This week we were treated to an exceptional ten-minute presentation from Chris Burton-Brown, Specialist Finance Director and owner of Mylor Financial Services.
One of the valuable benefits of the ten-minute presentation is that it allows a much greater insight into a business than the regular 60 second slot allocated to every member each week. This is particularly helpful for members who work in a technically challenging or specialist field and Chris took the opportunity to offer a compelling and informative guide to his services.
Of course, the presentation began with the obligatory shots of family and pets, including a procession of fine looking Labrador dogs. We were also subjected to images of Chris as a young man in his hockey gear and hockey umpire regalia as a slightly more mature gentleman.
Having started his career as a Chartered Accountant working with large companies such as Daltons, UBM and Wolters, Chris soon realised that his particular interest was in advising companies how to make the most of their financial operations.
Chris then gave three very specific examples of how he helps his clients.
Obviously, professional integrity dictated that the businesses remained anonymous but we were allowed an insight into their business practices and Chris’ involvement in their financial management.
Example one is a web hosting and IT support company, they operate at the very high end of their market with clients demanding clean, uninterrupted service at all times. Chris was asked to help with the production of a specific quote for a major contract and having secured the contract to work developing an investment programme, deliver monthly management accounts and attend client meetings at board level.
The second example is a Trade Association, Chris has a strong background in the world of publishing and he brought all this experience on-board to assist in a full finance team review which lead to the streamlining of in-house processes, the production of monthly accounts and budgets, a revised reporting structure and formal board reporting.
Finally, we heard of Chris’ work with a local manufacturing business. The original referral came directly from two BNI members and Chris went in to investigate shortcomings in their existing finance function. The project, which like the others, is ongoing has seen Chris introduce improvements in finance, purchasing, stock and sales order processing as well as mentoring of the Accounts Managers.
As always, questions were invited and Chris fielded a simple enquiry from Pauline Herring of Every Care Central Surrey who asked about the size of company Chris tends to deal with.
Chris said that while he is happy to advise businesses of all sizes he feels that he adds most value to businesses turning over more than £500,000 per annum, with many of his clients far exceeding this amount.
A well-deserved round of applause greeted the presentation with members appreciating the clear and concise nature of Chris’ delivery, he used the time to describe perfectly what he does and why we can refer him with absolute confidence. To view Chris’s presentation, click here
