Thomas England

Tenacious, hands on and tactful finance professional with over 15 years experience across a variety of industries, start-up and larger corporate and organisations, with a proven track record of leadership, team development and implementing & executing strategic growth plans. Looking to further develop career in an entrepreneurial and ambitious organisation, to utilise skill set to drive businesses forwards.

Finance Director, Just Eat for Business & Exec member - JUST EAT TAKEAWAY.com - London, UK

(2022-10)

Entity FD reporting into the wider group, with primary focus on consolidating the stand alone entity into the wider Just Eat Group. Sitting on the Just Eat for Business Exec team, had full autonomy across the whole finance team to drive group and local strategy, with the executive team in a highly collaborative and entrepreneurial environment.

• Responsible for all areas of Finance locally (Strategy, Controls, Growth, FP&A, Commercial, Audit) & aligning with JET Group Finance across strategy & FP&A
• Full P&L optimisation, leading EBITDA positivity in first 2 years of tenure, from -£7m to +£1m, as a result of top line strategic growth, commercial optimisations and central cost efficiencies
• Platform & System consolidations across Finance and the wider business (Accounting systems Xero to Workday, Payroll transfer, Customer & Restaurant Partner Invoicing)
• Lean team of 2 Senior Finance professionals & an offshore accounting team of 5 heads
• Absorbed the DAAS (Delivery as a service) product stream, as well as core B2B food offering. Building commercial pricing models, analysis & growth strategy

Interim CFO & Exec member - WIT FITNESS - London, UK

(2022-06 - 2022-10)

Highly distressed business, raising short term finance, improving working capital & org restructure

Finance Director / CFO & Exec member - Festicket - London, UK

(2018-12 - 2022-05)

Growth from £20m GTV > £60m GTV ARR, driving the business from a B2C Marketplace to a B2B2C platform

Finance Director - Festicket - London, UK

(2020-01 - 2022-05)

Promoted to FD, continuing to lead all operational aspects of Finance, whilst engaging more with the Board, Investors and the Chairman to drive Finance & company wide strategy

Head of Group Finance - Festicket - London, UK

(2018-12 - 2020-01)

Responsible for all finance functions leading a team of eight people across FP&A, Management and Financial Accounting and AP/AR

• Assisting in fundraising through DD, financial modelling, pitch decks, investor queries, presentations and data analysis
• Initiated the design and launch of OKRs to align the team to a common goal and what it means to them (OKRs now adopted across all business units)
• Harnessed tech to improve data accuracy and process automation for increased productivity. As a result, month end was reduced by 5 working days (and still improving) allowing the team to focus on value add activities including business partnering and improved reporting
• Set up KPIs and reporting across the business, aligned to the strategic plan of the organisation, to continually assess performance and health of the business

Head of FP&A - Festicket - London, UK

(2018-12 - 2020-06)

Led a team of three people and owned the annual operating process, setting clear and challenging targets, as well as influencing behaviours across all area of the business

• Set up and integrated the FP&A function, delivering superior modelling, enabling C-Suite to quickly identify investment decisions and high-quality Board and Investor reporting. Board approval of company budget first time round, two years in succession
• Introduced unit economics as a lead KPI - drove company wide awareness which resulted in 72% increase vs Budget
• Architected a company first performance related compensation reward scheme, that resulted in improved employee engagement scores and increased new business signings
• Promoted to Head of Finance to lead all finance functions in recognition of performance, accountability and leadership. This allowed our CFO to focus on investor relations and financing

Senior Group FP&A Manager - Virgin Media - London, UK

(2016-10 - 2018-12)

Led a team of four and acted as second in command for the Group FP&A function, driving company and finance strategy against core objectives of £5bn Revenue & £2.3bn OCF business

• Collaborated cross functionally with all teams and divisions to provide regular, accurate performance updates identifying key risks and opportunities for the Group
• Set up and delivered "culture change" sessions (Finance knowledge sharing & Capital Allocation Reporting) cross-functionally across VM, to build on CFO engagement strategies, increasing engagement by 11%
• Head of year & development lead for second year graduates. Drove the strategy for the graduate scheme alongside the executive sponsors, mentoring graduates to ensure development in line with CIMA. 100% pass rate of cohort

Finance Business Partner: Marketing, Brand & Analytics - Virgin Media - London, UK

(2016-10 - 2018-12)

• Delivered £30m OCF savings for the Consumer P&L, contributing to 5% YoY growth of Liberty Global OCF
• Owned and improved key relationships at Exec and Director level to expedite business decisions
• Developed strong controls of Brand and Marketing spend, through education of processes and ownership of budgets. Results showed in the B/S as a significant reduction in manual accruals & aged GRNI

FP&A Commercial Finance Manager (UK, Italy & Iberia) - Virgin Active UK & Europe - London, UK

(2014-05 - 2016-06)

• Designed and developed a "Big Data" member-by-member bridge, which enabled forecasting of terminations, to allow targeted marketing offers to exceed retention KPIs. This drove £2m protection of annual revenue
• Developed accurate and insightful tools to help the business with sales offer implementation and analysis. This aided a 5% uplift in sales impact and drove significant efficiencies and ROI payback
• Led the preparation and review of membership and pricing budgets, forecasts and strategic plans
• Finance lead for the Exerp membership system integration (previously three systems) in the UK & Iberia. Developed numerous KPI reports, month end and day-to-day reports, and system requirements / rules to ensure minimal disruption to the business, with maximum relevant output

Management Information Finance Manager - Standard Bank PLC - London, UK

(2012-08 - 2014-05)

Mergers & Acquisitions - Standard Bank PLC - London, UK

(2012-08 - 2014-05)

KMG & Convenience Finance Manager (UK market) - JTI Japan tobacco International - London, UK

(2008-09 - 2012-08)

UK Overheads Analyst, Crewe Distribution Centre & UK Factory - JTI Japan tobacco International - London, UK

(2008-09 - 2012-08)

Independent & Wholesale Financial Analyst - JTI Japan tobacco International - London, UK

(2008-09 - 2012-08)

Sales Training and Graduate drive team - JTI Japan tobacco International - London, UK

(2008-09 - 2012-08)

Rugby Coach & Semi-professional Rugby player - Rugby Club Amsterdam (AAC) - Amsterdam, Netherlands

(2007-07 - 2008-06)

BA (Hons) - Economics - University of Exeter (2004-09 - 2007-06)

ACMA / CGMA Membership - Management Accounting - Chartered Institute of Management Accountant (2008-09 - 2011-12)

CFA Level 1 - Financial Analysis - CFA Institute (2013-01 - 2013-12)

Certificate in Corporate Finance - Corporate Finance - Corporate Finance Institute (2014-01 - 2014-12)