CFO Leadership Network Europe

Chief Financial Officer, Royal DSM and Co-Chair of the A4S CFO Leadership Network Europe

Member of the DSM’s Managing Board as of 1 August 2014 and Chief Financial Officer as of 1 December 2014, succeeding Rolf-Dieter Schwalb.

Prior to her appointment, Geraldine Matchett was the Global Chief Financial Officer and member of the Operations Council of the SGS Group, a publicly quoted company on the SIX Swiss stock exchange and the world leading company in inspection, verification, testing and certification with 80,000 employees and annual revenues of approximately CHF 6 billion.

Geraldine has three nationalities (Swiss, British and French) and has previously worked in London for KPMG and in Switzerland for Deloitte as financial auditor and audit manager, handling clients in the food, pharma and chemical sectors. She has extensive experience interacting with all relevant stakeholders, has been actively involved in corporate development activities and has managed many areas of the finance function across the world. She was recently voted CFO of the year in Switzerland for large companies.
 

Chief Financial Officer, Tesco and Co-Chair of the A4S CFO Leadership Network Europe

Alan joined Tesco PLC on 23 September 2014 as the CFO. Alan qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte in South Africa and moved to the UK in 1985. He has extensive financial experience in retail having been CFO at Marks & Spencer and WH Smith. He started his career in the UK in investment banking with HSBC. He became CFO at Thomas Cook Holdings in 1998 and was appointed UK CEO in 2001. From there he moved to WH Smith as Group CFO. In 2008 he was appointed CFO at AWAS, a leading aircraft leasing business, before moving to M&S in 2010. Alan is also a NED with Diageo.

Chief Financial Officer, ABN AMRO Group

Clifford Abrahams was appointed to the Executive Boards of ABN AMRO Group N.V. and ABN AMRO Bank N.V. on September 1, 2017. As Chief Financial Officer (CFO), he is responsible for Finance. His current term expires in 2021.

Clifford Abrahams began his career in 1988 at LEK Consulting with a focus on financial institutions. In 1993 he moved to Morgan Stanley, where he became responsible for Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructuring and subsequently in 1997 for Financial Institutions. In 2002 he was appointed Managing Director. From 2005 to 2015 he worked in different functions with insurer and asset manager Aviva Plc. First as Group Chief M&A Officer and then as Chief Financial Officer at successively UK & Ireland General Insurance, UK & Ireland Life Insurance and Aviva Investors.

From January 2016 to August 2017, Clifford Abrahams worked with Delta Lloyd N.V, Amsterdam as a member of the Managing Board and Group Chief Financial Officer.

Group Chief Financial Officer, National Grid

Andy trained and qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and is a member of the ICAEW. He has significant financial experience, having previously held a number of senior finance leadership roles across the Group, including Group Financial Controller, UK CFO and, most recently, Group Tax and Treasury Director. Andy’s in-depth knowledge of National Grid, both in the UK and US, and his broad experience in operational and corporate finance roles have ensured a smooth transition to his role as CFO.

Andy graduated with a BA(Hons) degree in history from University of Bristol and served in a number of roles with PricewaterhouseCoopers, including a secondment to the US, before joining the Group in 2008. 

Finance Director, SSE

Gregor has over 25 years’ service with the Group, having joined Scottish Hydro-Electric plc in 1990. He is a chartered accountant and was Group Treasurer before being appointed to the Board as Finance Director in October 2002.

Gregor has SSE Board-level responsibility for Finance, Investor Relations, Risk Audit and Insurance, Procurement and Logistics, IT and Corporate Business Services.

He is the sponsoring Board member for SSE’s businesses in Ireland, Chairman of the Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution Board  and Chairman of 33% owned Scotia Gas Networks Ltd.

Gregor is also a non Executive Director of Stagecoach Group plc.

Global Chief Financial Officer, Chanel

Philippe Blondiaux is the Global CFO of Chanel. Based in London he oversees finance operations across the various divisions, regions, and activities of the company. He is in charge of modernizing the finance vision and skillsets, and bringing valuable insights to the business leadership of the company.

A French national, Philippe earned his MBA from Ecole de Management de Lyon and his DESCF (French Chartered Accountancy highest diploma) before starting his career with KPMG.

With the Bolloré Group for 7 years, he held positions as operational CFO of various subsidiaries of the Group in Africa before moving to Nestlé where he held different CFO positions in Ivory Coast, Pakistan, Switzerland and Russia.

As the CFO of the Nestlé Russian/CIS Region in Moscow, he partnered with the CEO to drive double digit growth in a year before being promoted CFO of Nestlé Europe where he oversaw a finance organization of 3,000 people while actively contributing to regain market share and restore profitability. As Nestlé‘s Senior VP–Corporate/Group Controller reporting to the CFO, he controlled the group strategic business units and co-piloted the group’s Strategy and Operational management along with the Group CEO, CFO, and other members of the leadership team.

In his free time, Philippe trains and runs marathons all over the world. He is currently developing his skills as a cyclist and training to compete in triathlons.

Chief Financial Officer, The Crown Estate 

Kate joined The Crown Estate in October 2016 as Chief Financial Officer.

Kate joined from FTSE 100 intu properties plc where she had been Director of Finance. She had previously managed intu’s investor relations after joining in 2000 as Group Financial Controller. Kate qualified as a chartered accountant with Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) in 1995, working in their Canadian and corporate finance practices.
 

Chief Financial Officer, Anglian Water Group

Steve has spent almost two decades working across the globe in the utility sector. From the largest water and wastewater company in the UK (Thames) to a global energy and services company (Centrica), Steve has led finance and transformation functions focused on delivering for both shareholders and millions of customers in complex and challenging environments. He joined Anglian Water Group in June 2019, taking a seat on the Board as Chief Financial Officer in August 2019. Steve is both a Chartered Management Accountant and a firm believer in the importance of engagement, inclusivity, scrutiny and transparency when it comes to delivering against the needs of a modern business acting with public interest at its core.

2002 Finance Director regulated business, Thames Water

2004 Finance Director Europe, Thames Water

2008 Finance Director, British Gas Service & Repair

2011 Finance Director, British Gas Services

2014 Transformation Director, British Gas

2015 Finance Director, British Gas

2017 Group Head, Finance and Transformation, Centrica

Chief Financial Officer, British Land

Appointed to the Board in May 2018.

Skills and experience Simon joined British Land from Logicor, the owner and operator of European logistics real estate, where he has served as chief financial officer since January 2017.

Prior to joining Logicor, from 2015 to 2017 Simon was finance director at Quintain Estates & Development Plc. Simon previously spent over ten years with British Land, working in a variety of financial and strategic roles and was a member of our Executive Committee from 2012 until his departure in January 2015. Simon also previously worked for UBS in fixed income and qualified as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen. Simon holds a degree in economics from the University of Cambridge

Member of the TUI AG Executive Board as of 15 July 2018 and Group Chief Financial Officer as of 1 October 2018. TUI, one of the world's leading integrated tourism groups with more than 20 million customers and 70,000 employees.

Prior to her appointment at TUI AG, Birgit Conix was the Group Chief Financial Officer of the Belgian BEL-20 media and telecommunications group Telenet, which she had assumed in October 2013.

Birgit is Belgian and has previously worked for Heineken in the Netherlands and for the global healthcare company Johnson & Johnson, where she held various management and leadership positions across Europe from 1996 to 2011.

Prior to J&J, she worked at both Tenneco and ReedElsevier. She has almost 30 years of extensive experience in all aspects of Finance across many different industries in various countries, obtained an MBA from Chicago Booth School of Business and was recently voted CFO of the year in Belgium. 

Chief Financial Officer, Pennon Group

A graduate qualified chartered accountant, Susan joined the company in August 2007 from Yorkshire Water where she was Head of Regulation. She is also a council member of Water UK

Susan occupied a number of senior finance posts for Yorkshire Water including Head of Finance in their Waste Water Unit and Head of Finance for Brey Utilities, a joint venture company owned by Yorkshire Water and Earthtech Engineering Ltd.
 

Chief Financial Officer, Heathrow Airport Holdings

Javier serves as Chief Financial Officer of Heathrow Airport Holdings since May 2016. Javier is member of Heathrow Airport Holdings Board of Directors, Chairman of Heathrow’s Fire Safety Board, Chairman of Heathrow’s Investment Committee and Company’s Shareholder Representative at NATS Holding Limited Board of Directors.

Javier joined Heathrow in January 2008 and he has advised the Board and Chief Executive on establishing Heathrow’s current capital structure and positioning Heathrow as a strong credit in the financial markets, setting a robust financial investment appraisal capability and leading Business Finance to become a genuine strategic business partner.

Prior to joining Heathrow, Javier worked as senior manager with Ferrovial, a Spanish based world’s leading infrastructure operator and municipal services group.
 

Chief Financial Officer, Siemens (Digital Factory)

Chief Financial Officer, Solvay

Karim joined Solvay S.A, as CFO and Member of the Executive Committee in September 2013. Prior to that, he had a varied career which started in 1984 at Grant Thornton Chartered Accountants in London, where he became a partner at in 1993 specializing in SMEs across numerous industries and in corporate distress. He moved to Royal Dutch/Shell in 1995 and undertook a number of roles in the UK, Sultanate of Oman and Singapore, where his last role was Deputy Global CFO of Shell Chemicals. Karim subsequently joined Tarmac Group (a division of Anglo American Plc) as Group CFO before being appointed as Group Managing Director in 2009. Karim then briefly took the role of Director Finance and Planning at Imperial Tobacco Group Plc in 2011 before joining Solvay in 2013 to contribute to its transformation.

Karim is a dual British-Lebanese national, an Economics graduate from the City University in London and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. He is married and has four children.
 

Chief Financial Officer, Storebrand

Education: MBA, Thunderbird School of Global Management and MSc Business Administration, BI Norwegian Business School

Previous positions: CEO Storebrand Livsforsikring AS, Group EVP & Head of Corporate Life Storebrand Group and Deputy CEO Storebrand Bank ASA.

Previous employers: Citibank and Scandinavian Airline System (SAS).

Iain became Chief Financial Officer of GSK on 1 April 2019, after joining as Chief Financial Officer Designate on 14 January 2019. He is an Executive Director of the GSK Board and a member of the Corporate Executive Team.

Iain is responsible for Global Finance and several of the company’s key global functions including Investor Relations and Tech.

Prior to joining GSK, Iain was Group Finance Director at the global bank HSBC, a position he held for eight years. A chartered accountant, Iain has worked in Asia, the US and Europe and before HSBC was at General Electric, Schlumberger Dowell and Price Waterhouse.

Iain is a Trustee of the British Heart Foundation and a member of the Court of the University of Aberdeen.

Iain holds an MA in Business Studies and Accounting, and an Honorary Doctorate from Aberdeen University in Scotland.

Chief Financial Officer, Stora Enso

Seppo joined Stora Enso in 2014.

He was CFO and EVP, Food and Medical Business Area at Ahlstrom Corporation 2009–2014. CFO for Metsä Board (M-real) 2006–2009. Prior to that Seppo held various line management positions at the packaging company Huhtamäki, including responsibilities such as paper manufacturing within Rigid Packaging Europe and General Manager for Turkey.

Chief Financial Officer, Unilever

Graeme Pitkethly was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Unilever in 2015 and was appointed an Executive Director to the Boards of Unilever N.V. and Unilever PLC in 2016. Graeme joined Unilever in 2002 and was previously Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Unilever UK and Ireland business. Prior to this he held a number of senior financial and commercial roles within Unilever, including Senior Vice President of Finance for Global Markets, Global Head of M&A, Head of Treasury, Pensions and Tax and Chief Financial Officer of Unilever Indonesia.

Prior to joining Unilever, Graeme worked in the US, Bermuda and London with FLAG Telecom and before this with PWC in a variety of audit and corporate finance roles.

Graeme is a Chartered Accountant and holds a bachelor’s degree in Applied Chemistry from Strathclyde University. In a personal capacity, Graeme is Vice-Chair of the Financial Stability Board Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”).
 

Chief Financial Officer, Randstad

Henry Schirmer holds a Master’s degree of industrial engineering and management from the Technical University of Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) in Germany. He joined Randstad as CFO and member of the executive board in 2018 and brings more than 25 years international management and leadership experience in the fast moving consumer goods industry, and industrial sector under public and private equity ownership. Prior positions include CFO Unilever Europe and CFO Unilever North America. Henry is a member of the Board of Directors of General American Investors and the non-profit organization Results for Development. Henry is responsible for Global Finance and Accounting, Business Control, M&A, Tax, Treasury, Business Risk & Audit, Investor Relations and Legal.