When did you qualify with CIMA – and how did it fit in with your career path?
I started studying CIMA in 2003. I was already AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) qualified so I was exempt from the CIMA foundation level. I sat the intermediate and final exams over four sittings – completing them in 2005.

I joined Volvo Financial Services as an assistant accountant just before I started taking my CIMA exams. From 2003 to 2005, I focused on basic reconciliation work and trying to understand the business; the leasing industry was obviously very different to the public sector, in which I worked before joining Volvo Financial Services.

In 2005, just before I became CIMA qualified, I moved out of the finance team and into operations for around two years, then back into the finance department as UK finance manager in 2007.

In November 2011, you completed a major international finance integration process covering Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. How did that process evolve?
In 2008, the UK finance service centre was responsible for seven of Volvo Financial Services’ European markets. I moved into a business controller role focused on analysing trends and forecasting for these seven markets. A year later, I moved to the Netherlands for nine months, working full time in the Dutch office, taking over from the country’s previous finance director.

Here, I worked on migrating the Dutch finance function back to the UK, ensuring that all systems and processes were aligned throughout the finance service centre. This helped us to gain greater control of processes and increase efficiency. I then returned to the UK service centre to bed these processes into my team.

Next, I turned my attention to integrating the Belgian finance function into the UK service centre. During this process, I was promoted to CFO of Volvo Financial Services, Northwest Service Centre.

By November 1, from a finance and accounting perspective, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as Ireland, were all controlled by my team in the UK, with all processes completely aligned.

What challenges did the integration process present – and how did you overcome them?
The language barrier was a significant challenge when I was working in the Dutch office. The Volvo Group is an English-speaking company, but in practice people in country offices tend to speak the local language. Variations in tax and legal regimes in different countries posed another challenge – as did variations in working practices and cultures. People worked across different standards regarding the general ledger structure, for example.

The emotive side of a restructuring process can also present hurdles. Employees naturally question whether the new way of doing things is necessarily any better than the existing approach. It’s crucial to be respectful of employees’ concerns, and to make sure that they understand that you’re not moving something because they’re doing it wrong; you’re doing it because a company has to move forward in terms of having common platforms to become more controlled and efficient in a changing environment.

One of the big lessons I learned during this process is that it’s vital to listen to people – I mean really listen – because what people say isn’t always exactly what they mean. If you’re used to the British way of expressing yourself or working, you have to be aware that subtleties and nuances can be completely different in other cultures. But being at the heart of a cross-border integration process like this can be a lot of fun, too.

What benefits have the integration process brought to the business?
Greater consistency of standards and processes gives us greater understanding of what’s going on across the business. This allows us to make better decisions.

Many of our local market finance divisions were prepared for the economic downturn, but some were less prepared than others. The integration process has brought best practice financial controls to all of our markets.

We also used the integration process as an opportunity to upgrade our ICT systems and processes – drawing on best practices that we identified in each of our markets. One of the most interesting things about working in a multicultural environment is sharing best practices and taking on board the fact that just because you’ve been doing something one way for years doesn’t make it the best way.

Under the new integrated system, there is a much higher degree of automation, which enables the business to focus more time than ever on meeting its commercial objectives, rather than dealing with back-office processes.

Talking of the global downturn… What impact has it had on your company and sector?
Volvo Financial Services is a captive finance company – our sole purpose is to support the Volvo Group in the profitable sale of its products. It’s always a challenge for an organisation like ours to do this while also remaining profitable in its own right at the required levels.

One of the big risks for us during the downturn related to the value of returned vehicles in the used market. Lack of liquidity in the market was another key risk – we’re a financial services company, so liquidity is the base of our profitability. During 2011, I structured my team to focus on sourcing alternative options for funding and on taking advantage of tax allowances and structures. Our broad aim was to become more inventive in our efforts to support the commercial sales team.

We’ve also had the opportunity to expand and invest in our commercial team in 2011. During a downturn, we’ve bolstered our credit – and as we prepare for the upturn, we’ve been able to use the savings we’ve made as part of our efficiency projects to reinvest in the commercial team.

We also expanded into the Ireland market in 2010. It’s a market that was fairly flat in terms of competition – there were not many funders there so we saw it as a new opportunity to take a controlled risk, while at the same time making it easier for Irish customers to buy our vehicles.

How have you adapted your financial risk models in response to the downturn?
As a captive lender we have a consistent approach throughout an economic cycle. The credit criteria and underwriting standards do not change and this means that we are able to continually support our customer lending and leasing requirements throughout a business cycle. It is important at all times for us to know the customer and understand their needs, working with them in a collaborative way to ensure we offer flexible purchase and finance solutions.

How do you reconcile the tension between the sales team’s desire to sell as many vehicles as possible, with the finance team’s desire to lend only to the right customers?
The Volvo Group is about a quality, high-value product. We work closely internally across the business and with our market companies to ensure that we coordinate sales strategies that are workable solutions for both the customer and the Volvo Group.

Has demand for vehicle financing grown in recent years?
Reduced availability of cash has created a need for financing among some customers who didn’t need it before. Indeed, cash planning is obviously very important for any business.

There are certain lending structures that we can offer that enable a customer to buy where perhaps they wouldn’t have been able to do so before. For example, in the UK, an operating lease structure works very well for the customer and for us – there is no ownership risk for the customer, and flexibility increases for them.

That’s what customers need in a volatile economic environment.

As a vehicle finance business, how do you steal a march on your competitors?
It’s definitely about flexibility. A lot of competitors can offer standard hire-purchase deals. But because we work as a “captive” finance company, it’s about offering a solution to the customer that is more than just about financing an asset – it’s about taking away customers’ concerns about servicing the vehicle, insuring it and so on. It’s about supporting the customers as much as possible.

How have you dealt with the unprecedented levels of uncertainty in the recent global economic environment?
The environment is incredibly volatile. We work very closely with our manufacturers to try to ensure that we forecast on the back of where they feel they see customers’ purchasing decisions going.

It’s about trying to adapt as quickly as possible and having the options already set up and available when needed.

How have you responded to the eurozone crisis?
We’ve put in greater credit controls in the eurozone and continued the level of attention on the collection side of the business to make sure that we can work with customers and help them avoid a situation that they can’t get out of. We’re trying to be as supportive as possible, while at the same time being guarded of risks.

Now that the integration process is complete, what’s next on your agenda?
It’s all about consolidation. I want to develop our support for the sales team to enable them to make sales in a flexible way. We’re very keen on sharing best practice across our markets. So in the first two quarters of 2012, my team will be working to share what we’ve done here with Volvo Financial Services’ other service centres, so they can replicate what we’ve achieved.

How has your CIMA qualification helped you in your career to date?
I picked CIMA because it was broader than other accountancy-type qualifications. That certainly proved the case – there were HR elements, operational elements and other topics that gave me an understanding that financial management is not just about finance; the finance department supports the business and its commercial objectives.