Continue reading
The Inbetweeners: life as an interim FD – part one
The ‘portfolio career’, whether classic project-based interim work, short-term cover, or part-time assignments, is becoming increasingly popular among senior finance executives. In this first part by Christian Doherty two financial directors tell us why they went against the grain.
Ben Freeman ACA qualified with KPMG before moving on to FD roles in an SME and later the Prudential. His interim experience includes posts in real estate, business services, consumer products and charities.
I was FD at Prudential Properties for about six years until 2007. My decision to become an interim was deliberate, which I think is unusual. I was coming to a cul-de-sac in my career, climbing the greasy pole and ending up in something that I just didn’t know I could stay at, so I decided to go into the interim world, originally just as a way of finding ‘change- focused’ work which is the sort of thing I enjoyed earlier in my career. I wanted to get back into something a little bit more commercial, having ended up in a role that didn’t offer that.