Paul Leighton is the European Finance Centre (“EFC”) Director at Univar Solutions in Bradford. Univar Solutions are a global distributor of chemicals, quoted on the New York Stock Exchange and have been Paul’s employer for over 24 years, following his first move after qualifying with EY in Leeds.

He is a very close contact of our business and we have been through a lot together! Several of our team worked with him to recruit staff when the EFC was created in 2011; recruiting a multilingual team across a number of disciplines.

We have been delighted to have started working with him again now in Pratap Partnership and were keen to speak to him to share his views and experiences across how to recruit for rare skills, why he has been so successful without moving jobs and how to create a positive culture

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Tell us what it is like to be the EFC Director at Univar

It’s a challenging role but I’ve really enjoyed being part of a team that converted a concept of a “to be” finance structure into an actual team of over one hundred people, providing financial services to 21 legal entities across Europe.  Even though I’ve been in same role for quite a while, it still feels fresh as we are constantly moving the model forward, working on new projects and, as everyone knows, facing different challenges whether that be Brexit, high inflation, or a pandemic.

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We see so many people changing jobs regularly. Good to share the views of someone who has had just two employers in 28 years. What are the benefits of showing loyalty and what does a good employer need to provide to receive it from their people?

When I joined Univar, I never really expected to stay beyond two to three years, which I thought would be sufficient time to learn and develop the role I was accepting.  I stayed way beyond this initial timescale because I liked the people / culture of the organisation and also because I felt able to make positive change – in many ways I was able to develop the role that I wanted from within the organisation.

Loyalty isn’t something I assume our people will show, it always has to be mutually beneficial.  We work hard to maintain the right culture (which is a big topic) and to understand the career aspirations of the team.  Thankfully many of the managers now have been promoted from within and this helps us show new joiners what can be achieved.

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There is a skills shortage for financial recruitment. Your requirements are even more challenging with the need for German, French, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Hungarian and other language skills, yet you have been very successful. Quite simply….what’s your secret?

I’m not sure it’s a secret, but I definitely see our diversity as a strength.  If you need to recruit fluency in languages it will move you towards a multinational team; this diversity has enhanced our culture and is now an attraction to new candidates and a reason to stay for existing staff.   When we built our Finance Centre it wasn’t a benefit we expected or planned, it happened naturally but has always been a big win for us.

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What have been the impacts on the SSC during the pandemic and what will be the future legacy and impact?

As a multinational team, the pandemic was especially difficult for many of our team - due to travel restrictions it became impossible for some to meet up with their family members for very extended periods.  One of the big things we had to do as a team was really look after each other which was a key focus; in many ways it brought us closer together.

In terms of legacy and impact, I can’t think of anything bigger than flexible / hybrid working and the technologies that enabled it (life before Microsoft Teams seems a distant memory!).

I don’t think its too controversial to say that hybrid working is here to stay, and I don’t really see too many downsides to giving people more options about when and where they work (we’d already moved in that direction).  I guess where people have strong differing views is on what hybrid looks like.  Personally, even though performance was high when we worked from home, I remain convinced that teams who regularly learn from each other and collaborate face to face will outperform those that don’t in the medium to long term.

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What would be your advice for anyone at school or university considering a career in finance?

I think it's likely that for talented people the labour market in the UK is going to be quite favourable over the next few years, with supply being less than demand, so it wouldn’t be the worst time to start your career!

I benefited hugely from working with a group of people who invested time into my development during my early career (even if at times I’d wished they hadn’t been quite as picky!) so the main advice I’d give is whatever you decide to do, choose to work alongside people you think will buy into your development.

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Tell us about Paul when he is not being a Finance Director

My kids are 8 and 11, so I spend quite a lot of time driving them to their sports and social engagements, but when I eventually get free time I enjoy cycling and watching rugby league.  Unfortunately, the team I support, Wakefield Trinity, lose more often than they win but after 40 years on the terraces I’m sticking with them and one year it might be our season!