The website for experienced credit managers looking for work and employers looking for experienced credit managers

matureIT hits the market

01/01/2009

Breaking News - MatureIT Just over 3 years since the launch of Mature Accountants we are delighted to announce that we are launching another "mature" brand to coincide with the start of 2009. www.matureit.co.uk is going to be run under license by Wilf Deakin an experienced IT Consultant who is relishing a new challenge. Wilf has been a programmer, analyst, IT manager, consultant, director and CEO with both end user companies and IT consultancy/service organisations. He has extensive knowledge of most aspects of IT and the experience to use this knowledge for the benefit of customers. He has run projects ranging in size from one man IT health checks to major transformation programmes, with multiple platforms and multi vendor software, managing over 300 people from many different disciplines. He has worked in retail & wholesale finance, telecommunications, utilities, retail, distribution, manufacturing industries, media and federal & local government in the UK, USA, Netherlands, Belgium, Nordic countries, Switzerland and France. Wilf will be following the mature accountant's proven principle of matching the best candidates with businesses that value experience. The three key services will be: 1. All aspects of recruitment, permanent or interim, from detailed analysis of a customer?s requirements and the production of an agreed job and person specification to filling the required role. 2. IT health checks. From assessing an organisations ability to meet future business requirements from the current IT infrastructure to assisting the IT department in proactively planning for the future. 3. Mentoring senior user and IT management in the effective deployment of IT/IS services within their organisation. If you have a requirement then log on to www.matureit.co.uk and post a vacancy and Wilf will call you to discuss it further. Clearly 2009 is going to be a challenging year for business and our view is that interim and contract solutions may be what is required as companies cut back but will still need access to experienced resource.

Postcard from Nevis - another happy matureaccountant .

Some wags said : "Nevis position - that'll be horizontal, then?"
It's now three weeks since I arrived here in Charlestown, Nevis in the West Indies and the temperature is hot - usually around 30 C in the day and about 28 C at night. I had already met up with some of the staff at their annual group party in Surrey (prior to being offered the position) and in Guernsey and Sark for a few days to get a company teach-in. That was interesting and sociable - and I hadn't been to the Channel Islands before. So day 1 in Nevis wasn't a complete shock.

My wife, Pauline, accompanied me on our journey out. The first flight was by 747 to Antigua and then an 18 seater for the half hour onward flight to Nevis. She then spent a week getting to know the place before returning to the UK. For the first week we also had a team of executives from Head Office for the Nevis office's quarterly meeting so I was thrown into the thick of it. Pauline will return to Nevis once she leaves her employer in England at the end of July.

The company works in offshore financial services setting up and administering companies for clients to take advantage of Nevis's favourable regimes. My role is to concentrate on the internal accounts which were mostly run from Guernsey previously and to keep in order the many clients accounting and production of their statutory accounts, and I report to the finance team in the HO in Guernsey. This is to enable the local MD to deal with new business and operational work.

I had been looking at the MatureAccountants.com website for a while. I realised after taking early retirement, a few years back, after 18 years in senior - but not top management, that I neither really wanted nor was likely to get a conventional senior position. And my age, 56, probably didn't help. However when this position in the Caribbean came up it looked 'just the job'. I gather there was a fair size response and am still surprised that I got the position. It certainly wouldn't suit everyone particularly in tems of lack of cultural events and non-availability of everyday UK items (eg your usual newspaper, the BBC, supermarkets, handbags and shoes). And I'm sure Pauline will miss some things too!

Thank you Martin for the opportunity and well done MA.
(the photo is of me on the balcony of the company flat where I'm staying with the bay and Nevis Peak in the background)

Mature Sales & Marketing completes our Mature Brand

www.maturesalesandmarketing.com is going to be run under license by Trevor Lane an experienced sales and marketing practitioner with over 20 years experience. Trevor began his career in 1986 in a Field Sales role working for Scottish & Newcastle Breweries. Since then he has progressed through Sales Management, Key Account Management (including the big 4 UK retailers), Key Account Controller and International Business Development in various companies. Add to this his roles in Marketing and own label experience along the way and we have secured the perfect partner to head up our new Mature Sales and Marketing Brand. Seeking new challenges in 2006 Trevor set up his own Training and Sales Consultancy, Bespoke Training Associates Ltd. He is now looking to expand his own business experience by matching experienced sales and marketing candidates that can hit the ground running with the right roles. We believe that Trevor will also be able to hit the ground running by calling on his 23 years of front line sales and marketing experience to place the right candidates with the right company. If you know any sales and marketing practitioners that might benefit from our unique approach to recruitment please let them know. If you know any businesses that recruit sales and marketing personnel, then I am sure that Trevor would like to hear from you and you can contact him at: trevor@maturesalesandmarketing.com.

Already mature - MDs' join the party.

Stop Press - Maturemd.com is launched

Martin the mature accountant and Peter the mature MD do the deal.

matureaccountants sponsors the Accountancy Age Employer of the Year award 2007

Matureaccountants sponsored the Accountancy Age Employer of the Year award last night - (14th Nov 2007)

Click here to watch the video

The award was presented by Martin at the Accountancy Age Awards for Excellence on 14th November 2007 at Battersea Park Arena, Battersea, London. Attended by nearly 1,300 guests, the presentation evening was a spectacular occasion and guests include key figures throughout the practice and business community – including senior partners and financial directors from some of the largest companies in the UK. Host for the evening was Boris Johnson - pretender to the throne of Mayor! Winners were BDO, one of Martin's old firms!

Martin plans his evening's drinking - champagne nicely matured

Sara shows Martin the technique for getting a word in with Boris prior to going up on stage.

Many thanks to all our members who sent their goodwishes before the event. It was great to see Martin up with the big boys - we have come quite a way in just two years.

Reaching Parts Others Cannot Reach!

Greetings from war torn Iraq !

This has been a marvellous appointment for me. As I am based in Erbil, life is peaceful amongst the Kurds. Even though there is a lot of posturing between PKK and the Turks, that is in the mountains and quite a way from here.

The work is pretty straightforward and, financially, it has made a huge difference to us – my wife is delighted! Monies are all tax free and everything is paid for – accommodation, food, laundry, driver and even booze. This a small office. I have no staff, which suits me, and I run the finances for 4 high earning, high charging lawyers. The other part of my job is work as a management consultant, charging myself out to the American and British companies out here. There is a great deal of oil exploration going on so you can imagine the client list. Local accounting expertise is pretty dire so often these companies are grateful for my knowledge and “mature” experience.

The only downside (apart from missing my wife and daughters) is that I get paid in dollars. Every time I look at the rate it gets worse (for me anyway). I can’t believe it can dip much further so the positive is that if it moves to, say, $1.88 to the £ I get a 10% increase. Sorry to be selfish but a UK slump would suit me perfectly.

Thank you once again for the introduction. My wife thanks you, my bank manager thanks you.

All the best

Alan Crawford

Matureaccountants: better than Heineken!

Martin,

A note to say how much I appreciate the help given by matureaccountants.com.

Since I started looking about 3 months ago, I have applied for loads of jobs via other web-sites and not even had a reply to most of them. In a situation like that you start to wonder whether because of your age you are wasting your time. You know you're capable of doing a job but recruiters appear to have written you off.

Anyway I saw your advert for a very interesting job in Malaysia, applied, was interviewed and I start next month. Very exciting times!
I definitely recommend your organisation and it's a concept that will work. There must be loads of mature accountants like myself (not on £80,000 a year!) who want a fresh challenge and are more than capable of making a significant contribution to whichever organisation hires them.

Best wishes in your endeavours.

Kind regards,

Duncan MacLeod

Martins Newsletter

Newsletter from Martin (Jan 07) Click for pdf download

Matureaccountants agree strategic alliance with 8020 Financial Management

We have negotiated a fantastic franchising opportunity for OUR MEMBERS with 8020 Financial: If you are interested in kick-starting a new business then the 8020 model could work for you. Read more details here.

Nottingham Business Venture: Spirit of Enterprise Awards 2006

Having been shortlisted for the SAGA 106.6fm Business Achievement Award for people aged 50+ Martin won the award last night at a glittering ceremony held at the Council House in Nottingham for what MatureAccountants has achieved in the last 12 months. In his acceptance speech Martin noted that in the last week alone we have found jobs for 3 candidates with a combined age of 162!

Our first-ever placement wows the client and gets the job done on time.

Dear Martin, I had a lovely send-off today, even though I've billed tomorrow and been paid. They gave me a card & 4 bottles of high quality wine. Come and enjoy it with me! You really could not have picked a nicer team for me. Many many thanks.
Robert Ropner

Helping hand for older accountants seeking

A job-seekers' website for mature accountants that was created as a result of an article in Accountancy Age is now finding jobs for its subscribers.
From Accountancy Age, 18 Jan 2006 Read it here..

A dating agency

"A dating agency for the mature accountant" Martin's letter in the FT.