A year of Topline Talks: insights and advice from top finance leaders

The last twelve months have been exciting for Mackie Myers, not only have we continued to grow our London team, but we also successfully opened two new business divisions in the UK – one in Cambridge and the other in Oxford, as well as our first international office in Los Angeles, California. In addition to that, 2024 also saw the launch of the Mackie Myers Topline Talks Podcast. For each episode we were joined by an exceptional business leader from a variety of different industries, who shared their inspiring stories, career advice and insights on how to build a successful career in finance.

Covering topics ranging from AI in finance through to the importance of representation, we learnt a lot – and we had a lot of fun doing so!

Ahead of the launch of Topline Talks Season Two, here are just a few of our highlights from the first series…

Building a successful career in finance

In the very first Topline Talks episode, we heard from Richard Meadows, Head of Finance at premium pub chain Brunning & Price. Richard gave his views on what he feels are the most important qualities needed to be successful in Commercial Finance. At the top of his list was communication. Commercial Finance can be extremely fast paced and dynamic, with unexpected events causing priorities to shift quickly. Richard shared that being able to communicate effectively in that context is key. As is the ability to reorganise and reprioritise workloads under pressure.

Nicolas Raynaud, Director of Finance and Corporate Services at the Science Museum Group, added his thoughts, noting that modern finance leaders need to have a good understanding of other areas of the business in order to be successful. While organisations may still be structured by function, it’s the interaction between those functions that makes them tick. Many senior finance roles now include elements of technology, systems, operations, transformation and team management, so having a working knowledge of IT and HR functions can be hugely beneficial. In Nicolas’ view, this diversity of exposure makes finance leadership roles more challenging, but also much more interesting.

Another popular topic of discussion for our guests was what it takes to be a successful Finance Business Partner.

For Amelia Copas, CFO of Cambridge University’s tech spin-out, Riverlane, relationships are a priority. Building a strong rapport with teams and individuals across the business helps Finance Business Partners to be brought into conversations. Connections help to strengthen collaborations – even if they start as small conversations over the coffee machine!

Emily Busby, Deputy CEO of innovation charity Nesta and its subsidiary, the Behavioural Insights Team, agreed. For Emily, relationships and trust are at the heart of a Financial Business Partner’s success. She shared the importance of getting to know the problems colleagues are trying to solve and the goals they are driving towards.

Emily also discussed the benefits of being able to understand the story behind the numbers and having the ability to talk about it in a compelling way – to those with finance and non-finance backgrounds alike.

The future of finance

In episode four, Rhiannon Bryant, Director of Global FP&A Kantar Group shared her predictions around AI and finance. Rhiannon believes that the world of finance will look very different in five years’ time, especially in terms of the way we use data and capitalise on the automation of systems.

In her view AI has a part to play in that, especially when it comes to the Financial Planning & Analysis function. AI could well be used to help with trend analysis and forecasting, influencing the decisions that are made across businesses.

Amelia Copas also sees a big future for big tech, stating that in the years to come Quantum Computing has the potential to augment the finance function, supporting AI to enable it to churn through data faster and more efficiently.

Advice for talent

With the huge breadth and depth of experience that our guests have, it’s not surprising that we also heard a lot of valuable advice for those looking to develop their careers in finance.  

Rita Akushie, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Finance and Operations at the University of London, said that individuals should not be scared to move role if the opportunities they are looking for aren’t available in their current positions. Taking ownership of acquiring new skills is an important quality in those really looking to develop their careers, she advised. Change can be good!

For individuals who are looking to move into new sectors, Amy Prendergast, People Director at Tree Top Golf, discussed the value of partnering with the right recruiter. Not all big recruitment firms are willing to have conversations with candidates looking to change industry – especially if they’ve spent years in one area. Having a recruiter who understands where you are now as well as your aspirations can really help to make cross-sector moves possible.

In our last episode of the season, Chris Jewel-Clark CFO of L&G Private Markets said that when it came to career advice, his guiding principle is to be clear about what you want. It’s hard to meet a goal that you haven’t defined. He also stated that it’s important to remember that you are in a two-way relationship with the business in which you operate, so being able to articulate the value that you and your objectives add to the company is key.

Sasha England, the outgoing CFO of software company Talkwalker, shared that the best advice that she had been given in her career was to ‘never hold back bad news’ as no good will come of it. Getting out in front of potential challenges and communicating them with stakeholders can often help to alleviate the issue by giving the business more time to work together to problem solve.

Sasha also discussed power of representation in the workplace. Seeing a female CFO earlier in her career reinforced her belief that she could achieve that, too. For those who don’t have senior representation in their own business, Sasha recommends that they look outside of their companies for mentors. In fact, access to a good mentor is something she believes can add value not just from a representation point of view, but just by having an outside perspective and sounding board.

In fact, the benefit of building and maintaining strong professional networks was a theme that a number of our guests came back to, as was the increasing importance of purpose when it comes to making career decisions.

We want to extend another huge thank you to each of the guests that featured on the 2024 series of Topline Talks - and watch this space for new episodes coming in 2025!

In the meantime, if you missed an episode or want to listen to one again, the entire Topline Talks series can be found here: https://www.mackiemyers.co.uk/insights