Leadership spotlight: Head of Commercial Finance


In this series we hear from the Senior Leadership Team at Three about the latest activity across the company and a little about the people behind the projects.

 

Vital stats

  • Name: Steve Meacham
  • Job title:             Head of Commercial Finance
  • Function:             Finance
  • Tenure: 3½ years

Tell us a bit about your background

 

After a few years running production lines making kitchen units and books, I joined a Finance Graduate Scheme at Ford Motor Company – which is where my career in Finance began. I have broad telco and IT experience having worked at Vodafone, O2, Travelport and Three. The latter part of my career has been in Commercial Finance.

 

In a nutshell, describe your role and how it supports Three’s objectives

 

My role as Head of Commercial Finance means my team and I are financial business partners of the Commercial team; in particular I support the leadership team. The main aim of the role is to enable the business to make better business decisions that drive the maximum value.

 

I lead a team of 21 people who manage 3 broad areas:

 

  1. Commercial Decision support, such as supporting pricing and new proposition business cases
  2. Cost Management for all areas of Commercial including Marketing, Contact Centre, Digital, Retail stores, Commercial
  3. SMARTY – end-to-end financial support

 

What are the big things in the world of Commercial Finance right now?

 

This is a really busy time of the year for my team as it is when we do the last major forecast of the year and the budget for 2022.

 

We are also supporting the development of business cases and pricing decisions ahead of a critical trading period of iPhone, Black Friday and Christmas, with the aim of helping Three to succeed in the market.

 

How did you support your personal wellbeing during the past 18 months?

 

After a couple of sporting related injuries during lockdown, I have recently enjoyed trying strengthening sessions with a personal trainer at the gym – and so far, so good – I am still in one piece!

 

I also try and get out and walk as many days as I can – to stretch the legs from sitting at the desk all day.

 

I think that the boundaries of work and home life can easily blur with home working – but I try to be as disciplined as I can to turn off at a reasonable time and shut the office door at the end of the day.

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