Colin Sharkey

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT COLIN SHARKEY

ICAS Chartered Accountant working as Finance Director, for PE backed businesses and divisions of multinationals for 10 years.Experienced in engineering, contracting and out-sourcing with significant project accounting and work in progress exposure having worked in the rail, utilities, oil & gas, telecoms and home energy sectors.A commercial hands on expert in business growth, turnaround and transformation focusing on EBITDA; working capital & cash; stakeholder relations; creating high performing finance teams; leading financial change initiatives; contract & client management; strategic & tactical planning; and developing systems & management information.An effective, enthusiastic leader who utilises collaborative style management and simple and transparent metrics to achieve tangible results and build stakeholder relationships. A self-starter with drive and ambition, adaptable, proactive and open to change and not afraid to approach and challenge complex or sensitive situations employing commercial and financial acumen.When I joined Actavo the UK business had significant issues. These included loss making contracts, overstated balance sheets, poor working capital management, inaccurate and poorly focused reporting and an inflated cost base. My challenge, which was achieved in 9 months, was to get control of cash, reduce the cost base, renegotiate the contracts and clean up the balance sheet whilst improving reporting and returning the business to profit.My challenge at Cape was to consolidate reporting for 4 companies that operated autonomously whilst rationalising the cost base and introducing standardisation and governance. Building relationships with management and gaining knowledge of the businesses was key. I based myself over the main offices and regularly visited key sites. I sought counsel from peers which helped me crystallise or validate my decisions and achieve buyin. Within a year I setup a high performing finance team, streamlined the cost base and produced a consolidated reporting suite.At Motherwell I supported the growth plan and maintained a strong cashflow within a ‘no surprises’ environment. KPIs were kept simple focusing on cash and EBITDA which helped with transparency and understanding. By investing time building up relationships and having robust conversations we presented a unified front to external stakeholders. We transformed a £23m turnover £0.5m EBITDA business to £45m turnover and £7m EBITDA in 3 years. This resulted in an investor exit within the targeted timeframe.