Altenar now employs more than 500 members of staff with a wide variety of skills and expertise.

As a global company, the Altenar team is made up of many different nationalities, backgrounds and languages. Each individual contributes to our success in different ways and their paths to get here vary too.

In the latest of a series of interviews with our workforce, we find out more about Chief Financial Officer John Quaye;

How long have you been a member of the Altenar team and what made you want to join the company?

I joined the company in July 2022 having been in financial services most of my career. Moving to a new industry was really appealing and when I met with the leadership, the opportunity to be part of such a fast-growing and interesting company was compelling. 

What are your main roles and responsibilities here at Altenar?

As CFO, I lead the financial function as well as having general responsibility for the Isle of Man office. Obviously, there is a large focus on the numbers but with lots of overlap with the legal and compliance as we handle due diligence sign-off and new contracts for example. 

What do you think makes you good at your job/what you do?

I think one of the biggest skills to have in a leadership position is to be a good listener. It is impossible to be an expert in every area and so being able to listen, understand problems quickly and engage in sensible but sometimes challenging discussions is key. 

I quite like the Steve Jobs quote: "It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do, we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do."

How does your department help the company reach its overall targets and goals?

As finance, we are the gatekeeper to the company funds. This is a delicate balancing act in a dynamic business as we need to create and enforce policies whilst also not restricting the ability of the business to grow.

Integral to the management of the cash flow of the group is also the relationships that go with it; managing banks, ensuring suppliers are paid on time and that invoice receipts are collected promptly. To use a sporting analogy, if the business was a football team, we'd be a goalkeeper with good feet and great distribution (hopefully!).  

What are the key skills you need to be a success in your team/department?

Good numeracy is obviously vital but also to be a strong communicator with a desire to learn. Finance interacts with every other department in some form and it's vital to understand the wider business as we assess day-to-day transactions or forthcoming needs.

How do you expect your role in this industry to change and develop in the future?

I don't necessarily expect my role to change but I think the function of a CFO has more generally shifted in recent times. Traditionally the focus would be more heavily on financial reporting and accounting whereas now it is more strategic with a focus on risk management, especially in a geographically diverse business in a global marketplace.

Tell us about your career prior to joining Altenar?

I trained and completed my Chartered Accountancy exams with PricewaterhouseCoopers, auditing various companies in the Isle of Man, before a brief stint with the Ryanair PLC group as my first job in the industry. The next 12 or so years were spent managing trust and corporate structures with a particular focus on investment markets.  

What’s the one thing you’d love to change about your role/industry?

I think more so as an accountant, I think it's moving away from the image of accountancy as a grey and boring profession. While it is possible to fall into that, I think most accountants these days need to be much more rounded and are less rigid, contributing ideas based on the knowledge they have from seeing all the angles of a business.

What did you want to do as a job/career when you were a child?

I don't think I ever really knew and more so I fell into the profession by being good with numbers, although obviously if I could rewrite the script, being a Premier League footballer or an F1 driver would come a close second to being Altenar's CFO! 

Away from work do you have any hidden talents?

I like to run a little and have completed a fair few marathons, but I think it's probably less hidden these days with the Altenar sponsorship of the Isle of Man Marathon.

What is your biggest achievement away from your work career?

Definitely my kids. I've somehow managed to raise tiny humans who are well-behaved, funny, and kind 51% of the time. It’s like running a circus but I can't decide whether I’m the ringmaster or the clown!