC and private sectors. In addition to the finance, commercial and operational experience gained across numerous sectors, Paul is also the current Institute of Director’s West Midlands’ Ambassador for their Chartered Director qualification (being the 25th person globally to be awarded this Chartered Director status in 2000) and CIMA Chairman for the West Midlands Region. Paul has held Finance Director positions at Board Level for over 19 years and for the last 11 years  has provided interim Finance Director services across the UK, with an excellent track record in all financial disciplines, along with strategic planning, leadership and team building skills.

 

Speaking of his new role, Paul commented “I am delighted to be joining such a well-regarded business and look forward to helping Shaylor Group maintain their momentum in becoming the pre-eminent name for quality construction projects throughout the UK”.

 

Shaylor Group CEO Stephen Shaylor added “Paul’s appointment comes at an exciting time for Shaylor Group, having recently secured a string of new high profile contract awards and framework agreements. We are thrilled to welcome Paul into the business and I am personally looking forward to working closely with him to ensure our continued growth and success”.

Shaylor Group was formed in 1969 and is £70m second generation family owned principal contracting business. Shaylor Group’s core areas of expertise are general contracting, repair & maintenance works and specialist refurbishments and fit-outs.  It has particular sector experience in education, healthcare and retirement, custodial and justice, industrial and commercial, leisure and retail, transport, heritage and maintenance. The business has offices in Aldridge, Birmingham, central London and the South West.

 

www.shaylorgroup.com

Birmingham Business Breakfast Club & FSB Chairman, Ian O’Donnell, recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

 

Recognised in this year’s Honours is the Coventry and Warwickshire chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, Ian O’Donnell. 

Ian, who is the owner of Real Point in Hampton-in-Arden, has been awarded an MBE for his outstanding service to the community. 

The local businessman and married dad-of-two is also chairman of Birmingham Business Breakfast Club, on the board of the Solihull Safer Partnerships, an active member and trustee of the local church where he leads a weekly youth group and also finds time to be a member of Massey Ferguson running club and Parkrun. 

He said: “It was such a surprise when I opened the letter and read that I had been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours. I am absolutely thrilled. 

“Running a small business is challenging but it’s also really rewarding to be able to provide employment and career opportunities for local people.  

"I am passionate about small businesses and that’s why I work so hard in my role as chairman for the FSB to help raise awareness of the needs of small firms and to lobby at both a local and national level. 

“Working with young people both in church and elsewhere is highly rewarding and the running just makes sure I have the energy for everything else.”

Free Event: ‘Formula for Success’ on 2nd June in Birmingham

 

We all aspire to be successful in our careers. At this event, we have three speakers who have achieved success and during this presentation they will look at how they have achieved their success and give advice on what you need to consider when building your career to ultimately also achieve success. 

This CIMA event is in association with Robert Walters, one of the world's leading specialist professional recruitment consultancies. Established in 1985, the group has built a global presence spanning 24 countries. 

Speaker Details: - 

Jill Martin - With a respected background and a proven track-record within the FMCG sector, Jill currently works for Tyrrells Potato Chips as Head of International Finance. Having previously worked for Warburtons and 2 Sisters Food Group, Jill’s commercial expertise and ability to build relationships quickly have catapulted her into an exciting venture promoting the luxury brand crisps across international markets. 

Ahmed Farooq - Ahmed has established his career within Financial Services and Manufacturing and remains a highly respected individual within the Birmingham market. Working his way through both financial and operational business units, he has firmly cemented himself as the current MD for the GI Division of The Wesleyan. 

Craig Foster - Craig is the Regional FD of HCP, a leading outsourcing business at the cornerstone of the Midlands market. Craig’s career has been established in fast-paced environments, having worked for FTSE and blue-chip retail/FMCG companies. His breadth of experience from graduate to FD demonstrates the commitment and resilience needed to successfully pursue one’s ambitions. 

Date:           2 June 2015 at 6.30pm for 7.00pm   

Location:     Kaplan Financial, Baskerville House, Broad St, Birmingham B1 2ND 

Price:           GBP 0.00   

Buffet on arrival

 

 

Inspirational leadership for the board and future industry leaders - Book your free place at this CIMA Prestige Event in Birmingham on 25th June

 

The event is tailored for aspiring Senior Management and Directors and promises to be one of the key events in the West Midlands business community calendar. 

The evening starts at 6.30pm with a drinks reception followed by our keynote speaker Colonel Tim Collins OBE, a former officer in the British Army.  

Tim is a naturally inspiring speaker and such was the notoriety of this particular address it is believed that a copy of the speech hung in the Oval Office of the White House. From the moment Tim Collins' speech to his men in Iraq was made public, Collins became a hero and an inspiration to world leaders and infantrymen alike. 

There is an opportunity to ask questions, enjoy a hot buffet and network with your fellow CIMA senior members and CIMA Committee members. 

This event is in association with Robert Walters, one of the world's leading specialist professional recruitment consultancies. Established in 1985, the Group has built a global presence spanning 24 countries. 

Date / Time: 25 June 2015 - 18:30 

Location: Birmingham Council House B1 1BB 

Price: GBP 0.00 

Book: julie.witts@cimaglobal.com  

Speaker Details 

Colonel Tim Collins OBE is a former officer in the British Army. He is best known for his role in the Iraq war and his rousing eve-of-battle speech in March 2003: “If you are ferocious in battle, remember to be magnanimous in victory". 

Such was the notoriety of this particular address it is believed that a copy of the speech hung in the Oval Office of the White House. From the moment Tim Collins' speech to his men in Iraq was made public, Collins became a hero and an inspiration to world leaders and infantrymen alike. 

 

Tim is a naturally inspiring speaker, combining extensive experience of active service with broad knowledge of military and political history. 

An authority on teamwork, leadership and motivation, his speeches show a clear parallel between military problem solving and the challenges faced by leaders in any walk of life. 

Tim's philosophy can be summed up in a handful of rules: - 

1.   Know what your objectives are and have a plan

2.   Pick the right team

3.   Make sure everyone has a role and that it has been communicated clearly to them

4.   Understand your responsibilities as leader but learn to trust your team.

 Some past testimonials from those that have heard Tim speak include:

‘Inspiring, funny and above all practical about what gets people committed' 

‘In short he was fantastic; if we were a little younger some of us might be interested in joining the Royal Irish'

 

‘Our senior management have been cascading the messages down and I have heard several of them give direct quotes from Colonel Collins' presentation’

Institute of Leadership & Management Fellows Event - Lichfield 11th May

 

As ILM ambassadors you’ll get to network with other local Fellow members, listen to guest speaker, Mike Peckham, and share your experiences of current management issues and share solutions.

 

Also meet our new ILM Head of Membership, Janet Payne and share your ideas on how we can improve the membership experience.  

Venue: ILM HO, Stowe House, Lichfield.

Date: Monday 11^th May

Time: 9am-12.30pm

Booking details: Email events@i-l-m.com or call the events team on 01543 266867.

CIMA Birmingham FOC Breakfast event – ‘The DNA of a Finance Director’ on 14th May

This event will look at those skills needed to progress your career with the ultimate aim of becoming finance director with two speakers looking at this from different perspectives. 

This event is being held in association with Hays, the UK’s leading specialist recruitment group, helping professional, skilled people into permanent, temporary and interim jobs.

 

"With over 60 Accountancy & Finance consultants across the Midlands, we have the depth of expertise and local market insight to support you. Our passion lies in developing people and businesses in the region so whatever stage you are in your career we can help. "

 

Date: 14^th May 

Location: Hotel du Vin, Church Street, Birmingham B3 2NR  

Price: FOC 

Timings: - 

07.30 am - Arrival and breakfast served 

08.15 am - Presentations 

09.30-10.00 - Finish

Email julie.witts@cimaglobal.com to book your FOC place

 

What you can gain: - 

This event will look at the key skills and attributes that a finance manager will need to possess in order to make the big step up to finance director level. It will also cover the change in work type from the number crunching of the finance manager to the broader, more strategic, ad-hoc and often admin focused role of the finance director. 

Speaker Details: - 

Paul Hooper-Keeley FCMA, CGMA has had 31 years of experience within industry (the last 19 at finance director/main board level) and is currently Managing Director of Intervallum Limited, a provider of Interim Finance Director Services (in 2014 he took Mills CNC Limited, the UKs largest independently owned supplier of CNC machine tools, through a £20m+ secondary MBO). A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), he is currently Chairman of CIMA West Midlands. Furthermore, he is the Institute of Directors 25th chartered director and currently their Chartered Director Ambassador for the West Midlands. Paul has significant experience of Trade Sale/MBO/M&A transactions and during the recession, undertook a number of turnaround projects for private equity portfolio companies.

 

Glenn Collins is currently Director of Finance Operations at Interserve; one of the world's foremost support services and construction companies operating in the public and private sectors in the UK and internationally. Glenn helped create the financial shared service centre back in September 2009 which aimed to act as a single point of contact for all finance and accounting services for the support services division, whilst maintaining best practice and customer intimacy, and at the same time transferring use to Microsoft Dynamics ERP; a key highlight. The finance shared service centre now delivers the business a full suite of finance services, from transaction processing to forecasting and business support; achieved through a journey of standardisation, automation and people development to create this high performing SSC. 

Glenn is an ACMA prize-winner, with over 13 years SSC experience working within both the UK and overseas. Prior to joining Interserve, Glenn spent four years at Pentland Brands Plc as head of shared services and eight years at Rockwell Automation in a variety of senior finance roles, including three years in Rotterdam turning around their poorly performing EMEA SSC.

 

 

CIMA Prestige Event - Inspirational leadership for the board and future industry leaders at Birmingham Council House on 25th June

The event is tailored for aspiring Senior Management and Directors and promises to be one of the key events in the West Midlands business community calendar. 

The evening starts at 6.30pm with a drinks reception followed by our keynote speaker Colonel Tim Collins OBE, a former officer in the British Army.  

Tim is a naturally inspiring speaker and such was the notoriety of this particular address it is believed that a copy of the speech hung in the Oval Office of the White House. From the moment Tim Collins' speech to his men in Iraq was made public, Collins became a hero and an inspiration to world leaders and infantrymen alike. 

There is an opportunity to ask questions, enjoy a hot buffet and network with your fellow CIMA senior members and CIMA Committee members. 

This event is in association with Robert Walters, one of the world's leading specialist professional recruitment consultancies. Established in 1985, the Group has built a global presence spanning 24 countries. 

Date / Time: 25 June 2015 - 18:30 

Location: Birmingham Council House B1 1BB 

Price: GBP 0.00 

Book: julie.witts@cimaglobal.com  

Speaker Details 

Colonel Tim Collins OBE is a former officer in the British Army. He is best known for his role in the Iraq war and his rousing eve-of-battle speech in March 2003: “If you are ferocious in battle, remember to be magnanimous in victory". 

Such was the notoriety of this particular address it is believed that a copy of the speech hung in the Oval Office of the White House. From the moment Tim Collins' speech to his men in Iraq was made public, Collins became a hero and an inspiration to world leaders and infantrymen alike. 

Tim is a naturally inspiring speaker, combining extensive experience of active service with broad knowledge of military and political history. 

An authority on teamwork, leadership and motivation, his speeches show a clear parallel between military problem solving and the challenges faced by leaders in any walk of life. 

Tim's philosophy can be summed up in a handful of rules: - 

1.   Know what your objectives are and have a plan

2.   Pick the right team

3.   Make sure everyone has a role and that it has been communicated clearly to them

4.   Understand your responsibilities as leader but learn to trust your team.

 Some past testimonials from those that have heard Tim speak include:

‘Inspiring, funny and above all practical about what gets people committed' 

‘In short he was fantastic; if we were a little younger some of us might be interested in joining the Royal Irish'

 

‘Our senior management have been cascading the messages down and I have heard several of them give direct quotes from Colonel Collins' presentation’

Book your place before 31st March for the CIMA Midlands Conference, 'Essential Management Accounting Tools', to claim your early bird discount

Saturday 25 April 2015 

9.20am  Registration

9.50am  Start

4.30pm  Finish (approx).

Hinckley Island Hotel, Watling Street (A5), Hinckley, Leicestershire LE10 3JA

Book early and save £15

Book your place before 31 March 2015, the cost is £60 members and students, and £70 guests. Bookings from 1 April will be charged at £75.00 for CIMA members and students, and £85.00 for guests.

Please ensure your provide your MyCIMA login details at the top of the booking page for the discount to be applied.

 

Price includes buffet lunch, refreshments throughout the day, and a conference pack with your copy of the CIMA report, Essential tools for management accountants.

 

What you can gain

 

Outcome costing in the public sector

Covering his paper which was chosen by the Scientific Review Panel as highly commended at the World Congress of Accountants in Rome, Dr Macnab will provide an overview on developing a practical means of achieving outcome budgeting in public sector bodies to develop:

A practical means of achieving outcome budgeting.

Develop a methodology to link costs (actual and budgeted) to outcomes.

Share experiences and to collaborate in meeting challenges. 

This session will also discuss techniques to evaluate cost effectiveness and value for money from outcomes using the information extracted from the costing model.

 

KPI’s

Why KPI’s are so vital to good performance in business.

How to establish the right ones.

How to make them a positive motivating force for people.

 

Governance

The meaning of governance and the main business issues.

Leadership and the board.

Practical examples of what works well and what needs attention.

What makes good risk management good?

Why establish an enterprise risk management framework?

What makes for effective risk management? – the differentiator.

How you can establish an effective enterprise risk management framework?

The session will explore a number of challenges that all organisations face in creating and sustaining an effective enterprise risk management framework and how these can be practically addressed and integrated into everyday business.

 

Building your reputation

Rob Brown will be our master of ceremonies and will talk about adding an additional tool to an accountant’s kit - reputation. He will enthuse and demonstrate the importance of learning to 'promote your brilliance'.

 

Book your place via the following URL: -

 

http://www.cimaglobal.com/Events-and-cpd-courses/Events/CIMA-Conference-2015-Essential-management-accounting-tools-/