Kerry Daniel’s CV sets an example of strong career planning to finance professionals at every stage of their career. She has developed her experience with each of her moves – taking logical steps forward with every move, which has provided her with technical skills and a leadership style that has been influenced by a broad spectrum of people. All of which created the platform for her to move into her first CFO role in Wakefield in 2022:

• Trained with a local firm of Accountants
• Moved to a Top 10 and then a Big 4 firm
• First move into industry in a fast-paced SME
• 10 years at Morrisons

There is such a logical flow of progression and development in your CV. What were the challenges in planning this all out? What are the benefits to you now?

I think the challenges along the way will have been having my 3 children.  This had its advantages of enabling part time working to give the balance but also a feeling of am I being left behind in progression terms as peers were climbing the ladder.  It also led to question of confidence when away from the work place for a period of time. However, the benefit now is that I ensured I chose the roles that would fit both my home life and enable me to progress my career, doing this in a stepped way also built my confidence back up.

What are the biggest challenges for CFOs in the current economic climate?

I think the biggest challenges, despite the obvious pressures of the cost of living and exchange/interest rate fluctuations is the confidence to take some risks as the world has reopened since covid.  Managing the working capital of the business is paramount and this is especially tricky when the economy has seen such changes in the past few years with impacts that have been out of their control.  How we adapt and move on from this to continue to grow has had to include an element of risk, whether this be commitment to stock, change in supplier base and exploring new avenues to take the business.

Our CFO Annual Report highlighted that only 16% of CFOs in Yorkshire are female, but 26% of appointments in the past year have been. Is there some emerging good news in these numbers?

I would say for sure there is good news in these numbers, again I think Covid had an impact but a positive one in the sense of work life balance for many families both male and female.  I think it gives more women the confidence to go for these positions which perhaps in the past they may have stayed away from.  Seeing other businesses promote and share stories of women in CFO positions only encourages this.

Our Report also highlighted that only 14.7% of CFOs and FDs in Yorkshire are ACCA qualified (compared with 27.6% CIMA and 45% ACA). As one of the 14.7% ACCA CFOs, why do you think this is? Is there any difference in the skillset that you provide?

This stat did surprise me as I found that ACCA gives a great mix.  I believe this may be due to those being in industry positions choosing CIMA and those in practice choosing ACA without the knowledge of what the  ACCA qualification covers.  The ACCA qualification gave me breadth of knowledge that I could apply if I chose to stay in practice but also the insight into what skills would be required in industry.

What can we be doing to encourage more graduates and school leavers to follow a career in finance?

We as finance leaders could be going into local schools and colleges to give real-life examples of our career paths, for example I went into finance straight from A levels where there may be a perception that you need degree qualifications.  Even more so today, a career in finance is not just about crunching the numbers but so much more.  I have found, as my career path shows, being in an SME you can be involved in many aspects of the business from finance to IT, sourcing, and warehousing right through to sales (which is not my forte!).

What is the next chapter for Kerry Daniels?

I am currently managing the implementation of a full ERP upgrade which will totally transform the business so continuing to add experiences to the CV……. Bring on whatever’s next!

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