Tell us about your background. How did you get into finance, and what led you to Upscope?
I’m probably - well I am, the oldest member of the team, but with that comes knowledge and experience(🙂), and a lot of background to tell you about. I’ll try to be brief, though!
I was brought up in the north of the UK, near a place called Scunthorpe(!), which you may have heard about because there is a massive steel works there. When I was 18 I moved to London, attending UCL to study Mechanical Engineering. After that, I started a graduate trainee role at a military shipbuilders in Southampton. On completion of that, I moved to their offshore oil & gas team, where we did fire protection offshore. My role was varied, and covered everything from sales/marketing/budgeting to project management.
After a while I moved back to London and worked in a variety of companies in ops roles. My last position was as Ops Director in the H&S sector, around 16 years ago.
I then had my children and took some time off work. When they started school, I was keen to find a position that I enjoyed, utilised my skills, and of course, worked around my family. Therefore, I retrained at my local Sixth Form college in Accounting.
I’ve been providing freelance bookkeeping/finance for a number of companies for the last 10 years, joining Upscope over 3 years ago, to help with all things finance related!
What initially attracted you to Upscope, and what’s kept you here with us for over three years?
I am not particularly tech savvy, but I was really interested in what Upscope offers to its customers. I obviously just work on the finance side of things, but it has been interesting to learn how a new sector operates. What keeps me here though are the people! Everyone is super intelligent, but also really fun and kind. It is a great team that looks out for each other.
As our finance manager, what do you find most rewarding, and what challenges do you enjoy diving into?
Most of the things I do are recurring regular tasks, with the odd curveball thrown in.
I would say that I’m a fixer: so one of the things I enjoy the most is when Joe, one of our founders, says “Can you just look into X and find out how we could do that…”.
People often think dealing with government bodies, etc., is really difficult, but at the end of the day, they’re just like everyone else - doing their job. I believe that approaching every challenge in a methodical and straightforward way is the key to successfully resolving any issue.
What’s the most fulfilling part of being part of a team like ours, and how would you say Upscope stands out from other employers?
I’ve probably already alluded to this, but it is definitely that everyone is so friendly and helpful. Everywhere I work is friendly and helpful, otherwise I wouldn’t work there, but Upscope definitely recognises people are key to its success.
What’s one thing you’ve learned during your time here?
In all my roles before having children, the working environment was very ‘old school’. You were in a 9-5 job; you had to be at your desk ready to work at 9am, and you’d put in all the hours necessary to complete the task.
At Upscope, we are all very task oriented. But, everyone appreciates that life is not ruled by timekeeping. Everyone ensures tasks/projects are completed on time, but not at the expense of making the workplace seem dictatorial. At the end of the day, we are a team, and we work with and support each other to achieve the best outcomes.
Excel is a tool you work with a lot - what’s your favourite feature or formula, and how does it help in your work?
This is a tough one. I love a spreadsheet, and I obviously use Excel a lot. I wouldn’t say I’ve got a favourite formula, but I think my favourite feature in Excel is Pivot Tables. I use them a lot!
How do you like to spend your time outside of work? Do you have any hobbies or passions you'd like to share with us?
I guess one of my favourite things is getting together with friends, and travelling. I play tennis most weeks, and hockey when my old team is short of players. But the biggest thing outside work is my children. Being there for them when they need me is one of the best things about my work-life balance!
