Ian Haugh

What’s your job title?
Chief Financial Officer

What sort of duties do you have at work?
I need to be on top of the financial implications of everything that we are doing or plan to do. To support the rest of the team in their decision-making by giving them an understanding of the financial and business context of the commercial decisions they are being asked to make. As an experienced MD/CEO, I also have a role to play in the wider management of the company be that at a strategic or operational level. Compliance with Company Law, Employment Legislation, and many aspects of HS&E requirements are amongst the less glamorous elements of my responsibilities. Ensuring the long-term financial stability of the company is a responsibility I share with the CEO.

What has your career path looked like until now?
Having studied engineering at University I took a swerve into accountancy in my first “real” job. I discovered I had an aptitude for this and was very quickly rising through the ranks and being persuaded that I needed to qualify as an Accountant so that other Accountants could be persuaded to work for me. Having ticked that box, I moved into more general management roles – which is more where I wanted to be. Accountancy gives you a great understanding of important aspects of a business, but it really is the sum of its people, and my joy has always come from encouraging people to become more than they knew they could be. This background has taken me to running a division of Citibank, being CEO of a firm of solicitors, the MD of the UK’s largest independent wind farm maintenance company, the MD of a producer of Probiotics and a few Financial Directorships in between.

What’s your secret to making progress each day?
I’m a devil for a list. I think having clarity of purpose is key, but in order not to kill yourself with stress, some flexibility helps.

What motivates you at work?
I have always been motivated by doing any job well. I do take pride in a job well done. But, certainly at my stage of life, I don’t want to be doing a pointless job well, I am motivated by doing something worthwhile – something that moves us (all) in a healing direction.

What makes SGS different from other places you’ve worked for?
The size we are (very small currently) and the importance of the mission we have (massive) are not a combination I have experience with. Each of us has a real, personal responsibility for something much bigger than ourselves. I have managed numerous businesses through significant transformational stages and events (mergers, trade sales, and (potentially) catastrophic growth phases), which all feel as if they have led me here.

Who inspires you?
Jurgen Klopp, his style, his ethic, his passion.

What kind of music do you like?
That has become an increasingly mixed bag as the years have gone by.

What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
The Lie (Helen Dunmore)

What’s your favourite food?
I love a good Sunday lunch – the whole family feasting thing is important to me, but really, I love good food, I can’t think of anything I don’t like. I’m lucky because my wife is unbelievably dedicated to eating well, whether vegetarian or meat or fish. I can knock out a very fine Sunday lunch, but she is super creative the rest of the time.

Do you have any hidden talents or hobbies?
If I do, they are well hidden.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Tall

What’s your favourite thing to do on a weekend?
I like my Saturday chores—wood chopping, working in the garden that sort of thing. Leading to a Sabbath of relaxation and feasting. Watching Liverpool, whether on the telly or at Anfield, is something I love to do.

What’s your favourite season and why?
Is it the spring for the glory of new beginnings or the autumn for the colours? I think, probably, spring time.