268. CFO 4.0 Revisited: Integration, automation and finding your niche with Cécile Parker

For this CFO 4.0 Revisited episode, Hannah Munro is joined by Cécile Parker, Group CFO at Vital Energi Utilities, to explore how finance leaders can play a far more integrated and influential role across the business.

Cécile shares her journey to CFO and offers a clear view on how the function must evolve. This is not about finance sitting on the sidelines. It is about stepping forward, embedding into operations, and driving meaningful change across people, processes and sustainability.

 What’s covered in this episode

•  Why finance leaders must stop underestimating the impact of automation
•  How to find and define your niche as a CFO
•  The importance of embedding finance across the wider business
•  Building the skills and capabilities within a modern finance team
•  Understanding and influencing finance’s role in sustainability and carbon impact 

 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Cécile’s LinkedIn
• Learn more about Vital Energi
• Vital Energi on LinkedIn

• Explore other CFO 4.0 Podcast episodes here.
• Subscribe to our Podcast!

Transcript

Welcome To CFO 4.0

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to CFO 4.0, the future of finance. The CFO goals expanding rapidly, moving from cost and solar to strategic veterans, and with every change and opportunities. We are here to help you take advantage of this transition to build work, drive your career forward, and lead with confidence. Join Hanelon Rose, Managing Director of iTast, a financial transformation consultancy, and we interviewed key experts to give you real-world advice and guidance on how to transform your processes, people, and data. Welcome to CFO 4.0, the future of finance.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

So hello everybody, and welcome to this episode of CFO 4.0. Also with me today is Cecile Parker. Now, Cecile is the group CFO of Vital Energy. And we're going to talk a little bit about her journey to CFO. We're going to talk about on a wide range of topics everything from carbon footprint through to integrating finance into our business. So an exciting series of topics. So welcome, Cecile. Fabulous to have you on the show. Thank you very much, Hannah. Thank you. So tell us a little bit about yourself, Cecile. That that you know that name sounds very French. So tell us about where you were on your journey.

SPEAKER_03 1:32

I was born in France um 45 years ago. And um to be fair, growing up I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do until I fell in love with horses and decided to look at those jobs around horses. So I tried many sports and gave up after a few weeks. Um but I was still memorized, mesmerized with uh with horses until I'm today. So requine vet or um maybe also uh going into the army as a mounted um horse guard. I knew it's very different from accountant. Life would be so different today. Um and um so I kind of knew that both options required very good grades um and degrees. Um, and I was always a total geek when I grew up. Um, always worked really hard at school, uh, to the point that, for example, when I was horse riding, I still had my revision cars and studied was I was on a horse. So that's um that's how um geeky I was. Um my mum also reminded me um last week that um when came 1st of July, actually, uh which is when the school holiday started in France, um I was straight to the supermarket buying holiday revision books um uh for the following year just to get ahead, basically. That's yeah, that's the geek.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Hey, I can see the plan. I remember my dad buying me maths books for train journeys because that that was my idea of fun, right? You're in good company, right? We're all geeks here.

SPEAKER_03 2:57

It's a real disease exactly being a nerd, you know. Um and I keep telling that to my son actually that even though I wasn't nerd back then, um I'm colour cool now. I haven't turned out too bad. So I think that's always I didn't think that's it.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

It wasn't always a great yeah, yeah.

Coca-Cola Placements And Finding Finance

ACCA Journey And ERP Rollouts

Imposter Syndrome And Taking Leaps

SPEAKER_03 3:15

Yeah. So anyway, uh came the equivalent of ELA level, because obviously we don't have that in France. Um and whilst I got the grade I needed, um, I'd also realised two things during that time. So I had issues with um authority, um, difficult childhood with um divorced parents and um yeah, aggressive father, I would say. So the army was looking less appealing. Um, and that, well, I'm actually quite a bit squeamish, so the um the option was also uh slowly disappearing, to be honest. So I did more um soul searching um and thought a business degree actually could be um right up my street, kind of more general. And I did have like various business acumen. Um so I thought, yeah, that I could um start with that and then maybe specialise in one area. Um so in France you have to do two years um at prep school uh before you can get into the uh the business school. So because of my nerdiness, I managed to do that in one year and get fast tracked um to business school. So off I went. Um and um I ended up in Compiègne, which is an hour from Paris, uh, and I did my first two years of uh business study there and really, really enjoyed it. And for the first, for the third year, sorry, I had the opportunity to uh basically go abroad um and to do a double business degree in another uh language. Um and at the time they were a different option, um, but actually the best one for me was to go to Holland. Um now I'm not gonna lie to you, most people went to Holland for not for study. Yeah, they went there for the alcohol and for the drugs. It would be no surprise to you, however, that being a geek, I actually studied to the disappointment of most of my classmates. Um and my roommates as well. So they were all becoming expert in some kind of chemistry whilst I was actually doing the uh the curriculum uh with the select few others. I was not the only one, but there was definitely a you know a reduced um population. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um so whilst at business school um we had to do a placement at the end of every year, um, and which I think is really good by the way, to have people coming in, you know, through their their youth actually, um, or younger years to try and and get an experience at work rather than just you know the the studies trying to apply what they do. Um so um I was lucky enough to have a placement at um Coca-Cola in South France in one of their manufacturing plants um and uh with the secret recipe and all that. Um and I had the best time there. I really enjoy working in finance, um, and I think that's when I found my niche basically. I met some really good people that kind of taught me to read like numbers, spreadsheets, and you know, and be even more geeky. So um that was a defining moment for me. Um and they offered me a job whilst I was there actually, um, but at very entry level, and I thought I want to finish my degree. So um obviously I kept in touch um but carried on with my degree. So at the end of the double degree, um after that year in Holland, I also had to do a longer placement, so this time it was a year, and um uh and to validate that I could speak English, which at the time I couldn't, um the placement had to be in an English-speaking country. So I got in touch with Coca-Cola again, um, because I thought there might be um an opportunity to go to some glamorous places like their headquarters in Atlanta, for example. Um, but I was sent to Ireland, so in uh in Drohida, 45 minutes north of Dublin. Um, and um at this stage, genuinely my English was just not good at all. I was able to read and write, but I couldn't have that kind of conversation. Um but um off I went to Ireland, um, and again, you know, I just put myself into it basically, and I had no choice but to speak English because nobody spoke French there, as you can imagine. Um so it was a bit of broken English initially with a very, very strong accent. But you know, I got there. I got there in the end. Um and the Irish are super inclusive, like I really enjoyed my time at Coca-Cola there, um, and um still have loads of friends there. Um, and on a day-to-day they really engage me. Um I must have been extreciating for them, um, I think because when they were asking me a uh question, I had to kind of put sentences together, and uh by the time I'd actually string a sentence together, they'd moved on some chats, really. So um, but you know, um it just clicked and and I got on with it and and learned. Um I probably learned to swear a lot as well because they're Irish, right? So so Coca-Cola Island was um the really start of my career, I would say. Uh so I got a job in accounts table, um, and I had the ingredient suppliers from A to F. Um and I just felt so important there at the time. Um I knew I wanted to progress within finance basically and within your organization. Um and whilst I was there as well, um I met one of my best mates, um Alda, twice married by the maid. Um she has made me to swear that if I get married again, she will be my chief best maid. Um and she was also in the camps fable, uh and like me, she was very ambitious, and we had like we had chats on what we wanted to do, and we thought, you know what, um we will do um our exams. And um at the time, Coca-Cola was sponsoring the ACCA, so off we went and started on the journey. And it is a journey, especially when you're working, you know, um hands off to anybody or hats off to anybody who does it whilst um working and with a family, um, because it was really, really hard. Um, but um for me I hadn't studied for a few months, so I had with withdrawal syndromes, so I had to get back onto it, to be honest. Um, so that was really, really good. Um, and whilst I was doing that, I was also rolling SAP um in um as a system, um, and that gave me really good um experience in terms of rolling out ERP. Um, and after that, basically they rang me uh back in South France um and said, would I come over basically to uh to roll out a new ARP? Um and they wanted somebody who spoke both English and French, and at the time I was much better, so uh not many candidates available for that, just one, basically. So off I went um to South South France and I took the role of the financial controller. Um, and that's been a theme, I guess, throughout my career is just to put your hands up for various projects um outside of your normal day-to-day, you know, working accounts payable. It wasn't a straight path to doing ERT implementation, being involved in that. But actually, at some point, somebody had said to myself in Raldo, do you guys want to be involved? And we went, Yeah, you know, we'll learn tons doing that, so go for it. Um so um, so I went back to South of France. Um, I still studied for my ACCA because it takes a few years, doesn't it? So I was studying at home, um, ordered the books and went to various places to see the exams. Um, and um that worked really, really well. Um by the time my first husband was um came back with me to uh south of France, um, but he couldn't find the job in South France, so he was in Lyon, which is about three hours. So we were commuting, um, and that only worked for a number of months basically, and we thought no, we just need to move to a place where we can both get a job. Um, so I moved to Paris um and I moved to Austin uh Arriva, the sexy world of um transformation and distribution of power. So again, you know, can you go from Coca Cola to this? Um but it's um our skills are very adaptable, um, and um I think it served me um well to kind of move on uh to a different industry again. Um but um I think that that's one area where we'll touch on on this in a bit, but um the imposter syndrome I think is has been throughout my career something that I've really fought against. Um and um but to progress you just have to um to get through it basically and you know where you've got that feeling of self-doubt and um sort of personal incompetence that persists despite your education, experience and accomplishments, you just have to fight through it and go for it. Um so working harder and holding yourself even higher um in terms of expectation. Um that's what I've been doing basically, and every time kind of going for a new job and um something more challenging. Um stretching myself basically. So um that's the time that I spent in um in Alston, um, did various kind of jobs and progress internally, um, work on the uh the cell of the um of of that division, um which again was something new. Um and when I'd done that, um didn't really want to go back to kind of the uh the old job. Um so I was able to go abroad uh and I came back to uh or I went to the UK rather than come back. I went to the UK um and that's 18 years ago now. And uh hopefully by now I am actually pretty on English, but it's still you know, work in progress. Some of the words sometimes escape me. Um and um so when when I um moved to the UK, um again I was um uh acting FD, but I still had the title of Financial Controller. And um what I wanted was to really get to the next step in terms of um you know getting a uh an FD role. Um so again I carried on um trying to get you know bigger and bigger role. Um I was head-wanted to work for um Caldwell, uh John Caldwell, uh Coldwell Communication, and um that was a fabulous experience. Many people um have said to me, oh, you know, that must have been really tough. And it was tough um because there was no um, we didn't carry any um any passenger basically. You either worked really hard or you were kind of moving on. So um, but really enjoy that experience. Um, again, learn to absolutely lose uh and work alongside very strong people. Um and I think that's again not a thing to to work with people who really want to um do better for themselves but also do better for others. Um, and that's what I want with my own team, really. Um so a huge amount of work, a few good mentors, um mentors, sorry, along the way, um, and believing yourself and you know you kind of get there. Um and um what else? So then I had my son, um Matthew, um and so I went on maternity leave um and um when I went on maternity leave actually I I just I I was bored, so um I thought I'll do another finance degree uh while someone's on that leave and um people were kind of look at me as though I was crazy at that point. But in my defence, Matthew was sleeping a lot, so I just needed, you know, sometime to get me going, something to get me going. So learning um I just think is the greater greatest wealth that you can have, uh, and nobody can take ever take that away from you. So um, you know, again, my advice to anyone is if you want to progress, just keep going and put your hands up for any project and learn, learn, learn. Um, so I I did that. Um, and I did the um international financial reporting um degree. Um now it sounds really dry, and it actually is very dry. There's no other way about it. Um, but again, it just gave me another tool in my toolbox um in terms of um you know things that I can apply at work um and greater um experience um to to grow, basically within uh professional life. So um after that, I um I had my first um finance director role and um um it was a it was hard. Um it is a shock when you know the n you are signing off the numbers and you are finally kind of the uh the first one in line in terms of um of finance, but um really embraced it um and I went from strength to strength basically in in those roles. Um and again in the various industry uh and finally in private equity. And um that's where I've definitely found um my specialism I just love to come into a business, help it grow, um, and go through um private equity cycle basically and and see you know how we can make the business more attractive um and and sell it on, um, which is what I'm doing today. So that's my career.

Why Private Equity Suits CFOs

SPEAKER_02 16:10

That's a lot of career. And I've got honestly, I've got a list of questions as she was going through. I was like, oh, that's interesting. We need to look at that. So I'm gonna start, I'm gonna work my way backwards. So you said that obviously you found your niche as a um as a CFO in private equity. So tell me a little bit about what it is that is different about private equity for you and what's so exciting and you know gets you interested.

SPEAKER_03 16:35

So um usually in in private equity, uh, what I've found, what I've been exposed to is businesses that um will want to be sold at a later stage. And um so the business needs to grow. Um sometime like vital, for example, it's a family business that has got so much potential. Um and the um the attraction really is to to have something that you take from um 200 million to you know 500, 600 million, and um in terms of value, really help create a much um more significant value of of the business, the enterprise value. And that comes with um implementing a lot of changes and working in better ways uh and being more efficient. And that's really what drives me. Um I just I know I couldn't work in a business that is just the same month after month, year after year, and just you know, a bit of growth there and a bit of growth there. I really want to uh be in businesses that are got that aren't undergoing some kind of significant transformation because I know I can really add value there. You know, that that's what kind of makes me get up in the morning um thinking, yeah, I can I can really add value rather than just produce numbers every month. That that's just not funny.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

No, absolutely. I can't imagine you staying still long enough to just produce numbers every month. Um and we talked a little bit about confidence and you know that that whole concept of imposter syndrome. And actually, when I listen to the history, you you've you've really sort of stuck your hand up all the way through. It's kind of been a few big leaps and a big and big jumps into different roles and different responsibilities. So how do you know how how do you balance out when you look back in those days, you know, that feeling of not being good enough, but also somehow finding the courage to step up and and and ask and take up those opportunities.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

So I I think I must like scary stuff basically. Because often I have said, I'll do this, not necessarily knowing how to do it, but um I guess it gives you a bit of um your confidence grows and grows um over the years, knowing that you've not let anybody down. Um and um you just have to go for it and push yourself, really. Um and I think that's where I try and supplement that with all the learning that I'm doing on the side. Um constantly trying to, you know, learn new things. Um and also you're you're only as good as your team. I know it's a cliche, but it it genuinely is true. Um and that and that's the team that you've built underneath you, but also the team, you know, around you, um, and your broader life team, I would say, you know, husbands and wives and um not that I've got one of those, but um and and children and you know, everybody around you, your friends, etc. So I think you know, it it is pushing yourself, um, supplementing with learning um and and constantly um yeah going forward.

SPEAKER_02 19:41

Absolutely. And and and I have to say, you know, listening to a lot of the people that are classical, they always have that mindset of I need to learn more, I need to know more.

SPEAKER_03 19:50

So yeah, and I guess as you've gone through And feel fast as well. It's sometimes, you know, so sometimes you will not get where you need to be, but you just have to recognise, yeah, that didn't work, try something else. Um and and react quickly, basically.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

Yeah. Not fearing failure. No, no, and as you've gone through, we've talked a lot, obviously you've talked a lot about sort of obviously the more formal qualifications, the degrees and the ACCA, but I kind of get the feeling there's a lot more learning that goes on in your has gone on in your journey than those more formal qualifications. So what else do you think has really set you up for success on your journey?

SPEAKER_03 20:30

So I've been in various um in various organizations, I've been on technical training as well. Um, so engineer training, um, path and safety training. Um just I think every business that you are in, you need to embrace what the business is doing. Um there's no way you can understand numbers, explain numbers, set strategy, or you know, help set set the strategy without understanding what the business does or what people in the business do. Um so yeah, I've done various other courses in and around that. Um also the more um kind of um HR management type courses and you know communication, and um, I've just got a real thirst to learn. Um it helps with my confidence, basically. The more thing I know, the the better I feel. Um the the worst nightmare for me is going into a meeting uh completely unprepared, for example. Like that's just you know, it doesn't happen. Um or when it when it does, it's really by accident. Um and I just have to know what I'm talking about, otherwise, yeah, it's it's more difficult. So the the the knowledge and you know supplementing that that um with various courses has just been yeah, throughout my life.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

I still study now. There you go. Hey, I I'm on the same piece. I've never, you know, I'm always I you know, I wish I had more time to spend learning. That's my piece is that I I I sneak it in on all sorts of things, but I completely agree. There is There's something incredible about learning so much. And I'm in a really lucky position. I get to learn um every con every project that I work on, every customer I work with, I I learn something. I'll either learn about a business, a type of business, um, a type of process. And for me, that's incredibly exciting. So um and and I guess it's the same for you because you talked a lot about sort of as you go into a business, you want to kind of understand the nuts and the bolts and really get integrated into the organisation. So tell me a little bit about how you approach that.

Automating Purchase To Pay For Value

SPEAKER_03 22:33

So um for example, at Vital, um I have joined only recently, so it's nine months. Um, although I think people think I've been here for quite some time, given the the number of changes that we've we've gone through. Um I I think whilst we are accountant and you know we know numbers, like I said, you can't really help the business if you don't understand the business. So having this real partnership and going far beyond your accounting remit is really key. Um you just cannot add value um without knowing that basically. Um and there's a few things that we need to be able to do to achieve that. So, first of all, is being visible in the business. Um and I I like my people to um, as in people in my team, to to go around the various teams um and work cross-functionally, uh, because I think that's really important. Um and I try and push that even beyond um just working. Um, I think creating that collaborative approach and and friendship as well in the business is really important. Um, and very recently, um, as in this week, we've uh we've revamped our office for the last four weeks and we've moved into uh the same premises but um just differently out, different desks, etc. And we've opened up a um a bit of a kitchen area, a breakout area. Um and I'm encouraging people to kind of move away from the desk um at lunchtime and you know go and chat and with other teams as well. So we're we're sat next to HR, for example, and um and we've got executive assistants as well that are coming with us and IT and and I think you know creating that bond then helps you. Um then having conversation together in in various team meetings where you you kind of approach a project a problem which is cross-function. Many many problems are cross-function, right? Um that we try and resolve, you need help from other functions. And if you create that kind of bond and that partnership, then you're more likely to actually resolve this a lot more effectively and efficiently. Um, so that that is one aspect. Um, and the other aspect, of course, to uh to enable that is um is to have um a lot more automation. So again, looking at something cross-function, um something that we're trying to do at the moment is um um automate more of the um uh purchase-to-pay process. Because again, I just don't want to have people doing transaction non-value added activity where, you know, at the moment they do a lot of that. But if I free up their time, suddenly they can do a lot more analysis and look at um, again, rather than looking in the rear mirror, looking forward and going, right, you know, if we did this and this and this, this will help the business grow, um, or this will improve margin, or you know, this will improve cash. And you can only do that if you can get your head out of numbers and spreadsheet and copy and paste and you know, doing the same thing 20 times over and over, um, and actually create the time to have the headspace to do those analyses and and you know, really help the business um in terms of decision making and and growth and yeah, margin improvement and and all of that basically.

SPEAKER_02 25:58

I always find it's really amazing that people underestimate they'd look at um automation projects a lot of the time in terms of the hours saved versus the value added. And for me, that's the big shift that we need to make in finance.

SPEAKER_03 26:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that that is that is my one thing basically, you know, just um try and automate and and we have automated already. Uh and um, you know, the team has really changed um in the over the last nine months. Um and I think sometimes they just need to make slowdowns.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

We just need to read that one. Give me one week.

SPEAKER_03 26:36

But the more we do these things, the more you know we become efficient at what we do and and less repeat, like non the this non-value adding stuff is really my bug bit. Um, and just spend more time, you know, across multiple teams um just working together and and make things more efficient. Um and then suddenly you've got the time to kind of go, right, this is how we're gonna do you know this piece of business and it's gonna make more sense. Um, or we make more money, or as I said, we get more cash and or quicker, or you know, all of that. It's just you can only do that if you automate and if you work with the business as well. Um so business partnering and yeah, finance integration is really, really important to me.

SPEAKER_02 27:17

And have you s hit the snowball effect? So I talk about this a lot, is that there's a point at automation where you start to roll downhill, you feel like you're shoving uphill for like the first little bit, and then all of a sudden you go, oh, and you start to get more and more. And then you start looking at other places to automate as well.

Leading Fast Change Without Burnout

SPEAKER_03 27:34

Yeah, absolutely. So not in this business, because I've only been here nine months and um it needs a lot of um, you know, we've got a lot of room for improvement, which is fabulous, you know, one of the reasons why I joined. Um, but I have had that in in other businesses, and yeah, it's just fantastic. And when you can when you can when you can prove that concept as well, suddenly you get more people coming to see you from other teams going, seeing what you've done here, you know, can you do the same with us? You know, and um, so yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 28:04

And how have your team, because obviously it sounds like you've gone through a massive piece of change in that nine months in a very short space of time. Um, how's it how are your team managing that change and coping with that piece? You know, were there any you know areas where you're like um you've made a conscious effort to to help them on the journey? How did you approach?

SPEAKER_03 28:25

Yeah, so I I am um I am checking very often with them uh because I am I am conscious that um I am 100 miles an hour and go, go, go do this, and you know, uh and I will work every hour over the day, I could say. Um and you know, I can't expect that from everybody, and I shouldn't expect that from everybody. I need to check myself. So um so I do tell people um, you know, please tell me if if we're going too fast. Um also, you know, tell me if you need more training on this or more training on that, and and and really try and work more collectively and collaboratively, basically. Um and and be open and honest. I think it's really important um and show people that um yeah, I I'm not Wonder Woman either. Um I am vulnerable and and I do need help. So I I reach out, you know, I can't do it on my own. Um they can't either. So we need to work together and and and deliver that together. But they have seen really feel that they have seen the changes. Um and um I do feel that I have their full support um and we're working well together. Um and it is a change because we are my predecessor was very, very different. He was very good as well, but we're just very different people. Um, and um, so there's a lot more changes now. So um the it's been a shock for them for my team, but also for the team, you know, um on the board basically. Um they have seen you know something different, and um I have I have to uh as I said check myself and kind of go sometime. I need to be more patient. Not everything for tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 29:58

Um but yeah. No, I hundred percent can agree with that. So um I'm always looking to to drive that forward. So I feel your pain, but it's and it's an exciting journey to be on, isn't it? And when you've got an amazing team, it's just so much more fun.

SPEAKER_03 30:14

Um when you see the smile on their face when you know when you say to them, look, you no longer have to do this thing every day. Um the the one thing that at the moment I'm trying to uh eradicate is um the stamp on invoices. Um I think when some of my team listen to this podcast, they will laugh because uh the first few weeks that I started, I was sat in the office and suddenly I heard this noise, and I thought, I recognise that noise from about 20 years ago when I was at Coca-Cola doing it myself, you know. But we're in 2022, we shouldn't be stamping invoices to say received on that day. You know, that kind of stuff. And um, so yeah, there is um there there is lots to do, but when you see people kind of going, yes, you know, we no longer will be doing this, and that means we can do this, this, and this, because we've got so much more time now, and um, yeah, it's gonna be amazing.

SPEAKER_02 31:05

And and in terms of how the your team uh think about, you know, we talked about the concept of integrating finance, that whole business partnering piece. Um how are your team feeling about that shift? And is there any support that you've put in place to obviously from an automation perspective, you need to free up the time, but what about developing the skills for your team? Have you brought people in? Have you developed the existing team? Yeah.

Building Skills Through Huddles And Presentations

SPEAKER_03 31:29

What's your approach? So so I think it's um it's been a bit of a um a shock for some people when I've said, can you go and speak to somebody? And they initially reverted back to sending an email. Um, and I explained that is not what I mean by can you go and speak to this person. I mean actually going off to speak to the person or ring them on video and have that interaction. Um and it it is mentoring. You you have to help people um coming out of the um uh comfort zone, you know. Um same for me. Um networking and things like that is not necessarily my force, but I push myself doing it. And um so I recognize that in myself and um and I think most people are like that actually, quite shy, um, and not necessarily wanting the attraction. I think Kobe doesn't help either. Um so I I do I do a lot um on that to um bring people so we'll have lots of meetings um um or just quick huddles and um I think huddles, not cuddles, um hodls. And you know, different HR problem than again in this new office that we've got, um we've now got like a high table with um stools and stuff, and we can just you know quickly get people around it and go right, get on the screen or on the board and uh discuss something and bring people from other teams. Um and the more and more we do that, I think the more people go, actually, that's much quicker than sending an email. Um and I do realize you can't get you can't necessarily get everybody around the table, but you know, we've got lots of tech now that you can actually just call somebody and have a few people on video and you know, into um encourage that interaction basically is really, really key. Um and then the other thing that I do, um, which I started many years ago actually, whilst I was at GLA, is this concept of quarterly finance meeting. Um and everywhere I've been where I've launched that initially, people are just like really scared. Um, because the idea is um on a quarterly basis, the whole of the finance team meets. Um and I've had a bigger team and smaller team. So here I've got about 20 odd people. So the 20 people meet um for about two, three hours um, and we go through different subjects. Um and I'm not doing the talking, um, even not at the first one. I'm doing a bit of an intro, but then everybody in the team will take it in turn to present something. Um and they'll present something that they're working on, um, and it really helps people in many different ways. So, for example, um for the more junior people who have never done presentation, that you know, that's a big leap. Um, and I know, like me, speaking in public, you know, will scare some people. So um I think the best environment to do it in is in front of your team, right? Because it's people you know and um you're working with, so it's a lot easier. Um, so they do that. Um, it also helps with the rest of the team understanding what other um team members are doing and you know, sub-teams because credit control doesn't necessarily know what the um accounts payable team is facing in terms of challenge or you know, the financial controller, or um, we also use that forum to uh kind of bring updates um and um new training, new tax rules, new you know, accounting rules. And then I also invite um what I call VIP um every quarter, so people from other functions um to again tell us about something that um we can learn from. So we've had um our head of IT that's told us about cybersecurity and you know anything to do with that. Um we've had our head of marketing uh telling us about what they were doing in the marketing function and more specifically about um climate education, uh which is a big thing for us at Vital. Um so bringing people on board, I've also had the CEO, Ian Whitelock, uh, coming in at the very first one to inaugurate it and telling us about what the business is going to do going forward and you know, what's the future of the business, how we're gonna grow, and all of that, my guys would not have been uh kind of exposed to any of that. Um and I just think it's it's really good. Um, it really works. That's why I keep doing it in every business. And I'm hoping, you know, when other move on probably they take the idea with them. Um, but I I think that's that's a really important thing. Um, it gives people that opportunity to um yeah, to learn how to do PowerPoint because I do ask them to do a a few slides, not you know, not death by PowerPoint, but a few slides, uh, which again I think is a really critical skill actually um in finance because you can't just deal with Excel spreadsheet. Um you have to be able to, you know, um provide information in a way that people can understand it and you know visually and all that. So I I coach people um on that and uh I review, I obviously don't leave them to their own device, uh, you know, especially if they've never done it. So we sit together and you know they do drafts and then it's an iterative process. Um, but at the end, you know, it really creates that bond as well in the team. Um, and usually we have a bit of pizza or like the next one is on the 15th of December, so obviously it'll be Christmas and we're doing food from around the world. Uh I've ended up ended up with Oceanaire food. I don't know how you actually remember French, but anyway, it was a draw apparently. Um so yeah, so yeah, we just um we try and and have that team bonding as well as learning and and making it fun. Um I'm I'm really keen to have fun at work. I spend a lot of hours working and um you don't need to be sad to kind of work, like um, so I try and make it as enjoyable as possible while still working really hard. That is definitely what would they would tell you if you meet them.

Vital Energy And The Net Zero Mission

SPEAKER_02 37:14

Absolutely. No, and I think um sometimes you can underestimate the the power of fun and humour in delivering productivity. Life is just so much better when you're enjoying it. Yeah. So I would be very remiss if I didn't use this as an opportunity, certainly at the end of this podcast, to talk about the con you know, what you guys do as an organization. So um, in terms of the the climate conversation, right? So I I think one of the things, whilst I mentioned the name Vital Energy, we've never we haven't actually explained to people what vital energy does. So tell us a little bit about your organization and and what you do.

SPEAKER_03 37:57

Okay, so well, everyone is talking about net zero uh at the moment um and about um reducing carbon footprint. Um, and it is the raison d'et of vital, um, which is French. Um so we provide uh basically sustainable energy generation, distribution, and consumption management solution um through our expertise basically in design, in uh building and uh operation of district heating system and energy centers. So we um we basically help many organizations, many businesses um around the uh the UK to start with, um, to uh to reduce their carbox footprint uh and make savings and be more sustainable, which is really important um nowadays, isn't it? Because even in terms of investment, um everything is around ESG and um you know when you look at private equity, so many more uh private equity now uh making investments that are um all around ESG and carbon footprint and um people that are that are running businesses that are more and more sustainable, um which we can help with uh both in terms of you know finance um and monitoring, measuring, um, and understanding what each business is doing, basically. Um I think as a CFO you really need to do that. Um and then as vital, basically, that that is all about um the business in terms of um yeah, sustainable energy generation. Um so it's it's a fantastic business to be in. And so that was a really big attraction for me when I was approached for this job. Um I thought, yeah, actually I want to be my next job, I would really like it to be in a business that is better for the environment, better for future generation. Um, and so I was actually sold on vital on day one.

SPEAKER_02 39:50

And how does Vital, obviously leading the way in terms of driving down carbon footprint, but how does Vital tie together finance and um you know clo you know the ESG piece? How do you guys work internally as an organization to support?

SPEAKER_03 40:07

Um well that's something that we um we are working more and more on, actually, because um we're very good at helping that's that just like everybody's building the houses.

SPEAKER_02 40:19

I don't know if you have that phrase in France, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:23

Slightly different, but yeah, that that's that's exactly that. So um we we we're doing tons actually internally um in terms of um reducing our own carboot footprint, um, and uh by everything else that we're doing for other businesses as well. Um we just need to um be better at kind of um putting it out there. Um and I I'm meeting quite a lot of businesses at the moment actually um through various um tender processes for cost reduction, cost efficiency, margin improvement, etc. And everybody's coming at me with this is how great we are at ESG. Um so you can tell that it's at the forefront of everyone. Um so we are doing loads in terms of you know um electric vehicle, um, making sure that um we've got solar panel, um, all of that for us, for our own carbon um emission and um reducing travel. Um we do the carbon um offset as well, where planting trees, you know, all of that we do. Um, but we're just not so good yet as portraying us. But you know, there's always room for improvement.

SPEAKER_02 41:28

Absolutely. And um if you you know, if you're ever gonna be in a place to learn about how to do it and how to do it well.

SPEAKER_03 41:34

Exactly, yeah. Well, I've recently done a um a sustainability certificate actually with um with ACTA, um, which I found dead interesting because it wasn't just pure accounting numbers. Um, and yeah, it's definitely something that is gonna be more and more needed for us as finance. Um, you know, we we are gonna have to do a lot more and and bring more visibility to ESG. And um we we discuss it at the board anyway. It is one of our um topic um every month. But um yeah, every organization and and uh every CFO FD um out there will have to do more towards ESG and how we measure it, and and then it's gonna be more accounting rules around it anyway.

CFO Tips For Integrated Finance

SPEAKER_02 42:16

So I'm I'm very aware that we're uh we're running out of time. And as I predicted, I did promise guys at the beginning of the podcast I was gonna cover a lot of topics, right, in in this time. And and uh I said to Cecil, it's just gonna disappear, right? You're gonna have to cut back on at some point just to finish off the topics. But let's if we if we take a step back and we go, one of the things that you keep telling me, and you've told me throughout this podcast, is all about how passionate you are about integrating finance with the business and making the finance a part of the business. So for those of the CFOs are going, I agree, and that's where I want my team to be, and I want to be there. What top tips can you give them for making that lead and for supporting their team from driving that change?

SPEAKER_03 43:01

So I would say um literally encouraged or forced your people basically to go out into characteristic. Yes, exactly. You know, um bring them along with you and um you know, go go into the stock room, go into other departments, go and see sites, um, go and see, you know, I I've been if people are seeing me on LinkedIn, I've been to various um sites um throughout my career, you know, not just this one. Um and yeah, talk to other people um because as accountants, we don't have the best um, you know, we're we're we're seen as nerdy, we're also seen as the police that implements um lots of rules. Um, most of them we haven't made, by the way. You know, um we we just have to uh make sure that they're applied. Um so so yeah, we don't have the best publicity in in the business. Um, and I think you know, going out there and and actually creating those relationships or forging those bonds um by whichever way it That's really, really important. And that would be my number one tip basically, just to get people cross-function working together and yeah, encourage your people internally to talk to others and not just in send an email, you know, go and meet people, meet the business, understand what we do, learn about what it is we do, um, from engineers to you know marketing to whatever it is in the business. Um and yeah, get out there.

Where To Find Vital Energy

SPEAKER_02 44:31

There is so much value in that. The cross-training capability, the understanding of the business and how the rest of you know the organization functions is so important. Yeah. I don't think you can add value if you don't do that, basically. Yeah. Absolutely. And for those that are listening, and obviously we've talked a lot about integrated finance, we've touched on the concept of carbon footprint and driving that down, which we all know is something we need to do. If people want to learn more about what vital energy do and um how to get involved and how to look at that, where can they find you guys? Where's the best place to go?

SPEAKER_03 45:04

Um, so our website is is really good, um, vitalenergy.co.uk. Um sounds like a salesman now.

SPEAKER_02 45:11

I will put the LinkedIn, don't worry.

SPEAKER_03 45:14

Um, we're also very present on on LinkedIn actually. We post various videos, um, and our customers will refer to us as well. Um, with all the projects that we've done um and all the um yeah, carbon emission and cost reduction. So um LinkedIn and and the websites is probably uh the best. And then in various cities, you know, so I'm I'm near Manchester, um, and um in various cities we've got various projects. So we've got the Tower of Lights in Manchester that I'm every time I go in Manchester and I see it, I'm really, really proud of it. So things like that uh where you can find us and fabulous.

SPEAKER_02 45:47

Well, next time um we're literally just you know down the road near Chester. So um next time we pop into Manchester, I will definitely um pop down and have a look. Exciting times. Well, thank you so much, Cecile, for taking the time to talk to, you know, and to talk so passionately about um not only obviously um the concept of um climate change and you know British Economic footprint, but also the power of automation and transforming finance. So it's been a wonderful to have you on the show. I really, really do appreciate you coming on. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 46:26

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