Speaker: John Morgan, Director, Leonard Design
What would you like to say to your CFO?
John Morgan: Hi, my name's John Morgan from Leonard Design Architects. Firstly, a huge thank you to Richard. It's brilliant to have you as part of the team at Leonard Design. Before I did the recording, I asked our finance team what it was like since Richard has joined us from The FD Centre. They said Richard arriving has changed everything. He's so approachable and it's great to have him as part of the team. So thank you, Richard.
What one or two big issues/untapped opportunities were you facing before you started working with us?
John Morgan: For us at Leonard Design, we went through a period of growth and we knew we needed to bring in an FD to help and support our business growth. The key thing for us was how do you go and find a full-time FD, and using The FD Centre meant that David Rossi, the Regional Director, was able to arrange for us to meet a number of different FDs for us to meet, and interview them, to understand which ones would work best for us. When we met Richard, we knew he would fit in perfectly within our team.
What have been the benefits to your business?
John Morgan: For our team, there were two specific benefits to bringing in a member from The FD Centre. Firstly, is obviously bringing the rigour and the organisation into our financial processes and reporting, which has been brilliant. But secondly, by bringing an FD through Richard, who has this huge network of other FDs in The FD Centre, we feel we have access to tap into a huge resource. And as we grew our business internationally, Richard was able to talk to that network and bring that knowledge into our business as well.
What have the benefits been to you personally?
John Morgan: For me and for my co-directors, the biggest benefit of having an FD is having someone sitting alongside you every step of the way as you make business decisions, with a financial view and guidance for us. Also, as we headed into the pandemic, it was key that we started to monitor our costs incredibly closely. We set ourselves a key objective that we would not make any of our team redundant during the pandemic, and Richard helped and guided us through that process to ensure that we could do that financially and stably and come through the pandemic.
What are you hoping to achieve over the coming 12-24 months with the support of your FD/CFO?
John Morgan: As we move into the next 12-24 months at Leonard Design, it's an incredibly exciting time. We are moving from the survival mode of the pandemic, where we had one set of financial constraints and observations, and we're moving into a growth mode where we're recruiting people internationally, which brings a whole fresh set of financial support and reporting that we need from Richard and the team at The FD Centre. Richard definitely doesn't feel like an external consultant. He feels like part of our team and part of the group, and we are incredibly grateful for all the help and support he's given us. Thank you, Richard.
