Helen Senior - Financial Director

I have been with the company for 15 years and developed new accounting and costing systems to cope with each stage of the company's development. We now use a fully integrated costing and accounts package to give us the reports required to monitor each individual contract on a daily basis and to give us the overall financial results on a monthly basis.

I could write a book on managing the finances of a £10 million turnover company with no bank overdraft which obviously requires excellent credit control, negotiated payment terms with clients and very good relationships with suppliers and subcontractors.

I restrict my support team of accounts and administration staff to a minimum to reduce overheads and we rely on hard work, efficiency and communication to get all reports out by the set deadlines required for my co-directors to maintain their controls on each contract and to ensure that we are achieving our overall financial targets.

Monitoring of all costs and setting accurate overhead recovery rates are vital to ensure that we are aware of all implications of prices agreed by both competitive tender and negotiation.