Meet James Lewis, Our new Head of Finance
Joining Fourteen at an exciting time we are confident James vast experience will support our predicted growth.Tell us a bit about yourself; your career background?
My first job was as an Accounts Apprentice with Fact3 (previously summ.it assist llp); they specialise in the outsourcing of the finance function for SME’s who don’t require full-time personnel. This was a brilliant learning platform for me as I came across lots of different businesses and lots of different industries. I became CIMA qualified in 2014, at the end of my 10-year service I was responsible for my own portfolio of clients acting as their Financial Controller.
After my time at Fact3, I moved to one of my clients on a full-time basis, a telecoms company called Rock Networks, who at the time were experiencing high levels of growth selling one of their products Vodafone One-Net. I then had a great opportunity to work at a temporary recruitment & logistics business based in Wigan who had very ambitious growth plans. I led the day-to-day finance team from a £40m turnover Group to £100m, as a result of three acquisitions.
I was then put in contact with Vicki Havard through a mutual friend who recommended me for the role of Head of Finance, and as they say the rest is history. With the ambitious growth plans in place and with my experience, particularly in the telecoms industry, I can’t wait to be a part of the Fourteen IP success story.
I’m recently married, we have two dogs: Oscar and Luna. I’m also a season ticket holder at Man City (before the glory) and have followed them all over Europe.
Given a chance, who would you like to be for the day?
Pep Guardiola, the man’s a genius.What is your motto
You get what you pay for
Who has been the biggest influence in your career
Without question, Andrew Jackson at Fact3. Andrew took a risk recruiting me in 2007, I had no finance experience whatsoever and had been working for my brother Window Cleaning, this was when I realised manual labour wasn’t for me! He took the time and effort to train me whilst also supporting me through my studies.
Not only is Andrew brilliant with his numbers, he could articulate them perfectly regardless of the audience which is a great skill for us boring accountants.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Whilst I’m always in an Excel spreadsheet, I love interacting with people. I am also a true believer in Finance adding value to any business.
How do you relax?
A nice walk with the dogs followed by a pint in the pub and finishing up with a Netflix series in front of the fire.For more information about this or any of our News Items call us on +44 1942 369196 or for US +1 407 204 1614
