Edward Parsons

Once upon a time I was a Civil Engineering undergraduate student, who had this romantic notion of building huge bridges that connected places and people. On graduating I realised that what I really wanted to do was learn about business and so I made the curious decision to train and qualify as a Chartered Management Accountant. Amazingly, I found out that that the combination of curiosity and problem solving were traits that both professions shared, along with a healthy dollop of arithmetic, and funnily enough is probably what I am best at. I see myself as a problem solver - somebody with a “can-do” attitude who likes sorting things out, making decisions and cracking on with the solution. I spent eight years as a Management Consultant and I loved the variety that that role gave me. I have now spent some 14 years as a CFO in the marketing services and consulting industries. However, I am not your typical Chief Financial Officer. I have this little mantra about work - my own hierarchy of needs: Fun, Learning and Fair reward. You spend so much time at work, it is really important to me that it is both fun and that it provides an opportunity to learn new skills and capabilities. 10+ years ago, I gained an MBA from a leading global business school, which was the best dose of concentrated learning I have ever had. Life is so interesting, don’t you think?