Bob is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years of commercial experience as a Finance Director with private and public companies, operating in a range of sectors.
For 12 years to July 2017 Bob was the Chief Financial Officer of the University of Sheffield with responsibility for Finance, Estates, IT, Accommodation and Commercial Services.
He began his career training with Coopers & Lybrand (now part of PricewaterhouseCoopers) before joining a medium-sized accountancy firm offering consultancy services in financial planning, funding and information technology to a range of clients: from owner-managed enterprises to public companies.
A common thread through all of Bob’s executive roles has been the development of clear organisational strategies during periods of business growth or change. Whilst Chief Financial Officer with the international law firm Eversheds, Bob had a primary role in the merger of its seven legal partnerships into one.
Bob was chair of the British University Finance Directors Group from 2013 to 2016 and contributed to several HE sector reviews, such as the Diamond Efficiency, Effectiveness and Value for Money review. In 2019 Bob was appointed to the Board of the National Centre for Universities and Business as Treasurer.
A focus of his activity in the HE sector has been to aid a better understanding of financial performance and financial sustainability by funders, regulators, governors, staff and students. This focus continues as a member of the sector’s Financial Sustainability of Research Group.