Previous roles and experience

Neil joined Mitchells & Butlers in 2013, having previously managed the UK & Ireland HR Shared Services team at Cadbury/Mondelez in Bournville for a number of years. He began his career many years ago in Finance, and has also worked in Sales Forecasting, Market Research and HR Business Partnering. Whilst these are all experiences that have proved invaluable in his current role, he maintains that a student Saturday job in a busy public library and, more recently, helping friends in the high-end retail floristry trade, taught him more about customer service than any of his proper jobs ever have.

Neil’s brief at M&B was to create and lead an employee shared service centre, delivering efficiencies while bringing together and improving business processes that support the company’s 45,000 employees in 1,700 restaurants, pubs and bars across the UK. M&B’s Shared Service Centre now encompasses a range of HR-enabling processes, payroll and IT systems support, along with two helplines (one of them operations-focused, the other for employee queries). The team is committed to providing excellent service to all of the company’s employees and businesses, to enable them to focus on delivering the best possible guest experience. Ongoing feedback is actively sought from anyone who has had any dealings with the Shared Services team, and is used to drive recognition, skills development and process improvements.

Hobbies & Interests

Neil enjoys researching local history, and indulging in local beers. A lifelong supporter of Hereford United (now Hereford FC), he has learned much about life’s disappointments – which probably explains his passion for the novels, poetry and landscape of Thomas Hardy.

To distract himself from reality, he edits his parish magazine, enjoys the occasional cycle ride, and is slowly bringing an abandoned garden back under control. He lives in south Warwickshire, where he is usually cast as the villain in the village pantomime.

Previous roles and experience

Philippa graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 1998 and began her career within recruitment. Having experience within both local and national roles, across multiple sectors, Philippa joined Hays in April 2006.

Her career within Hays has seen her working within the education sector, advising schools on how to save money whilst recruiting the best teaching talent. She has also managed the Hays Derby office, leading a team consultants across the sectors of Customer Service, Office Support, PA, Construction & Property and Non Qualified Finance.

Most recently she has been appointed as Client Engagement Lead for the Midlands, engaging with senior stakeholders seeking advice and solutions regarding talent acquisition transformation. With this role Philippa has exposure to a variety of industries and professionals which engenders thought sharing and best practice.

Areas of expertise

Permanent Recruitment Strategy, Contingent Labour, Recruitment Process & Transformation, IR35, Coaching & Mentoring

Hobbies & Interests

Philippa is engaged to Mark and is enjoying planning their upcoming wedding. When Philippa isn’t wedding planning, her and Mark are foodies and thoroughly enjoy experiencing different cuisines and restaurants across the UK. Their favourite restaurants are The Ledbury in Notting Hill and Folium in Birmingham.

Previous roles and experience

Scott has 20+ years experience in the creation, transformation and leadership of shared services across the West Midlands. Scott is Head of Financial Shared Services at Halfords Group plc leading transactional teams across R2R, P2P, O2C, Cash & Banking and Payroll.

Scott has been involved with numerous projects including implementing Global Process Owners to drive change and consistency across Europe and North America, and delivered RPA/AI system and process solutions into companies core financial transactions.

Scott has held previous roles in FMCG as Director of Financial Shared Services at Britvic Soft Drinks, in the Hospitality Sector at Jurys Inns Hotel Group, in Property Consultancy at BNP Paribas Real Estate and Banking, FM and Audit at Barclays Bank plc.

Areas of expertise

Accounting, Capital Investment, Infrastructure, Utilities, Building Materials, Construction, Finance, Robotic Process Automation, Process Excellence, Process Ownership, Employee Engagement, Reporting

Hobbies & Interests

My wife and family (3 grown-up but still very costly “kids”), football (character building lifelong Birmingham City fan), Cycling (terrible uphill but have painfully raised over £30k for worthwhile charities) and a love for Italian Architecture, food and culture.

Previous roles and experience

Sharon is an experienced Senior Shared Services Director. Her resume includes Implementation and Leadership of internal and external multi disciplinary European Shared Service Centres in complex matrix organisations. She has extensive experience of teams up to 130+ and has a passion for continuous improvement and people development and currently works for Mundipharma International as Head of European Finance Shared Service Centre.

Sharon originally trained in practice before moving to industry working for companies including BUPA, ABB and GE. Sharon also brings experience in the not for profit arena having worked in both the Social Housing and Further Education sectors. Currently Vice Chair of the Midlands Shared Services Forum steering group and speaks regularly at West Midlands events on subjects including Coaching and Mentoring, Managing Change, Inclusion and Diversity. She is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and held a position on the West Midlands board of the CMI for several years.

Areas of expertise

Shared Services Implementation, Integration and Management, Transformation and change management. Risk Management policies, strategies and training. Governance and Compliance. Coaching and Mentoring.

Hobbies & Interests

Support crew to a MAMIL (Middle Aged Man In Lycra) and taxi to two teenagers. Also a walking Walt Disney World holiday planning encyclopaedia.

Previous roles and experience

Tim joined Hays in October 2000 after graduating from Cardiff University in Accountancy & Finance. He joined the Birmingham office and began his career recruiting for transactional accountants across purchase ledger, credit control and payroll, working with a number of the larger local shared services including Cadburys and Dunlop. As Tim progressed at Hays, he began to recruit more senior individuals initially at a team leader level, then to manager level and more recently at a Director level, but he always worked closely with the major local Shared Services including GVA, Interserve, Tarmac and Britvic.

In addition to this, Tim is currently responsible for the 20 finance specialist recruiters within the Hays Birmingham Office with a combined experience of over 200 years. In March 2017, Tim was fortunate enough to join the Shared Services Forum Committee.

SSC Hires include:

Head of Shared Services – Cadbury/Mondelez

Head of Shared Services – Jurys Inn

Head of Finance Service Centre & BI - Severn Trent

Hobbies & Interests

My family (4 kids!) give me limited time for anything else, but I love all forms of sport and will play and watch as much as I can. Also ran the London Marathon very slowly twice and I enjoy a good social.

Previous roles and experience

Jamie is the Founder & CEO of the Accounts Payable Association the largest UK AP/P2P association representing the interests of professionals working in the industry.

The APA offers memberships, certification programmes & events plus acts as a support group where like-minded AP/P2P professionals can obtain information on new technologies, procedures, and trends whilst obtaining critical benchmarking statistics on other organisations.

Prior to working at the APA Jamie held numerous Senior positions within Finance & Procurement for over 30 years including AT&T, Finning & several consulting organisations.

Jamie now spends a majority of his time continuing to build the reputation & gain recognition for the AP/P2P industry.

Areas of Expertise

Accounting, SSC’s, Accounts Payable, Procure to Pay, Transactional Finance, Mentoring, Automation & RPA, Process Excellence & Management Development.

Hobbies & Interests

Jamie has 3 beautiful children who keep him on his toes but also enjoys Rugby, Judo & Socialising (in the 30 mins a month he gets free).

Previous roles and experience:

Scott joined Central England Co-operative in 2013 as Learning and Development Business Partner before moving into the Senior Leadership team within Shared Services as Operational Excellence Manager. This role has seen the implementation of a number of significant transformation programmes focused on operational excellence, continuous improvement, culture change, implementation of target operating models and digital ways of working. His latest project is focused on the implementation of Robotic Process Automation to support the strategic direction of the Society’s Digital Transformation strategy.

Scott is recognised for aspiring others though strategic change, creating high performing teams and individuals and creating a culture of continuous improvement.

Areas of expertise:

Operational Excellence, Learning and Development, Continuous improvement, Project Management, Shared Services, People Leadership, Operational Management, Transformation and Change Management, Business partnering, Systems Implementation, Logistics, Business Start Up, IT

Hobbies and interests:

Scott lives with his wife, son, daughter and dog, Otis. Outside of work Scott enjoys the outdoors, keeping active and watching live music and rugby.

Previous roles and experience:

With 10 years shared services experience, Phil has held a number of global finance roles with Fortune 500 companies supplying OEMs and Aftermarket manufacturing and support service companies.

During this time, Phil has undertaken several transformation and consolidation projects. These projects has seen him relocate transactional service functions from overseas locations to a central UK location; relocate disparate UK transactional service functions to a central UK location; and, drive improved performance and efficiencies to reduce overall “cost to serve”, including off-shoring activities as well as implementing supporting RPA/AI-based technologies.

Areas of expertise:

Transformation, Trade Working Capital and Free Cashflow Improvements, Collections and Credit Management, OTC, PTP, Robotic Process Automation, Process Excellence, Employee Engagement, Reporting, Credit Risk Analysis, Project Management

Hobbies and interests:

Spending time with wife and kids (two kids aged 6 and 9). I enjoy watching football (I am a long suffering Newcastle United fan), Formula 1 and international rugby. I like to read and I have also been known to run odd 10km/half marathon on occasion.

Previous roles and experience

Steven has worked in Shared Services and Contact Centres for over 20 years for a variety of organisations, industry sectors, insource/outsource and across different functions and disciplines.

His areas of expertise include:

• Operations Management
• Change Management
• System Strategy and Implementation
• Contract negotiation
• Commercial agreement
• Insights and Analysis
• Business Continuity
• Data Ownership
• Training and Development
• Project Management
• Process Improvement

Areas of Expertise

Currently working for Boots, Steven manages the Customer Support Centre Operation and Transformation Strategy

Hobbies & Interests

Steven lives in Nottingham with his wife louise and daughter Cerys, he enjoys cycling, skiiing and you can see some of his photos on instagram (#stevenwhitleyjonesphotos)

Previous roles and Experience

2021- 2022 Phoenix Group 
Strategy Manager

2020-2021 CBRE
Finance Transformation Programme Director

2015- 2020 NCH Europe
Head of Transformation and Continuous Improvement

2013-2015 Wesleyan 
Continuous Improvement Consultant

2011-2013 Rentokil
Continuous Improvement Manager 

Areas of Expertise

LEAN, Continuous Improvement, transformation and Change Management across both UK and European shared services Extensive P2P transformation, APA Top 100 influencer

Hobbies and Interests

Sarah enjoys keeping fit at the gym, yoga and meditation along with walking at National Trust properties and in nearby Sutton Park. With a love for travel far and wide Sarah can also indulge her love of food and photography whilst travelling. 

Previous roles and experience

Stu has 20+ years experience in the Payroll world across the West Midlands. Stu is Group Employment Tax & Payroll Manager at Halfords Group plc and has worked within the Group for 17 years. Held previous roles in both Payroll and HR/People including HR Business Partner. CIPD and CIPP qualified.

Stu has been involved with numerous projects including the implementation of both People and Payroll systems across the Halfords Group.

Areas of expertise.

Accounting, Payroll, Finance, Process Excellence, Process Ownership, Colleague Engagement, Reporting

Hobbies & Interests

My partner and I have 3 children who, with various clubs and interests, take up the majority of time. When not being ‘taxi’ I am a fitness guru, often visiting the gym and seen running/being dragged along by Reggie, our chocolate Labrador/horse. A life-long Liverpool fan, even when they were rubbish in the 90’s. Keen traveller and looking forward to the next adventure!!