STRATEGIC HIRING - HOW TO GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE

FRS 102 Revised Seminar Brings South Yorkshire Finance Leaders Together

In collaboration with Shorts Chartered Accountants, we recently hosted a seminar for senior finance professionals from across the region.The event brought together a number of Finance Directors, Financial Controllers and senior leaders from across the region for a morning of insight, discussion and networking over breakfast. It was a pleasure to welcome so many familiar faces, alongside new contacts, reflecting the strength and depth of the Yorkshire finance community. The seminar was presented by Howard Freeman, Audit & Accounts Partner, and Andy Ryder, Corporate Finance Partner at Shorts. We are extremely grateful to both speakers for sharing their time and expertise, and for delivering a clear, practical overview of the forthcoming changes to FRS 102, which came into effect on 1 January 2026 and are expected to impact a significant number of UK businesses. The session explored what is changing and why, particularly in relation to lease accounting and revenue recognition, and considered what the updates mean in practice for finance teams and business leaders. The speakers also addressed the new reporting requirements under FRS 102, the potential impact on EBITDA and valuation methodologies, and the key considerations for organisations as they prepare for implementation. Rather than focusing purely on technical detail, the seminar encouraged broader discussion around readiness, communication with stakeholders and the commercial implications of the changes. This led to a highly engaged Q&A session, with attendees sharing perspectives and experiences from their own organisations. At Sharp Consultancy, we are committed to supporting the finance community beyond recruitment alone. Events such as this form part of our ongoing effort to create opportunities for connection, knowledge-sharing and professional development among senior finance professionals. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Shorts for partnering with us on this event, and in particular to Howard and Andy for delivering such an informative and thought-provoking session. We are also grateful to everyone who attended and contributed to the discussion. We look forward to hosting further events in the coming months and continuing to work closely with our network of finance leaders across the region.If you would like to discuss how these changes may impact your finance team, or if you are considering strengthening your leadership function, please contact us for a confidential conversation.

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Consensus. Normally it’s hard to get more than five people to agree on the time of day so it’s unusual to have such a wide consensus, consensus across hundreds of businesses and business leaders, but my anecdotal evidence is that we have just that. So what is the consensus I refer to? Just this; everyone agrees that no-one has any real idea what the next 12 months will bring. Forecasting is nigh on impossible and this would be highly amusing if it wasn’t so serious. A CFO friend of mine told me that the auditors had queried his going concern forecast. Fair enough. He asked them how they would do it differently and if they had further ideas or information that could make it more certain. The forecast stood.

And that’s the problem; how do you run a business when you really have no idea what is going to happen, when the variables are so great and there has never been so many ‘what if’s’. I can’t say I can answer that any better than anyone else.

I do know though that quality management teams nearly always find a way. Sometimes there is no solution to be found and that is terribly sad, but on the whole the best teams find a way forward. However, ‘good’ in a pre-covid economy may not be ‘good enough’ in a post-covid economy. The qualities needed to navigate a ship in calm waters may no longer be sufficient in one hell of a storm. This is praying on the minds of investors, lenders, owners and management teams a lot at the moment. I have heard of so many inspirational stories since March it just shows what is possible when the chips are down. I’ve also heard of some less inspirational stories too.

Strategic hiring is something we normally associate with a benign or growing economy, when the future looks pretty certain and rosy, where key people are tracked for some time before finally
being fitted in as the perfect peg in the perfect hole. Measured, thoughtful, careful, strategic hiring all as part of a five year master plan. Horizons are no longer five years. Or three. Three months more like and that’s stretching it on occasions.

If we accept that the only certainty is uncertainty that at least gives a business something to plan around. In turn that allows businesses to assess their capacity to cope with change, rapid and sometimes unforeseen change. You may not know what’s around the corner but you can know whether you have the capabilities to not only cope but also to extract every ounce of opportunity from whatever that ‘corner’ brings. In short, you can think strategically about your management team’s capabilities and you can and should make strategic hires before the need arises, in the knowledge that when the need becomes suddenly apparent it will already be too late to fit that perfect peg in the perfect hole.

Demand for many skills will change and for some reduce over the next year. Demand for those that can manage change and excel under stress though will be huge; supply is already diminishing.
Given the chance and a little time we at Sharp Consultancy almost always find that perfect peg. Give yourself the time to get ahead of the curve (or should that be corner) and give me a call.

Sharp Consultancy has a vastly experienced team of Executive Search consultants specialising in identifying, selecting and placing senior finance professionals in roles with owner managed
businesses, corporate plcs, private equity and venture capital firms and leading accountancy practices throughout Yorkshire, the North West and beyond. CONTACT UStoday to discuss your recruitment needs with a member of our team.