Tom Shutt

FD/CFO

I am a commercial, experienced and motivated CFO with extensive experience delivering transformational change, growth and profitability improvements – I believe in moving businesses forward through detailed strategic planning & consistent execution where superior performance comes from translating an excellent strategy into superb execution. I have a desire to challenge the status quo, with a continuous improvement mindset, constantly looking to increase quality and efficiency across the organisation. I do this by bringing out the best in people – building rapport at all levels & providing structure for the team to excel.

Track record highlights

Through detailed strategic financial planning (Strengthen, Transformational & Advance strategic priorities) I took a £25m revenue/10% operating profit margin UK based, non branded, manufacturing business to a £60m/18%, international brand & distribution business.
Financial project lead on; a number of plant consolidation & cost down projects, moving UK manufacturing to low cost locations, setting up distribution facilities in Asia & South America.
Financial lead on a number of acquisitions & disposals - led the due diligence, personally performing the majority of the commercial analysis.
Built 5-year plans for multi division, multi-site Plc collaborating with senior management in workshops to identify strategic objectives for new business (collaborative strategy process embraces goals, objectives, planning, resources & more) whilst developing superior financial reporting and financial planning & analysis to support the business model - detailed financial assumptions for each strategic objective, flexible scenario analysis, underpinned by a variety of KPIs.
Built reporting dashboard to combine financial and non-financial measures through a variety of KPIs (profitability, cash conversion, return on invested capital + operational leading measures) enabling monitoring of strategy implementation as well as overall business performance.
Improved strategic objective execution via annual Objectives and quarterly Key Results (OKRs) which are reviewed monthly (Business Reviews became much more valuable) where OKRs are the primary lens for assessing progress and holding teams and leaders accountable. Reviews generate feedback on what should be stopped, maintained or accelerated and learning on how we can go faster.
Significant business partnering experience helping to manage & launch multiple new products with R&D spend in excess of $50m, resulting in new contract wins of over $500m.
Coached and developed existing Finance teams for improved output and analytics.
Evaluated and advised on various business expansion options for most effective outcome.
Introduced product profitability reporting, that rationalised the product set for improved profitability.

Sector Experience

Agriculture
Defence
Manufacturing

Tom's specialist skills

Strategic Thinker

Working with clients to create visions and strategies - creating new solutions to build growth and improve profit. Finance is the enabler for this success, by providing forward looking transparency, leading an effective approach to strategic planning, with a clear understanding of revenue drivers, risks and opportunities.

Business Planning

Working with CEOs & senior leadership teams to develop 5 year growth Plans, detailed annual budgets and in year reforecasts. I have advanced analytical, financial planning and new business development skills in order to fully assess the market landscape and business financial health, collaborate with management to define strategic financial objectives, and then continuously monitor & evaluate implementation of strategic initiatives via regular performance reviews.

Financial Reporting

I use clear and effective communication (visualisation, trend analysis, KPIs, etc.) to dissect & present financial data, providing actionable insight with transparency that fosters trust and facilitates better decision making and collaboration.

Profit Improvement

I challenge the organisation to improve asset utilisation, realise efficiencies & reduce costs – the first step to improve performance and put the margins back. This gives the platform for execution in order to expand commercial activities by both nurturing & expanding existing strengths to organically grow the core but also harnessing core competencies to fuel growth through innovative approaches and market expansion.

Cash Flow Improvement

I work with the business to improve cash conversion by improving working capital turns – getting to the root of cashflow management challenges, and proactively identifying and solving the issues.

Unlock your business’s potential – schedule your free discovery call

Need to speak to us right away?

0800 169 1499

Schedule your free discovery call

We're committed to your privacy. The CFO Centre uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information, check out our Privacy Policy.