Charith Hettige

A True believer in enhancing business performance via change management and process improvements specially in Accounts and Finance. Exceptional analytical skills, with the ability to examine and understand business needs and the attention to detail are few key competencies that I possess in deliverance of exceptional business outcomes.

Farlows Group Limited, London, United Kingdom                                                            Jul 2020 - Present 

Group Finance Director (Permanent Basis)

Farlows is a well-established business in the world of country sports and has been a leading retailer of fishing and field sports equipment and clothing since 1840. Farlows was granted and has held a Royal Warrant of Appointment to HRH The Prince of Wales since 1982 as supplier of fishing tackle and waterproof clothing products. 

The Farlows Group comprises three companies: Farlows Limited, Farlows Group Limited and Farlows International Limited. Business trading is conducted through Farlows Limited under the brands of Farlows and Sportfish. The Annual turnover of the group is between £6.0 to £6.5 during 2020-21 and it currently employs 50+ staff members across three stores in Pall Mall, London, Winforton Herefordshire and at Theale near Reading, as well as operating two websites and a mail order business from the Winforton location.

Duties:

Reporting to the CEO directly and to the Non Executive Director. 

Overall control of the Group’s financial strategy and finance function and all aspects of its day-to-day performance including supervision and development of departmental staff and a particular focus on management of cash and working capital utilisation. 

Providing strategic and financial guidance to management and stakeholders to ensure that the company's financial commitments are met. 

Developing and implementing appropriate management information tools for financial and wider business functions to enable effective development of business strategy and monitoring thereof. 

Developing and implementing all necessary policies and procedures to ensure the sound financial management and control of the company’s assets and business. 

William Evans Limited, Bisley, United Kingdom                                                           Feb 2018 – May 2020

Finance Manager (Contract Basis)

William Evans Limited, a long established rifle maker of high repute in the world of outdoor sports, offering a range of products, attire and related service. Business has two main stores, one in Bisley and the other in heart of London, St James Street. Business generates a £4 million annual turnover and offers a wider range of services to its customers.

Duties:

Reporting to the Chairman directly and to the Canadian Board. Supervise four members in accounts department.

Upgrading and implementing robust financial accounting and management reporting.

Giving confidence to the board with reliable and insightful financial and management information for decision making.

Ensure that accounting processes are implemented and maintained to a high standard. And work with other managers to ensure that they operate the required processes to the required standards.

Maintain an overview of the key information and dynamics of the business in order to help managers improve performance and grow sales.

Managing cash flow and making sure all financial liabilities are met on time especially in the off season of the business.

Sirtax Accountants (Pvt) Limited, Lightwater, United Kingdom                             Nov 2015 – Jun 2019

Accounts Consultant (Contract Basis)

Accountancy practice based in surrey with an appx. client base of 60 small and medium scale business accounts. Sirtax is mainly focused on providing financial advices, tax computation and filing. As a member of the team, handled one of the main clients of Sirtax, Roast and Ground Limited. 

Duties:

Based in office one day a week and bookkeeping. Collecting, sorting and processing invoices, balancing accounts and so on.

Maintaining cash flow and processing payments on timely manner.

Preparation of monthly management accounts and producing useful information to the board for decision making.

Producing quarterly vat submission and year-end tax computations.

Maloney’s Budgens (Pvt) Ltd, Ascot, United Kingdom                                              

Assistant Management Accountant (Contract Basis – Part Time)                            Jan 2013 – May 2019                                                                                          (Permanent – Full Time)                                   Nov 2010 – Dec 2012

Maloney’s Retail store has been trading since 2008 as a franchised partner of Budgens Group. Head office is based in Ascot and across four stores businesses generate a £14 million turnover annually. 150 staff, 12 in accounts.

Duties:

Reporting to the Financial Controller and supervising nine members of staff in accounts.

Preparation of month end accounts and journals, weekly management reports. Identify margin variances, analyse cost, pricing issues and report to the management.

Annual budget preparation for four stores (Sales, Waste and Wage Budgets)

Producing product waste analysis reports. Classify unprofitable product lines/ duplicate product ranges. And share information with management to achieve budget targets. RSA and SCAP models were used.

Developed managerial level plans in a major management buyout project (Chalfont St Peter Budgens store) for the company. 

Accounts payable – Supplier statement reconciliation and arranging weekly payment runs via BACS.

Cording and processing Purchase invoices and EDNs.

Price file update and stock card error correction across all four stores.

Payroll processing and enquiring employee queries.

Involved in physical stock takings and measuring with book stocks to recognise stock losses. Implemented control mechanisms to manage stock levels and to minimise losses.

Inquisis (Pvt) Ltd, Chobham, United Kingdom                                              

Director/ Shareholder                                                                                                         Nov 2012 – Mar 2020

Inquisis Business Consultancy, owned by two share holders who are focused on developing business through delivering quality service to the clients. Service offerings focus on developing Accounting solutions to small and medium size businesses.

Company owned a retailing business in Chobham, Day To Day Local, a convenience store and as a team member, managed the daily management tasks. New venture was established in November 2016 and generated just over 0.5 million turnover every year.

Duties:

Planning and organising organisation’s activities to achieve targets.

Managing the cash flow of the business.

Responsible for submission of the yearend financial statements and liaising with external accountant. 

Keeping control of business expenditure, ensuring it is within the agreed budget.

MISA Associates Ltd, Lightwater, United Kingdom                                       

Management Accountant (Contract Basis)                                                                   Dec 2014 – Dec 2015

MISA Associates Limited is a Retail business with an annual turnover of £10 million appx. Franchised business partner of Budgens Group and employs more than 120 members of staff. Business has been trading for more than 10 years. 

Duties:

Successfully engaged in the process of selling the business to Coop Group and produced completion accounts for business termination.

Advised the Director and Management on long range financial plan.

Produced yearend financial accounts and liaising with the company’s auditors.

Monthly management accounts preparation whilst reconciling complex bank accounts.

Produced quarterly VAT submissions.

Analysed profitability of stores and communicated with management on performances and areas to improve.

Vision N Sparks (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka                                                                             Aug 2008 – Sep 2009

Managing Director

Start up business specialised on Advertising, media and PR with high profiled government and private client base. Pool of talented director board and set of employees focused on achieving business success. 

Duties:

Managed high profiled business clients whilst identifying business requirements and providing creative advertising business solutions.

Synergised the skills of a small team of Client servicing and Creative department based staff to deliver innovative advertising ideas. 

Managed the cash flow of the business. 

Preparation of financial statements for tax purposes and management declaration.

Bates Asia Strategic Alliance (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka                                                        Jan 2007 – Jun 2008

Brand Executive

A leading advertising agency in South East Asian region

Duties:

Built a good business rapport with clients whilst understanding their advertising requirements.

Handled tasks of a customer service assistant from customer brief to the execution of the marketing plan. 

Carried out field market researches and identified competition for client products. 

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS 

Masters in Business Administration, Merit Pass                                                       2009 – 2010

University of Greenwich, United Kingdom 

Modules include: Supply Chain Management; Financial Management; Creative problem Solving

BA Marketing Management, Class 2.1                                                                         2004 – 2009

University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Modules Include: Strategic Marketing Management; Advanced Marketing Research Methods; 

                          Market Analysis and Business Forecasting; International Management 

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

CIMA, Associate                                                                                                                2004 – 2009

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, United Kingdom

Modules include: Management Accounting Risk and Control Strategy

                          Management Accounting Business Strategy

                          Management Accounting Financial Strategy