Invaluable Treasury Skills with Adam Richford

There are certain skills and traits that are always going to have top priority, but what are treasury leaders looking for in the next crop of professionals?

Today, we revisit episode 33 for a re-run episode with Adam Richford, Director of Treasury & Investor Relations at Renewi plc.

When Adam last joined the show, we discussed his journey into the industry, work/life balance, automation and his treasury recruitment processes.

As Adam re-joins, we look at how his role has changed since COVID and the benefits of networking, plus Adam provides more invaluable advice for budding Group Treasurers.

Adam joined Renewi, Europe’s leading Recycler, in 2016. Renewi is a key actor in the creation of the circular economy. It processes 12m tonnes of waste a year, diverting an industry leading 67% of these materials to recycling and avoiding 3m tonnes of carbon as a result.

Back in 2016, he financed the €0.5B Class 1 reverse takeover of the closest competitor, which included a rights issue, placing, and underwritten bank financing.

Over the 7 years since then Adam and the team have created an award-winning centralised treasury function and been at the forefront of green and sustainable finance.

Since 2019, Adam has extended beyond the treasury function by focusing on leading investor relations in addition to Treasury and Insurance.  This has included a secondary listing in Amsterdam in 2020, an increase in sell side coverage from 3 equity analysts to 9, additional sustainability-focused investors joining the register and a share price increase from 180p to 850p.

Prior to Renewi, Adam spent two years at Gala Coral Group, managing a high yield debt structure transaction towards the reverse takeover of Ladbrokes plc.

He spent the previous 9 years leading the treasury activities of GE Real Estate Europe, supporting over 20 billion dollars of M&A transactions.

Adam began his career with EY, helping to build the turnaround and working capital management practice before joining the telco Energis, followed by a stint at a Private Equity Firm, Kelso Place Asset Management.

Adam left Durham University with a BA in Economics in 1997 before gaining an FCA in Chartered Accountancy in 2000. He later embarked on a number of ACT qualifications.

On the podcast we discussed…

• Adam’s previous job roles and what they entailed
• What initially attracted Adam to treasury
• The structure of the treasury team at GE Capital
• Finding work/life balance while studying for the MCT
• How the structure of treasury has changed and adapted since Adam first joined
• The existing role that automation plays within the treasury industry
• Adam’s ethos behind treasury recruitment
• Challenges that Adam has faced in his current role as Group Treasurer at Renewi plc
• The benefits of networking
• How to manage a treasury team remotely and COVID challenges
• What he looks for when recruiting
• Advice for someone who aspires to become a Group Treasurer

You can connect with Adam Richford on LinkedIn.

Are you interested in pursuing a career within Treasury?

Whether you’ve recently graduated, or you want to search for new job opportunities to help develop your treasury career, The Treasury Recruitment Company can help you in your search for the perfect job. Find out more here. Or, send us your CV and let us help you in your next career move!

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