Spotlight On…

Tell us how you came to be at Phillips 66 Limited.

I graduated at the beginning of the financial crisis – which wasn’t great timing! I did a finance and economics degree, and I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. So, I opened the Yellow Pages, started at ‘A’ and was met with a swathe of Accountancy firms! I started working for a small practice doing tax returns and company accounts, and pretty much learnt on the job. I guess it was ‘qualification by experience’.

After my first role, I was accepted to be a secondary school teacher but also got offered an accountancy role as part of a tech company (HTC in Slough), which I did for about four years and really loved. They were a great bunch of people and it’s where I learnt all the ‘fun stuff’ about SAP – I think that’s a big part of why I got the role at Phillips 66 Limited.

After HTC, I took a job at a trading firm for five years before being made redundant during the pandemic and, rather than get another job straight away, I took the opportunity to spend time with my son. He was two and I’m so grateful for that opportunity – a really special time. But, after a year, I definitely needed a job, so I started putting out the feelers and doing some research and found the job advert, got an interview, went through the process, and here I am! I started in April 2021, it was the tail-end of the pandemic, so the office was open, but we were still operating a work-from-home policy. I did, however, spend my first day in the office and I met three people who, between them, had over 60 years’ experience working here, and I remember being so impressed with that. I mean, what better endorsement for a company and its culture than people who choose to stay? And that’s not just in the wholesale side of the business, it’s retail, brand – across the board.

Explain your role and give us a flavour of a typical day.

So, I was actually brought in as the Retail FP&A Analyst but then about 18 months in, I also took on wholesale as they merged the two roles. Essentially, I support the business on projects where finance is involved. The way I like to describe my role is that I’m more like a business partner – facilitating conversations between the finance organisation and the business. With retail at the moment, there’s a lot of work around EV, so I get to work with lots of different people within the organisation, which I really enjoy. From a reporting perspective, I interpret the numbers to provide people and departments with an overview of how their part of the business is functioning.

As for a ‘typical day’, that’s a tricky one! I’m in the office as soon as I’ve dropped my son to school. Having battled with the commute, I’ll sort through my emails and then check in with my manager, Adrian Smith. I make sure that I’m in the office on the same days as Geoff Henderson and Rupert Turner so that I’m available if they have anything for me. I’ll also check in with the Account Managers (who are often on the road) and also with the people in Humber. There’s always a lot of admin, especially at the moment, as we’re wrapping up an audit. I find there’s a lot of explaining and persuading in my role – lots of back and forth until we find a satisfactory resolution. In the afternoon, I’ll probably have a conversation with my counterpart in Supply who, essentially, we buy fuel from. It’s like we operate within our own eco-system that is wholly driven by the Humber Refinery. It can be convoluted at times, but it keeps you on your toes and is never boring!

We are in a period of transition for the industry – what do you see as the primary challenges?

From my perspective and my role, it’s more of a case of keeping an eye on the prize. The industry is changing but, one way or another, we will always continue to sell fuel. I constantly have to remind myself that it is about improving the margins because, moving forward, we will sell less fuel. It is essentially about ‘market efficiency’ – generating higher margins from fewer sites. The business is changing, and the energy transition is exciting, but we also need to ensure we continue supplying fuel into the market to meet ongoing demand.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I love learning about the different parts of the business because it’s so multifaceted. Every day is literally a school day. I also get huge satisfaction from the reporting suite we use – knowing that parts of the business are benefiting from information that I’ve spent a long time putting together. I also work with some great people – and a particular shout-out to my boss, Adrian. I’ve been a single parent for three years, and it was becoming difficult to manage, but I found that being upfront with the company really helped, and my manager has been really supportive.

Tell us something about you people may not know.

I have an obsession (an addiction?) with power tools. I know! I developed a furniture building hobby during the pandemic and now have an unnecessary amount of power tools – and there’s more on my list! Let me loose in a B&Q or a Wickes and I’m like a kid in a toy shop!

I even have a designated power tool cupboard at home. It’s definitely a problem, but I love it!