He swapped showbiz for accountancy years ago – but Bradley Channer still ended up onstage collecting a trophy and soaking up the applause.
Brad, CFO of the tech firm UBIO, was named Finance Director of the Year, the category sponsored by iplicit at the Accounting Excellence Awards.
Aikta Varma, Head of Finance at The West Brom Building Society, was highly commended.
The other worthy finalists for the trophy were last year’s winner, Becky Glover of Yutree Insurance; Charlotte Crowley of Xynteo; Ciaran O’Donnell of The Virtual FD; and Lorna Leonard of Leonard Business Services.
In an interview with iplicit after he was shortlisted for the award, Brad told of his “really weird, backwards” route into the profession.
He almost became a star of children’s TV in Australia, appeared in the film Superman Returns and sang for Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim. But he quit a hand-to-mouth existence in entertainment to go into business.
After advising startups as a consultant, he found an ADHD diagnosis led to him “suddenly just focusing”. He qualified as an accountant and has since raised more than 60m US dollars for early-stage companies.
The Accounting Excellence Awards judges said in their comments: “Our winner proved himself a very deserving winner, demonstrating that he has taken several businesses to successful exits over the years.
“In his current role, Bradley developed the tech firm’s first financial model, reporting and metrics and identified performance indicators that boosted gross profit margins from 65% to 85% over two years.”
Matt Lewns, Partner Manager at iplicit, who presented the award, said: “It was a huge pleasure to award the trophy to Brad.
“He has demonstrated the impact a great FD or CFO can have on an organisation through using data to drive a better understanding of every aspect of the business. His combination of deep technical knowledge, a forensic eye for figures and an ability to communicate the financial picture to non-finance people make him a force to be reckoned with.
“I know the judges faced a very tough decision in picking a winner from this crop of nominees. Congratulations to Aikta Varma, who was highly commended for the impact she has had at The West Brom Building Society, and to the other four finance leaders who made it onto the shortlist. They’re all great ambassadors for the profession and should be very proud.”
Read Brad Channer’s story in full.