Careers

Local hero

What drives an AAT and CIPFA qualified to the very top at the tender age of 35? Heidi Early went to Croydon to talk to Nathan Elvery and find out

So who is Nathan Elvery? At the tender age of 35 he is London's youngest public finance director and, judging by his track record, someone to watch.

The high-flier landed the job of FD at Croydon Council in August 2004 – a challenging position considering the state of the council's finances at the time. Its general fund balances stood at £282,000, the pension fund was in deficit by £254 million and a savings package of £37 million was required to balance the 2004/05 budget.

Just over a year later and the finance department boasts a complimentary external audit report on the 2003/04 final accounts, and the financial position for 2004/05 was stabilised. Furthermore, the department is on course to deliver a contribution to balances for the first time in five years and debt levels have been reduced by £7 million in three months.

So it's not hard to see why Elvery won the title Finance Director of the Year (public sector) at the recent Accountancy Age awards.

And he's modest to go with it, insisting his success at Croydon so far must go to what he calls his 'finance family'.

"This is not about me, this is about what the team has achieved. It's really in recognition of how far they have travelled – they really have worked flat out. I have just been there to guide and support and lead, but they are all very capable individuals."

You quickly get the impression that Elvery is a great motivator – to turn the Council's finances around so quickly you would have to be.

"On my first day I walked around the office and thought everyone was out to lunch because it was so empty. It was one of the smallest central finance teams in London." Elvery explains that there had been four reorganisations of the finance department before he arrived, and not one had been completed. "There was no structure, no job roles, there were too many consultants, a lack of investment. It's no wonder the team was completely demotivated."

So Elvery started – and completed – a comprehensive restructure within three months, increasing the number of posts by 35-40. He picks staff very carefully, considering how they will contribute to the culture he wants to create. This is "one where individuals are inspired to be their best by creating a supportive structure that allows them to do that, where they can be motivated but also feel protected. If they make a mistake there will be no blame, just lessons learned."

Elvery adds: "The most important thing to me was to get rid of the fear of uncertainty, and I had to be seen to deliver on my promise. So the restructure was finished just before Christmas [2004] so everyone could have a break and not be worried about their position."
At the moment he is developing a comprehensive trainee programme, as well as recruiting PQs.

Elvery's philosophies might sound like idealistic management-speak, but a quick glance at his career path and his high regard of previous bosses has obviously shaped his personal style.

Always on a fast track, Elvery joined local government in 1987 on a fasttrack trainee programme - three years of AAT study and three years of CIPFA, passing each exam first time. Other positions to note are the setting up of the finance function for the Greater London Authority and advising Mayor Ken Livingstone.

"I was very fortunate... it is not often you get the opportunity to work with such experience." Most recently he held the assistant FD position at Westminster City Council. "Peter Rogers was an inspiring leader," he says of his former boss, adding that the last four or five public FDs in London have worked in Westminster at some point.

Elvery rather modestly insists that working with such good people and a series of lucky breaks have got him to where he is – although he admits that he does enjoy a challenge. "Opportunities come along, they might be risky, but what's the worst that could happen? If you make a mistake, just learn from it."

Being labelled a maverick is a title Elvery says he is "not entirely comfortable with". Controls, systems and processes are very important, he believes, "but you have to understand how things work and then you can come up with creative solutions to problems".

He describes himself as self-motivated and determined to stick at whatever he is doing. Being so highly focused and motivated also means as soon as a challenge is over he moves on. Over the past 15 years he hasn't stayed in the same role for more than two years – "although I can see the challenge at Croydon lasting longer". But it's not something he sees as a negative trait. "I've always known when it's time to go, my skills run out or it just feels like 'I've done this before it's time for someone else to take over', or there's a bigger challenge on the horizon."

So can a man who works so hard have much of a life? Elvery says so. "But you have to be strict about it from the beginning. I am at the Council's beck and call Monday to Thursday 7am till 10pm but come Friday afternoon I am with my family (he has a wife and three children) and if work ever called (they haven't so far) I would not answer, and I have told the directors as much."

It's a lesson he says he learnt the hard way – a mistake he's not willing to make again.

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