My portfolio journey
Dani Wainwright explains why she decided to take the plunge and launch an independent career, the practical steps she has taken, how she has identified her niche and how she hopes to build her portfolio of clients.
I am planning to work as a portfolio finance director, working part-time for a small number of businesses. Those businesses are likely to be SMEs (i.e. small enough not to require a full-time FD), and be going through change such as looking to grow significantly, change strategy, develop an exit plan, or make acquisitions. Ideally, I'd like to work 3 days a week.
I started working through a modern apprenticeship, long before their recent resurgence – it was quite unusual at the time. I began my career in the year 2000 at a small firm in Leeds, and the breadth of experience was excellent. Whilst studying towards the AAT qualification, we rotated around departments, through audit, accounts, and tax, learning all the basics. It wasn't unusual to be presented with a carrier bag full of receipts and to turn that into some statutory accounts and a tax return! I then moved to Grant Thornton and obtained my ACA qualification, and then moved into industry. In recent years I've held senior finance roles in a FTSE100 company, which whilst massively interesting and rewarding, was very demanding.
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Portfolio Careers Community
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Practical support and guidance for finance professionals in an independent advisory role, from making the first step to having an established portfolio.
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