Eight aspiring finance professionals from Essex are receiving additional career development support through a Finance Leadership Programme run by Pure Resourcing Solutions (Pure) in collaboration with Grant Thornton.

The Finance Leadership Programme was developed in 2015 by professional recruitment consultants Pure and accountancy firm Grant Thornton. It is designed to support the business community in Essex and the county’s future finance talent. The programme is made up of a small, invite-only group of future finance leaders and is split into three interactive round table sessions held throughout the year.  

The latest round table took place on Wednesday 11 May at the Grant Thornton offices in Priory Place, Chelmsford. The overall theme was ‘People and Leadership’ and topics included engagement, leadership styles and conflict management. Guest speakers Andy Sleet from Fluid Business Coaching and Wendy Colgrave, ex Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of Countryside Properties, also shared their knowledge and experience with the delegates.

Tom Earl, Associate Director at Pure’s Chelmsford office, chaired the session. He said: “I have recruited finance roles for more than ten years and I’ve seen how the responsibilities of today’s CFOs have changed significantly and become increasingly complex and broad. The move to become a finance leader can be the hardest step to take on the career ladder and our aim is to help provide ambitious finance professionals with support to develop the soft skills and capabilities needed to become effective leaders.  We’ve created the Finance Leadership Programme to provide a forum where liked-minded senior professionals can share experiences, hear from those already in high profile leadership roles and spend time on their personal development.”  

Trevor Ling, Tax Director at Grant Thornton, added: “I was delighted to be asked to be involved in the Finance Leadership Programme. This is a subject very close to my heart, having spent a significant proportion of my own in-house career helping to develop team members into broader and more commercial finance professionals. A wider support network like this programme can play a critical role in assisting ambitious and talented individuals to reach their full potential.”

The Finance Leadership Programme is provided free of charge, although a small donation to charity is requested. All money raised will be donated to Chelmsford-based charity Kids Inspire. This organisation helps to heal the wounds of trauma and to reconnect young people with both themselves and society through mentoring, therapy, training and activity packages.

The next Essex-based session of the programme will be held in September and will be focussed on the theme of ‘Becoming a Strategic Networker’.