Nick Bell testimonial, My career move into FP&A and finance transformation and securing a role through Catch Recruitment.

A few years ago, I was turned down for a promotion.

At the time, I was working as a Commercial Finance Manager, responsible for a portfolio of commercial property assets.  Across our business there were around fifteen commercial finance managers and analysts, and opportunities to step up into senior commercial finance roles were rare. When a role finally did open up, it was awarded to a colleague largely on the basis that he had been in his position marginally longer.

Like several of my peers, I was left feeling disappointed and somewhat disillusioned. Did this mean I would have to wait years for another opportunity? Why, despite consistently strong performance ratings and high‑quality delivery, was I being overlooked? What could I do differently?

On paper, I was highly qualified—Oxbridge educated, Big Four trained—yet the recognition and career progression I was aiming for felt out of reach.

Fast forward seven years

Today, I am Head of FP&A for a global business with £900m of annual turnover. It is an intellectually demanding, commercially engaging role that also offers a level of flexibility that allows me to balance a senior leadership position with raising three young children. So how did I get here? And what would I recommend to others who may now find themselves in a similar position to where I was seven years ago, in their early to mid‑30s, and eager to accelerate to the next level?

The answer lies in a combination of factors, but above all: developing a differentiated and hard‑to‑replicate skill set.

Building a strong foundation in commercial finance

Commercial finance is a fantastic training ground. In my case, this involved working closely with commercial property managers and developing a deep understanding of the dynamics of supply and demand within shopping centers. I saw first‑hand how seemingly minor decisions—such as the removal of an escalator—could materially affect footfall, tenant demand, and rental tension across multiple floors. I supported investment decisions around alternative uses, including large‑scale leisure developments such as bowling and trampoline parks, which required significant capital investment but offered more stable income streams than traditional retail. Alongside this, I sat on property boards and regularly presented financial analysis to senior stakeholders. It was an excellent grounding in business and provided a strong platform for a future role as a CFO, or even for roles in strategy or operations.

But from a promotion perspective, this foundation only got me so far.

The promotion bottleneck

Finance teams are typically structured in a pyramid: many analysts and managers, far fewer senior managers, and ultimately only one or two finance director roles. To progress, one must differentiate.

I could continue to work hard advising the business, presenting well, and building strong relationships—and I was good at all of these. But if I’m being honest, there were others who outshone me. I am naturally reserved, particularly in boardroom settings. What I lacked was a clear, distinct USP.

Why Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) changed everything

The turning point came when I moved into FP&A.

In most large organisations, FP&A teams are relatively small. There is typically a central group function and, in larger businesses, divisional FP&A teams too. I took on the role of FP&A Manager for the retail property portfolio, which immediately gave me exposure across an entire division rather than a single asset class. Following an organisational restructure, I moved into Group FP&A. Suddenly, I was working across retail, offices, leisure parks, and brownfield development sites. I coordinated the group budgeting process, chaired cross‑divisional meetings, and listened to the commercial heads debate investment, disposals, development viability, and capital allocation. I also began working closely with Treasury—understanding debt structures, hedging strategies, and the timing of facilities relative to cash requirements. These are key skills in capital‑intensive industries and an invaluable complement to commercial and operational finance experience.

When another restructure occurred and a Senior Finance Manager role in Group FP&A became available, the outcome felt inevitable. I had become the obvious candidate.

Discovering the importance of systems

As interesting as Group FP&A is, its success ultimately depends on data and systems. Strong commercial insight means little if the underlying data is unreliable or the tools are inefficient.

By 2021, the budgeting and forecasting processes were so cumbersome that they were having a tangible impact on business performance. Poor systems increased the burden on finance and created friction for commercial teams, limiting access to reliable information and distracting them from value‑adding decision‑making

When our CFO announced a finance transformation program in early 2022—placing FP&A processes at the top of the agenda—I jumped at the opportunity to get involved.

Leading a OneStream implementation

We selected OneStream as our FP&A platform, a decision that initially surprised and intrigued me, as I had initially been an advocate of using property specific software.

I was the natural in‑house lead from a business perspective, working alongside external implementation specialists and the software vendor. My role was to design the financial models that would be embedded into the system—translating business logic into something that could be codified technically. It was a steep learning curve, and we made mistakes.

The success of an implementation depends on everyone involved. A poor vendor or product means the project will never get off the ground. Weak implementation consultants are akin to having a bad builder on a redevelopment, while an inexperienced, under‑resourced, or overstretched in‑house team is like having a bad architect. No matter how good the product or builders are, the project will ultimately fail.

In hindsight, we focused too heavily on bespoke models, rather than first ensuring that core processes—consolidation, reconciliation, and data flows—were robust and efficient. This experience taught me invaluable lessons about what drives success and failure in large‑scale transformations. Two years later, despite the program’s challenges, I had developed deep, practical expertise in FP&A transformation and system implementation—exactly the kind of differentiated experience I had lacked earlier in my career.

The step into Head of FP&A

When Catch recruitment contacted me about a Head of Group FP&A role at a global law firm undergoing a complex OneStream implementation, the fit was immediately clear. Sixteen months in, the role has been deeply rewarding. We have rebuilt capability, strengthened the team, and accelerated progress. We are migrating to OneStream v9, bringing actuals reporting onto the platform, with a pathway to modernize our reporting infrastructure using Power BI.

Catch Recruitment

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Phil and Jordan at Catch Recruitment as part of my recent move. From the outset, I found them both to be friendly, approachable, and highly professional. They worked closely with me throughout the interview process, providing thoughtful guidance and support at each stage. By coincidence, I am also based in Farnham, and during the process we discovered that my wife and Phil’s wife were already friends. This made it particularly enjoyable to meet Phil in person and catch up over a pint.

Overall, the service was consistently professional and personable, and I would not hesitate to work with Catch again—whether hiring into my own team or as part of future career move

Final reflection

Careers are journey rather than linear paths. The Head of FP&A role is not an end point, but a gateway—either towards a CFO position or deeper specialisation in finance transformation. Luck inevitably plays a part: for me, the implementation project aligned perfectly with my promotion to Senior Finance Manager, while stepping into a Group FP&A role at the start of the Covid pandemic coincided with a sharp shift in business focus towards financial planning, cashflow management and consequently investment in the FP&A function. However, by recognising opportunities and deliberately building valuable skills at the intersection of commercial insight, FP&A expertise, and systems transformation, I was able to create opportunities that had not previously existed.

If you are analytically inclined, interested in financial modelling, strategy, and systems, and have the patience required for complex change programs, a similar path may resonate with you.

– Nick Bell