Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Timeline
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David Linklater

David Linklater

Dubai

Summary

A commercially driven Chief Financial Officer focused on delivering shareholder value (private, public and private equity-backed organisations) through sustainable profitable growth, delivered using strong change management, systems integration, and performance measurement skills in blue-chip, manufacturing, construction, and consumer-based organisations. Possessing the ability to combine strategic planning with tactical delivery, using effective problem solving, cost control, and business forecasting to achieve defined organisational goals across diverse Global platforms. Extensive exposure to cross-cultural practices and international business protocols, particularly in North America, the Middle East, and South-East Asia. An influential team leader motivating, coaching, and business partnering staff at all levels in the business to question the status quo, driving business improvement and efficiencies designed to secure and improve profitability. Experienced in multi-disciplined groups and delivering complex contracts in rapidly changing global settings.

Overview

29
29
years of professional experience

Work History

Director and Advisor

RAD Advisory
Dubai
01.2022 - Current
  • RAD Advisory is a CSP firm that specialises in establishing regulated firms in the ADGM as well as advising on complex restructuring strategies throughout the region
  • Additionally, we are a scalable fintech provider of invoice discounting and related services to support start-ups and MSMEs in the UAE
  • This unlocks significant working capital which turbocharges growth in an environment where working capital options are extremely limited
  • Key Achievements
  • Establishing the strategic processes, procedures, and automations that allow a company to provide funds to reduce the risk of default as much as possible and targeting suitable free zones and other establishments that will be best suited to the type of financing on offer
  • Developed a robust legal framework that addressed many of the possible scenarios when deploying funds, from the payment terms to the security and collateral measures expected from the borrowing entrepreneur
  • Developing and delivering a marketing plan for both firms that specifically target those customers that are not being serviced by the competition
  • Identifying and negotiations with funders and other inwardly investing partners to acquire the best rates possible either through joint deployments or profit share arrangements

Partner & Director of CFO and Tax

Rethink
Dubai
05.2018 - 12.2021
  • Re/think is a boutique accounting, regulatory and compliance, VAT advisory, audit, HR consultancy, recruitment and business advisory firm
  • Specialising in assisting SME clients with cost-effective, high-quality services and solutions
  • Creating value by investing in highly qualified and motivated people and working closely with leading industry partners to provide our clients with a one-stop shop for all of their business support
  • Offices in Dubai & Bahrain and clients throughout the Middle East Region
  • Key Achievements
  • Managing a team of 30 tax lawyers, accountants and auditors capitalised on the growth created with the introduction of VAT within the region to achieve double-digit growth
  • Implemented the virtual-CFO initiative through public speaking, events, and direct client engagement
  • Appointed v-CFO for one of the UAE’s largest F&B restaurant chains to identify cost savings, implement robust controls, reporting and employ competent and motivated staff
  • Strategically, introduced a new business revenue stream by offering advice to clients on raising funds, business plan creation, company valuations debt/ equity structuring, teaser presentations, and training entrepreneurs on how to behave in front of investors
  • Advise entrepreneurs on how to add value from the early-stage start-ups through to the multiple VC funding rounds; educate the business owner on what mattered when an exit was pending and where his/ her efforts should be focused
  • Successfully established an operating business service company in Bahrain, including company setup, employing the correct and most suitably qualified staff as well as the client engagement strategy
  • Developing the systems implementation offering with both start-ups and mid-sized clients looking to effectively link their ERP, POS, CRM, logistics planning and Inventory systems to the financials of the company
  • Advising client firms on the requirements on the latest legislations for Economic Substance Regulations (ESR) and Beneficial Owners Register (BOR) legislation effective throughout the UAE and the GCC
  • Appointed Finance Officer for 3 Regulated CAT 3C & CAT 4 Investment start-up companies in the DIFC and ADGM

Chief Financial Officer

Dubai Destinations of the World
03.2016 - 05.2018
  • Destinations of the World is a large private equity-backed Global e-commerce (B2B/ B2C) wholesaler/ Retailer travel company based in Dubai, turning over $600 million in sales
  • Hotel rooms are sold through the companies’ web portals to online travel agents
  • Acquisitions have seen triple-digit growth in North America and Japan
  • Employed as the Group Chief Financial Officer (directly from HotelBeds) with the responsibility to develop a highly effective reporting shared service centre with 110 finance staff as well as to business partner the CEO driving sustainable growth into the business through strategic acquisitions and organic growth
  • Extensive Global management throughout the Middle East, South East Asia and Americas ensuring client, supplier and operations were balanced with effective leadership
  • Key Achievements
  • Managing cash flows on a global basis using a combination of payment portals and hedging tools
  • Facilitated through developing strong relationships with external stakeholders
  • Successfully recruited and built a large high-performance shared service centre based in Manila, the Philippines with forecasted annual savings of $1 million
  • Developing strong commercial business partnering relationships with Global contracting teams through the provision of accurate reporting, budgeting and detailed analytical interpretation
  • Professionalising the approach to business engagement and group reporting
  • Ensured the Global corporation taxes and local consumption taxes were as efficient as possible, whilst remaining 100% compliant with local and international laws
  • Integrating two newly acquired companies with combined turnovers of $120 million (Japan and South Korea) ensured processes were mirrored to effectively implement the group ESR systems
  • Ensure that the right people were in the right roles with the correct qualifications for the operations to be effective
  • Securing additional funding for planned expansion growth as well as target acquisitions
  • Engaged in establishing several JV arrangements throughout Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, ensuring the responsibilities of each party were clearly understood, establishing the matrix of deliverables and devising the financial reporting for both parties and corporate head office

Regional Group Finance Director

MEAPAC Hotelbeds – TUI Group
01.2013 - 12.2015
  • HotelBeds is a subsidiary of the FTSE TUI travel group wholesale/ retail sales B2B/ B2C through e-commerce online portals with a turnover of €600 million
  • Contracting with 50,000 hotels in 147 countries selling 14 million room nights per annum and achieving double-digit growth over the past 10 years
  • Engaged as the Regional Group Finance Director based in Singapore with the responsibility of ensuring that the company is prepared for the very high annual 60% year on year growth rate by making sure we have the right teams, processes, reporting and commercial support throughout Asia
  • Responsible for Finance Directors of multi-site companies based in Singapore, Bali, Penang, Bangkok, Shanghai, Dubai and HK
  • Key Achievements
  • Stabilised the finance team during a period of rapid change by ensuring the company had the right people in the right roles delivering the highest standards of compliant financial management possible resulting in timely, accurate and relevant FP&A
  • Devise strategies to deliver efficient fund flow solutions for complex tax, legal and treasury inter-country requirements making sure that all legislations were followed
  • Estimated annual savings of $600k
  • Prepared the Singapore hub for implementation and delivery of a shared service centre (SSC) facilitated by process standardisation
  • Estimated savings, 25% of the total 109 finance staff costs
  • Devised strategies ensuring that the back-office functions (Finance, HR, IT, Legal, Procurement and Operations) were capable of supporting the 60% growth rates by ensuring we employed quality people, utilised the automation technology available to us and developed an ethos of strong collaborative teamwork throughout the region
  • Integrating the regular small acquisition targets in Thailand and Vietnam

Group Finance Director

AG Thames, AG
01.2010 - 12.2012
  • Thames is a £350 million privately family-owned food supply chain/ logistics business with seven international subsidiaries, including an independent B2B haulage firm, and two Joint Venture companies importing, distributing and growing fruit for supply to all the major retailers throughout the UK
  • The company has grown organically and through acquisition
  • Engaged to business partner the Managing Director with the remit to prepare the company for its next growth phase with particular emphasis on IT, reporting, people, processes and cost control
  • Key Achievements:
  • Placed an underperforming Joint Venture company into administration and devised a strategy to procure the trade, assets and tax losses of the company saving around £4 million, whilst managing all the legal and HR processes
  • Working with subsidiary general management implemented the strategy, controls and people to turn around a trading company losing £5.6 million to generating profits of £750k per annum
  • Reviewed and improved the operational processes of the 5 farm shops owned by the company
  • Enhancing the efficiency of the logistics/ transportation of goods home and abroad, ensuring all INCO terms were understood, insurances were effective and passing of title reflected correctly in the accounts
  • Using Kaizen techniques, improved the handling and management of perishable inventories
  • Establish the continuous improvement teams responsible for identifying and delivering cost savings of $500k
  • Improve the reporting structure and KPI’s of the business ensuring accountability key stakeholders.

Finance Director

Refresco Ltd
06.2008 - 12.2009
  • Refresco is the leading European manufacturer of private label soft drink and fruit juices with 26 sites and a turnover of €2 billion
  • Employed in this €70 million company as a business partner to the Managing Director with a broad remit of improving the processes, quality of financial reporting and ensuring factory cost savings are delivered in line with the Groups expectations
  • Key Achievements:
  • Stabilised the Finance Department by employing competent, qualified and motivated individuals
  • Improved the financial processes and procedures ensuring that the previous surprise loss of €7 million would never occur again
  • Verified through two rigorous independent audits by both KPMG and PWC
  • Tasked with establishing a Kaizen team to critically examine the material flow through the factory and in doing so identified and delivered a further €1.3 million of material and labour savings.

Group Finance Director

Burtons Foods Ltd
02.2007 - 05.2008
  • One of Britain’s oldest FMCG food manufacturers established in 1829 has a turnover of £400 million, employs over 3,000 people and is backed by Duke Street Capital
  • The company manufactures Wagon Wheels, Jammie Dodgers and Cadbury fingers
  • Business partnering CEO with full accountability for all financial segments of the company with 10 direct reports and 45 staff
  • Tasked with establishing a comprehensive reporting system, hedging against commodity and currency fluctuations, leveraging any identified savings as soon as possible and working closely with the companies venture capitalists and banks to secure further funding
  • Key Achievements:
  • Identified a significant VAT input error amounting to £12 million in overpaid taxes
  • Introduced a comprehensive management reporting tool that injected a level of confidence with the financial backers and allowed the senior management team to implement better operating controls
  • Coordinated subcontracted operational cost-saving and capital projects expected to save £10 million
  • Lead the disaggregation of a £20 million manufacturing subsidiary, including all attached real estate.

Finance Director

Tetrapak Ltd
02.2006 - 01.2007
  • 10 billion FMCG company employing 20,000 people supplying packaging and food processing throughout the world
  • Hired to spearhead a mission-critical transition project migrating all SAP financial/ business processes, with total transactional values of around €18 billion, to Business Outsourcing Centres operated by 500+ staff
  • Establish BPO/ Outsourcing Centres in China, Poland and India
  • Key achievements:
  • The transition of standard high volume transaction processes throughout the world to BPO centres in China, Poland and India
  • Projected annual savings of $30 million
  • Developing the “Client Relationship Management” strategy to facilitate effective communications between client and corporate Finance Director target companies
  • Provide leadership and strategic direction of this large project ensuring staff motivation during difficult periods
  • Ensure that all legalities and HR aspects are adhered to during the planned redundancies of the project and maintain a balance of fairness between all those individuals facing unemployment.

Finance and Commercial Director

Neville Johnson Offices Ltd
01.2000 - 01.2006
  • A designer and manufacturer of high-quality bespoke branded capital goods for commercial and residential clients with £17 million in annual turnover and multi-site retail stores
  • A high-growth entrepreneurial organisation
  • Reporting to the Chairman with responsibility for the financial management of the business as well as HR, IT and all commercial sales operations; including the manufacture of high value branded products, designed to customer requirement and tailored fitting to the highest standards
  • Key achievements:
  • Outsourced all fitting and electrical operations whilst retaining work and quality standards
  • Saved £600K pa
  • Devised and implemented a full costing system incorporating material, labour and overhead to give full profitability at POS
  • Used forecast model to plan production programme and saved 60% in manufacturing routing time
  • Created electronic price book for field sales teams controlling discount
  • Improved sales revenue by £1M
  • Integrated credit control and field management using KPI’s reducing outstanding debtors by £825K
  • Through product development and marketing, increased the depth and volume of product sales by $4million
  • Identified, values and assessed potential target companies for possible acquisition.

CFO/COO

Simula - Airline Interiors Inc
01.1997 - 01.2000
  • Reporting to the Group CEO with responsibility for turning this aviation company around from losing $1 million per month to break-even through the control of the sales team and lean manufacturing techniques
  • Ensured all accounting practices and reports conformed with US GAAP
  • Relocated to the California, San Diego USA for three years.

Finance Director

Simula – Automotive Ltd
01.1996 - 01.1997
  • Reporting to the MD with responsibility for designing and implementing robust business systems and controls in a rapid growth greenfield start-up company supplying BMW.

General Manager

Rolls Royce Industrial Power
01.1993 - 01.1996
  • Ran the transformer division of the Industrial Power Group

Education

Bsc (Hons) - Marine Biology

Newcastle upon Tyne University

Chartered Accountant (FCCA) - undefined

Rolls Royce and Deloitte & Touche - undefined

Skills

Financial Strategy

undefined

Timeline

Director and Advisor

RAD Advisory
01.2022 - Current

Partner & Director of CFO and Tax

Rethink
05.2018 - 12.2021

Chief Financial Officer

Dubai Destinations of the World
03.2016 - 05.2018

Regional Group Finance Director

MEAPAC Hotelbeds – TUI Group
01.2013 - 12.2015

Group Finance Director

AG Thames, AG
01.2010 - 12.2012

Finance Director

Refresco Ltd
06.2008 - 12.2009

Group Finance Director

Burtons Foods Ltd
02.2007 - 05.2008

Finance Director

Tetrapak Ltd
02.2006 - 01.2007

Finance and Commercial Director

Neville Johnson Offices Ltd
01.2000 - 01.2006

CFO/COO

Simula - Airline Interiors Inc
01.1997 - 01.2000

Finance Director

Simula – Automotive Ltd
01.1996 - 01.1997

General Manager

Rolls Royce Industrial Power
01.1993 - 01.1996

Bsc (Hons) - Marine Biology

Newcastle upon Tyne University

Chartered Accountant (FCCA) - undefined

Rolls Royce and Deloitte & Touche - undefined

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