Career Focus – Finance Manager Sue Wray

Finance manager Sue Wray recently celebrated her ten year anniversary at Aptus Utilities. Here she shares an insight into her career, the lessons she’s learned and her advice for those starting out in the industry.

Q: What did you do prior to joining Aptus?

Before I joined Aptus, I worked for a private housing company as the group finance manager. I have always worked in finance and construction, so making the move to Aptus seemed like the ideal step in my career.

Q: Tell us about your role at Aptus?

I’m in charge of the finance team so it’s all about numbers for me! My responsibilities include producing the month-end accounts and managing the banking and VAT returns.

It’s up to our team to ensure that all transactions are recorded accurately, so attention to detail is paramount.

Q: Have you noticed any recurring financial trends in recent years with regards to projects and cashflow?

Yes, and it’s quite a significant change. We used to receive the majority of contract payments from clients at the beginning of a project, with a smaller proportion being sent over by the asset company towards the end of the contract process. This split has changed however, meaning we now see a smaller payment from the client when a job commences and a larger payment from the asset company when the project completes. This means we need to monitor cashflow in a different way to ensure we maintain our seamless service to clients.

Q: Has digitisation impacted your work and brought about any challenges?

I have always used computers throughout my career, so from that perspective it has been interesting to see software developing over time. We have actually just had a new programme installed that uploads invoices and matches them to the order as well as saving each individual invoice to the record.

While it can be challenging to learn new systems, it is rewarding to implement them successfully for the benefit of the company.

Q: What advice would you give to anyone starting out in the utilities sector?

Learn as much about your job as possible and make sure you keep trying to learn new skills. It’s also important to appreciate and understand how your work can affect others, both inside and outside the business.

Q: And finally, what do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I play a lot of golf at Worsley Golf Club and have been the Ladies Secretary for two years. One of my biggest golfing highlights was getting a hole in one during a competition. I also enjoy trips to Nefyn in North Wales to visit friends, and to Lymington on the south coast to visit my family.

Published on 12th September 2023