UAP CFO Bonnie Hodson is a Finalist in the Finance Awards North West

Our CFO, Bonnie Hodson, has been named as a finalist in the Finance Awards North West for the third year running!

Nominated by HSBC, Bonnie is again a finalist in the under £50m annual turnover category, recognising the transformative contribution she has made to UAP since she joined the company in 2018. She is just one of seven finalists in the category, determined by HSBC, RSM, the ICAEW, and guest industry panellists.

Since Bonnie’s appointment to CFO, UAP has grown from sales of £11.1m in 2017 to £20.6m in 2022. Bonnie has also contributed to UAP’s agile response to the pandemic, having constructed a detailed financial plan, re-phased supplier payments, secured bank support for an additional £1m stock financing facility, and helped the company to diversify as a supplier of PPE.

A key part of her remit has been to evolve UAP from a small company mindset to an ambitious enterprise without losing the culture that has made it so successful for the past 25 years. She explains: “Changes at a strategic level have been fundamental to changing the mindset of the business and the people within it, who are all so critical to our continued success as we accelerate our growth.  That’s why, in the summer of 2019, we set up a growth share scheme, which means every single employee in the company now owns a share of the business and benefits from its future success. These shares are earned and cannot be purchased, with 20% of the UAP share fund now owned by our employees.

“We have also recently added a companywide bonus scheme for all employees, linked to business performance and KPIs, to reward our team as we grow the business. Staff morale and motivation are critical to realising the potential of any business and, as CFO, I believe a big part of my role is leveraging the value of our people, not just crunching the numbers.”

The Finance Awards North West winners will be announced at a gala dinner at Old Trafford Football Stadium on Thursday 12th May.