I first met Scott Drakeford when he was preparing to move on from Richtone. From his background in hospitality, it was immediately clear that he possessed a strong work ethic, along with the drive and ambition to advance his career. I was fortunate to place him in his next two roles, and it has been a real pleasure to watch his career develop as he completed his professional qualifications. Throughout the time I have known him, Scott has consistently impressed me as friendly, straightforward, and determined.

Can you tell me what initially drew you to accounting and finance?

I was a late starter in finance and didn’t really know what career I wanted to pursue in the early stages.

I always had an interest in business in general and the general way in which business works operational & financially. I was pointed in the direction of AAT by a colleague, and it started from there. I found AAT very helpful in terms of studies but also the information on the website of potential job roles at different levels of studies. I then targeted those roles and that is how I started as Purchase Ledger Clerk at AAT L2.

Can you talk through your journey from your first role at RichTone Music to your current position as Financial Controller at Colson X-Cel?

I took my first role in finance at RichTone music which is a retailer of musical instruments. I started in 2017 as a Purchase Ledger Clerk and the role was great exposure for my entry into finance. I got heavily involved with stock and the stock process from it arriving at the warehouse to it transitioning around the business across two sites. This is also where I started AAT.

I worked there for just over a year and then moved to Salus Controls PLC as an Accounts Assistant. I wanted to gain more exposure to the whole finance function, payables, banks, receivables & month end processes. Salus is a wholesaler of smart home technology and also has a multi country corporate structure ultimately reporting into Hong Kong. This role allowed me to be part of a finance function reporting up to an FD and across multiple countries.

After working at Salus for 18 months I moved onto ELG Utica Alloys as a Finance Analyst. I would sit in between finance & commercial and provide important reporting that linked the two together. I was working closely with major clients such as Rolls Royce who had a metal revert programme with ELG. I worked at ELG throughout Covid so it was a bumpy period however, I managed to stabilise the area I was responsible for. I decided to move on from ELG after the lockdowns to pursue a role that would bring me back to the heart of a finance function. I had also started CIMA at ELG and completed the operational level.

I joined ZOO Digital Group PLC in the spring of 2021 as Finance Manager reporting into the Financial Controller. ZOO is an AIM listed PLC who provide media services solutions to the gaming industry (Dubbing, Subtitling) so this is where I began to understand how listed companies work in terms of investor relations and managing the reporting and the information that gets into the public domain. The finance function was headed up by an experienced CFO who had multiple finance functions across multiple countries reporting up to the UK Group.

My role involved taking the day to day running of the department from the FC and managing the UK team of 3 people and the US function of 2 people. The business was heavily focused to the US market as ZOO’s major clients were Disney, HBO, Netflix & Paramount.

I would say this was pivotal role in my career, I finished my management level of CIMA and started the strategic level here. I also learned key skills in management and had the benefit of working with an experienced finance function with an excellent FC and newly qualified CIMA accountant, who were able to teach me some technical skills that I wouldn’t have got at my previous role at ELG, whilst also seeing what is expected of a listed CFO.

After just over 3 years I decided to make a move. I wanted to get a Management Accountants role and Colson X-Cel seemed like the correct fit. It would be a brand new post acquisition role reporting direct into the temporary Business Transformation Director. I was tasked with setting up the function as this wasn’t moving across with the buy out.

This role was my most challenging but I quickly understood the remit and began to build it up.  I inherited some system and processes but had no experience within the business to lean on so I had to either refine the processes or start them again.

After setting up and stabilising the function post-acquisition the BT Director moved on from Colson into a group role, I then was tasked with recruiting and heading the finance function. I am now Financial Controller and report direct into the Managing Director, with the full financial responsibilities of reporting into the German group CFO. My role has changed from being very finance and month end focused to a business wide role at senior management level. I enjoy the role and prefer to look outwards and forwards in the business more than the historic, reporting role I had before.

What are you most proud of in your career so far?

I’m proud of becoming CIMA qualified earlier this year, which was a 7 year long project! I am also proud of my last 12 months in my current role where I have set up a finance function post-acquisition and then progressed to run the function and employ a member of staff. I now report directly into the MD and I am responsible for reporting into our German parent company.

The current project at Colson is focused around moving facilities in which I am heavily involved in from searching for a suitable unit to liaising with the contractors who are doing the refurbishment and dealing with the solicitors in securing the lease.

Where do you see yourself in the next 3–5 years, and what kind of impact do you hope to make?

I see myself as a Finance Director of an SME in the next 2/3 years and ultimately becoming a CFO of a public company most likely AIM listed.

I see myself as a commercially focused finance professional and one that can add real value to the business in all areas. My current role is really spread wide across the business as we are only a small SME, however I feel this is where big impacts and changes can be driven to improve the business.

I would not class myself as a technical accountant and nor would I want to focus my skills on that area! I enjoy business first!

What is the one piece of advice you give to up-and-coming finance professionals?

Always keep focused on where you want to end up, the path is not normally straight forward and it will have ups and downs. Also, prioritise the qualifications and exams in the early part of your career. That will become key when you are looking for the higher level roles.

Try and gain experiences in different business especially early on, Director owned LTD, Larger SME’s, PLC’s. Every business will have a finance function but they could all work in very different ways especially higher up the level of job.

What do you like to do when you are not working?

I have a 10 month old daughter who takes most of my free time up! I spend most of my free time with my family either at home or days out.