At any one time, tens of thousands of accountants in the UK will be aiming to become a company finance director with their next career move. Yet, according to recruitment experts, at least 50% of financial controllers will simply get stuck and never manage to make the jump. 'The reality is that there are far more candidates than there is demand,' says Matthew Leedham, director of Michael Page Executive Finance in London/The majority want to make the step up but lack one or other of the key criteria that would enable them to act effectively as FD.' Clearly the scale of the leap to finance director depends very much on the size of the company and whether or not it is listed. The role of FD in a public company will involve considerably more external communication - with investors, banks, lawyers, brokers and auditors - as well as more attention to compliance and regulatory issues, than in a smaller, private company. An FD in the latter, with a turnover of less than £100m for example, is likely to be more hands-on, and therefore the step up from financial controller is going to be somewhat easier.
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