The IFL programme was extremely insightful and rewarding, diving into the insights of our CFO's career path and sharing some great advice on how to tackle challenging situations. I've learnt a lot from the anecdotes shared and resonated with a number of the challenges faced. A huge thank you to our CFO, cohort and ICAEW for facilitating such a great programme.
Who can apply?
ICAEW members who are:
The ICAEW Inspiring Future Leaders programme was a fantastic way to learn from an industry leader whilst networking with peers from a wide range of backgrounds - bringing true diversity of thought to the table. Highly recommended to members looking to take the next step in their careers.
Our senior finance leaders
Cohort One (April to July 2024)
Premal has 20 years of international financial experience and has led finance functions in multi-site FTSE 100, Fortune 500 and PE-backed businesses. He is recognised as an inspiring people leader and a trusted co-pilot to his fellow business leaders. He has a passion for influencing business strategy, driving transformational change, and developing leading teams. He is a Fellow of the ICAEW following the completion of the ACA and Corporate Finance Diploma, and is a board advisor / member of several finance communities which deliver peer-to-peer learning opportunities. Beyond work, Prem is interested in wildlife preservation, mountain & volcano hiking, scuba diving, keeping fit and cooking.
James is Finance Director of Stansted & East Midlands Airports, part of MAG, the UK’s largest airport group, whom he joined in 2019, serving over 60 million passengers per annum. Over the past 25 years he has held FD & CFO roles across a range of B2C and B2B sectors including travel, retail & leisure, property, payments & financial services, for companies including William Hill, Countrywide, The Money Shop, GlobalPayments and HSBC. James has worked internationally across Europe, US and AsiaPacific, having led teams covering multiple countries and territories. Focused on growing brand orientated, customer led businesses in changing environments, James has led a variety of teams across Finance, Strategy, Business Development, IT and Operations. James qualified with PwC, before working for 5 years in their national Private Equity practice, specialising in mergers, acquisitions, business development and strategy.
Kelly is a C-Level Business Leader, Finance Director & Non-Executive Director who possesses extensive experience in driving impactful business change, operational development and strategic profitable growth. Kelly’s depth of international experience was gained within public listed, multinational, privately owned and start-up companies and underpins strong global mindset. Named in 100 Women to Watch 2020, The Cranfield Female FTSE Board Report.
Sarah is CEO of professional services group Ampa and law firm Shakespeare Martineau, which is part of the group. Ampa is the largest professional services B-Corp in the world. Sarah was the first female non-lawyer CEO in the legal top 50 and was recently named as the UK’s most influential legal leader on social media. Sarah is also a Chartered Accountant, Chartered Director and an MBA. Sarah is a former governor at Nottingham Trent University, is a founding associate of VocL, a board advisor to Anthropy and is a member of the Society of Leadership Fellows at St George’s House.
Connecting with the finance leaders was a fantastic opportunity to openly reflect, share and engage on development topics relevant for now and the future. The sessions had a good balance of pre-selected themes, and time for open and honest discussions to share my personal and professional experiences. It was rewarding to see the level of engagement and enthusiasm across the ICAEW members, and I am confident they will achieve their career goals in the very near future.
I thoroughly enjoyed being part of this programme, an informal, fun and open forum, sharing stories and learning from each other. Great to step back from the day to day and to get the opportunity to reflect and share insights.