On Friday 12th April, Manager Harry Young hosted the third instalment of the ‘Future Finance Leaders’ Forum. This event series is aimed at the most highly aspirant accountants who have qualified within the last 6 years in West & Central Scotland.
The purpose of the event series is to connect future finance leaders, allowing them to network with like-minded individuals whilst also providing them with insights from our network of established leaders, helping to shape their careers and accelerate their professional development. Harry shares some highlights from the recent event below.
The third event in the Future Finance Leaders Forum series was a roundtable lunch in partnership with Laura Millar, Head of Finance at the premium drinks business, International Beverage. At this exclusive invite-only event, Laura shared insights from her career to date and provided guidance to our audience on what they can do to progress their career and achieve their ambitions.
Laura started her career at Deloitte, spending 5 years there between 2005 and 2010 during which she progressed from Associate to Manager level, before joining the global manufacturing business, Terumo Aortic. Laura remained in the business for 12 years and was promoted 5 times before latterly becoming Global VP of Financial Control & Compliance, where she had responsibility for the full finance team covering transactional and commercial finance, as well as legal and compliance. She started her current role with International Beverage in 2023.
During this roundtable event, Laura shared five key insights that have helped her to progress her career and achieve her ambitions.
Find a company that excites you
If you have a natural interest and passion for the business, then it makes it a lot easier to become a more rounded business partner and to bring the unique insights that a finance professional can add.
Make time for people
Taking the time to listen to your team, other teams and peers and understand what is important to different people is invaluable, and something people will remember.
Ensure your personality, behaviours and beliefs are valued
Working in an environment where you can’t be authentic indicates that it’s not the place for you. The right culture fit will naturally bring out your highest potential.
Stop comparing your progress with others
Don’t get caught up with job titles and salaries and what other people are doing. This is particularly important if you are from the Big 4, where this was likely ingrained in you through your training contract.
Accept that imposter syndrome is inevitable
Don’t let it get into your head and keep reminding yourself that you didn’t get where you are by chance!
We were delighted to partner with Laura on this event; her insights, candour and experience were warmly received by the table. All attendees had a great afternoon! We have three more future finance leader roundtables already lined up for this year and are excited to be announcing our next speaker very shortly for the next event on Friday 31st of May.
To register your interest in joining the Future Finance Leaders Forum and to be notified regarding future events, please contact Harry Young at [email protected].
