Alistair Darling & Sir Clive Woodward gave keynote presentations at the CFO Agenda in London yesterday

Paul Hooper-Keeley with former Chancellor, Alistair Darling, at the CFO Agenda

Yesterday's CFO Agenda conference, organised by Financial Director Magazine, was a thoroughly interesting day that certainly held the interest of the large number of finance professionals in attendance.


Sir Clive Woodward opened the day with an excellent keynote that went through his T-Cup methodology (Thinking Correctly Under Pressure) amongst others, and was very well received.


There were excellent panel sessions on effective change management, penions, corporate culture, the apprenticeship levy, the digital finance function and the controversial subject of tax avoidance v tax planning.


Of course the elephant in the room was Brexit and the domino effect this appears to be having on both the markets and political parties in the UK, and this was tackled by an excleent panel on EU Membership followed by a keynote by former Chancellor, Alistair Darling. He was both honest and pragmatic about the position the nation now finds itself in, highlighting the fact that the 'Leave' camp appear to have no plan in place as they clearly didn't expect to win the referendum. He then undertook a lenghty Q&A session and stopped around afterwards to answer questions on a one-to-one basis.


A very rewarding and well organised day and I would highly recommend that you attend future events that Financial Director Magazine organise.

CIMA West Midlands Prestige Event brought almost 200 senior finance professionals together to hear Justin Urquhart Stewart's keynote presentation

A big thanks you to Justin Urquhart Stewart for his excellent keynote presentation and Q&A session, to MC MIke Pagan for keeping the night on track, to our sponsors, HSBC & Moore Stephens LLP, to our area co-ordinator, Julie Wiits, for putting the event together, and for the almost 200 senior finance professionals who attended on the night. Thank you.

Members endorse CIMA’s long-term strategy

In April 2016, Myriam Madden (then, CIMA’s President) wrote to the membership about our long-term strategy and the proposal from CIMA’s Council to evolve our joint venture with the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and create a new association that would represent the breadth of the accounting profession. 

The ballot recently took place and we are pleased to share the results for both CIMA and the AICPA. An overwhelming 89.7 per cent of CIMA members voting endorsed our strategy and proposal. Likewise, 85.6 per cent of the AICPA members who voted supported the proposal to create a new association. 

CIMA’s Council had been considering how to adapt to today’s faster and more competitive world and the proposal which has now been endorsed will build on our existing joint venture which has seen a number of successes, including the creation of the CGMA designation. Through the creation of the Association, we aim to accelerate CIMA’s long-term strategy to ensure we remain most relevant in the management accountancy space. 

The CIMA and AICPA membership bodies will remain and CIMA will retain its strong focus on management accounting. By joining forces with the AICPA, we aim to become the world’s most influential professional body of accountants while continuing to operate the two membership bodies our communities have collectively trusted for many decades. We will also aim to advance the entire breadth of the accounting profession – both management and public accounting – and continue to raise the profile of the CGMA designation globally to further enhance our employability and recognition. 

We will keep everything we value from CIMA while benefiting from the combined strength of the two organisations. We will be stronger together, allocating resources more effectively and achieving greater efficiencies to deliver better services and benefits to our members. Our membership of CIMA, our designations, our Council and Royal Charter will all remain, but we will automatically become a member of the new joint venture Association. 

The new Association will build on the history and reputation of both CIMA and the AICPA and by integrating strategy, management and operations, we aim to become stronger, provide greater and more responsive services to better serve both our current and future members in the competitive challenges that lie ahead. 

Through our feedback from members we have learned how they see the future direction of CIMA and management accountancy. We now have a deeper knowledge of the views of our members across the world, and CIMA’s work to support you and raise the profile of our profession will be all the stronger for it.

Today marks the start of a journey as we commence working to integrate our operations. Implementing the proposal will begin straight away, and while full integration will of course take time, the new Association will launch in 2017 to deliver additional value to the members.

How to be a Productivity Ninja™– Free CIMA & AAT event in Crewe on 22nd June

Worry less, achieve more, love what you do.

Information overload is a big problem. We are all overwhelmed by it and is a potential distraction we face in our work.  It is no longer enough just to focus on your time management, it is time to think about how you manage your attention and focus, your projects, actions, your choices and habits. 

Date: 22 June 2016 - 6.30pm 

Location: Wychwood Park Hotel, Crewe CW2 5GP 

Price: No charge - Buffet served on arrival  

Book: email julie.witts@cimaglobal.com  

What you can gain

This session will cover: -

The nine characteristics of the productivity ninja.

How to stop email and the internet taking up your whole day.

Beating procrastination.

How to replace demoralising lists with a more productive personal productivity system.

Fighting distraction and interruption.

Staying focused, on task and in the zone.

Replacing constant firefighting and confusion with a purposeful structure and plan.

Managing your energy, concentration and motivation in a sustainable way.

You will leave the session with some practical tools to boost your productivity, reduce your stress levels and ultimately make things happen in your work and life. 

Speaker Details

Our guest speaker, Grace Marshall, is the author of the Amazon bestselling book, ‘21 Ways to manage the stuff that sucks up your time’ and the newly published ‘How to be really productive: achieving clarity and getting results in a world where work never ends’.  She is also a qualified coach, NLP practitioner with a degree in international management and a productivity ninja with think productive.

Grace admits she is not a naturally organised person. Her passion for productivity began when she got fed up saying ‘I haven't got enough time.’  She specialises in helping busy time jugglers find ways of getting things done with less stress, less overwhelm, more fun, enjoyment and fulfilment and does her own juggling with two young children and her own coaching business.