Thomas Michael Roberts
Aldridge,West Midlands
Summary
ACA-Qualified (2015) AI Finance Transformation Leader and Warwick Physics graduate with 11+ years of Big 4 and enterprise experience. Combines £1bn+ statutory financial control with advanced AI capabilities. Expert at bridging the translation gap between complex technical architectures and Board-level strategy. Currently finalising an MSc in Computer Science with AI to lead the transition toward autonomous, compliant finance ecosystems.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work history
IWE Commercial Financial Controller
Veolia ES UK Limited
Cannock, Staffordshire
2018.05 - 2026.05
- Progressed through sequential leadership roles, encompassing both £1bn+ enterprise statutory control and agile £100m commercial P&L management
- Commercial Strategy & P&L Leadership: Lead financial strategy for IWE Commercial division (c. £100m annual turnover)
- Presented AI agent solution to Management - dynamic A* pathfinding for refuse vehicles during waste collection, with adjustable heuristics.
- M&A Integration: Led financial integration and acquisition accounting for Rentajet Group Limited, ensuring seamless consolidation into IWE commercial portfolio and aligning reporting structures with Group standards including accounting framework change.
- Commercial Governance: Act as definitive financial authority for corporate governance, reviewing and signing off on financial viability and risk profiles of all new commercial contracts and business development opportunities.
- Major Infrastructure Project Control: Directed complex financial accounting for Southwark 2.0 project; highly visible £60m publicly funded district heating network, navigating multi-stakeholder funding and strict regulatory compliance.
- AI-Driven Financial Transformation: Engineered and deployed AI-enhanced reporting solutions. Significantly accelerated working capital cycles, optimising debtor and accrued income aging through automated tracking and data analytics.
- Team Restructuring & Capability Uplift: Directed 18-person finance department. Executed strategic capability uplift through rigorous performance management, realigning team output with Big 4-level delivery standards.
- Date: March 2025 – Present Position: IWE Commercial Financial Controller
Financial Controller
Veolia ES UK Limited
Cannock
2021.06 - 2025.03
- Enterprise Scale & Authority: Acted as definitive financial entity controller for Veolia ES UK Limited (£1bn+ turnover), directing enterprise-level budget forecasting and long-term financial modelling.
- Board Advisory: Controlled Corporate Overheads (c. £75m cost base). Appointed to translate and present highly complex financial variances directly to CEO, CFO, CIO, and Head of HR.
- ERP Transformation (SAP to Workday): Acted as a financial architect during enterprise migration. Proactively identified structural errors, led remediation process, and engineered direct live-data integrations for management reporting.
- Technical Compliance: Partnered with IT to model financial impact of complex regulatory changes (IFRIC’s SaaS accounting interpretation), ensuring seamless alignment between IT spend and statutory reporting.
- Talent Turnaround & Capability Uplift: Inherited and directed 10-person finance department, executing comprehensive structural turnaround. Identified critical performance bottlenecks and initiated robust performance management protocols to strip out inefficiencies.
- Date: June 2021 – March 2025 Position: Financial Controller
Finance Manager
Veolia ES UK Limited
Cannock, Staffordshire
2018.05 - 2021.06
- Big 4 Audit Liaison: Served as primary strategic interface for external auditors (EY). Engineered highly controlled audit environment, minimising statutory adjustments and ensuring frictionless review cycles.
- Regulatory Implementation Strategy: Authored and deployed UK&I Group strategy and calculation methodology for Bad Debt Provisions in response to new IFRS 9 standard.
- Complex Modeling: Partnered with General Ledger team to operationalise new IFRS 16 lease tool, and engineered automated calculation processes for Holiday Pay and complex central provisions.
- Multi-National Consolidation: Managed working capital reporting and executed legal entity results submissions to Paris HQ.
- Date: May 2018 – June 2021 Position: Finance Manager
Senior Financial Accountant
Scholastic Ltd.
Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
2016.01 - 2018.05
- Executed complex M&A hive-up accounting, automated legacy reporting via VBA macros, and managed global multi-stream consolidations to US parent while running external audit and FRS102 transition.
- Implemented efficient payment processing systems to reduce transaction time.
Assistant Manager (Audit & Corporate Finance)
Deloitte LLP
Birmingham, Birmingham
2012.09 - 2016.01
- Achieved 'Distinctive' top-percentile grading. Executed strict-deadline M&A Due Diligence, built complex profit/revenue bridges, and ran full-lifecycle IFRS/UK GAAP audits for FTSE clients. Promoted from Associate & Senior Associate during this time.
Education
MSc - Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence
University of Wolverhampton
WolverhamptonBSc (Hons) - Physics
University of Warwick
CoventrySkills
- Technical: Python (Scikit-learn, PyTorch), Neural Networks, C# Programming, VBA, Google Apps Script, SQL
- Leadership: Managing 18 Reports; Monthly ExCo & CEO Reporting; Stakeholder Management
- Finance: Commercial Revenue Optimisation, Corporate Overheads, Audit Compliance (Big 4 trained), IFRS & UK GAAP
Certification
ICAEW Chartered Accountant (ACA) | Deloitte LLP | Qualified 2015
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Financial Controller
Veolia ES UK Limited
2021.06 - 2025.03
IWE Commercial Financial Controller
Veolia ES UK Limited
2018.05 - 2026.05
Finance Manager
Veolia ES UK Limited
2018.05 - 2021.06
Senior Financial Accountant
Scholastic Ltd.
2016.01 - 2018.05
Assistant Manager (Audit & Corporate Finance)
Deloitte LLP
2012.09 - 2016.01
MSc - Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence
University of Wolverhampton
BSc (Hons) - Physics
University of Warwick