Timeline

Unusual Beginnings

I started my journey to being an Accountant in an unusual way. I was working as a labourer on an RAF base when I went into his manager's office for my next task. My manager sat with the head of recruitment, who sarcastically said, 'I don't suppose you're any good at maths, are you?' as a bit of a joke. I replied, 'Well yeah, I have an A level in advanced maths; why?' She went on to tell me how they needed a Junior Accountant upstairs as no one they interviewed 'had any pep about them.' Always one to love a challenge, I decided to apply and sailed through the interviews, being offered the job within 24 hours of leaving the room. I started two weeks later. I also started my study towards the AAT accreditation.

Stepping Up to the Challenge

My main role was to process invoices and reconcile purchase and sales ledger accounts; the stuff dreams are made of. Just under a year after starting in this role, I found out my Boss, The Officer Commanding (OC) Accounts (They have amazing titles on military bases), had been granted voluntary early redundancy, and they wouldn't be replacing him. I, therefore, had to step up; being just a kid at the time, I stepped up and assumed all of the responsibilities of the OC Accounts with no change in title, no extra pay, no extra anything. A lesson learnt which served me well in years to come.

Further Education

In this role, I looked after the entire finance function, start to end, for four separate companies, all on the RAF base. The companies looked after the accommodation and meals for the staff on base.

I did this role for just over two years, believing my managers who were telling me I was compensated fairly for the market. When I completed my three year AAT course and started my professional qualification with CIMA, I decided to look at the market for new challenges and couldn't believe the remuneration available for someone at my education level, let alone experience level.

Andrew Page

I very quickly secured a job as Assistant Management Accountant for Andrew Page (Car part sellers) that came with a 65% pay increase. In my interview, I was amazed at how simple the questions I was being asked were and shocked to hear some of the other applicants couldn't even give an answer. This role initially involved the entire day to day finance function for 40 branches which rose to 60 by the time I left. I would prepare everything right up to the management accounts for each branch monthly, then prepare a commentary on each variance to my manager, who would then review further and present it to the board. It became very obvious, very quickly, that this role was actually a side step to where I was rather than the progression I had hoped for, so after nine months, I left. The Finance Director at the time did have a meeting with me and ask if there was anything they could do to make me stay, but when I explained what I was being offered and the company I was going to, he openly admitted it was the best move for me.

Bettys & Taylors

I had been offered the role of Management Accountant at Bettys and Taylors for the Taylors department. Bettys, the famous cafes around Yorkshire and Taylors, the makers of Yorkshire Tea. I wasn't going to turn this down. In this role, I was responsible for the full management accounts preparation and analysis. I didn't have any direct reports, but there was plenty of staff that filtered into the management accounts and a lot of moving parts I needed to coordinate in order to get things done on time. I truly learnt at Taylors that quality is always paramount. The second best just isn't good enough; we want to produce perfection every time. This is an ethos that has stuck with me ever since. Whilst at Bettys and Taylors, I finished my CIMA qualification and became a fully qualified Accountant.

Paynes Dairies

I then joined Paynes Dairies as Financial Controller (Group). This group consisted of 8 companies, of which I was responsible for the entire finance function of 4 of them whilst also assisting with the remaining 4. This was a very high-level involved role and taught me a lot about how to deal with the larger companies and make a real difference to the bottom line. I spent two and a half years in this role.

Pecan Deluxe

I then joined Pecan Deluxe as the Finance Director Designate at the ripe old age of 29. This was the full responsibility of the finance function, including building it into a world-class function whilst also assisting many of the other departments such as commercial. The previous person in the role was not a qualified accountant, and although they had done their best, there were gaps that come with the qualification and the experience of working your way up through other companies and seeing finance functions from the ground up. In my two years in the role, I completely changed the finance function, turning it from a traditional, manual, paper system into a streamlined digital process with a much quicker turnaround of information. I rebuilt the accounting software (Sage 200) from the ground up as it wasn't even set up to produce a profit & loss or balance sheet. This allowed myself and the Directors the ability to see the figures pretty much live at the click of a few buttons. This level of information availability changed the way the business worked and allowed for much faster decision making. I removed a lot of unnecessary costs in this role, claimed relevant grants. I also produced a lot of financial modelling spreadsheets to assist the various departments, such as quoting templates for the commercial team and wastage trackers for the operations team.

Starting Nunns Accounting

I started Nunns Accounting as a side business in 2017 whilst at Payne's Dairies, starting by working here and there for friends and family. My core offering was customer service, explaining things properly to clients to ensure they understood exactly what was going on and what things meant. This business grew and grew through word of mouth until I was earning more from my side hustle in an hour a night and a couple of hours on the weekend than I was in my full-time role. I had always had an entrepreneurial spirit and always wanted to do something myself. I absolutely love business, and I know how geeky that sounds. I love helping small business owners and seeing them succeed and make amazing businesses. Most people say I have a very unique way of thinking about things and often come up with solutions that aren't what they are expecting but that work. I will help my clients with advice about anything from marketing to staff issues because I have been around enough and have seen all sorts that can lend itself to solving these issues. I specialise in growing businesses and have managed to grow Nunns Accounting by 350% in 2021 whilst achieving a few awards and have big plans to grow this further.

What the Future Holds

I am very entrepreneurial and currently have six businesses and shares in two others. In my other companies, I build on a passive income model, which works very well, I make the investment and set the framework for someone else to operate, and I take the profits at the end. Very nice passive income. I also invest in properties, which will be my main 'hobby' going forward, and I build a portfolio. The one thing I will never give up control of is Nunns Accounting, this is my baby and what I love to do, so, unfortunately, you will be stuck with me for a long time.