Top arts venue
Fairfield Halls in Croydon is south London’s premier arts, entertainment and conference centre. Virtually every day you can see top-class acts – from Joe Pasquale to Shakespeare. Music, dance, theatre, comedy, and kids… you name it. There are art exhibitions, a massive catering operation, and not forgetting a 42-bed hotel under Fairfield’s ownership.
Assistance required
Following an introduction from one of the trustees to Simon Walters, we got involved in June 2004, with Ian Parlane advising the client, mainly via a close working relationship with Derek Barr, Fairfield’s chief executive.
Oversee finance department
The Financial Controller departed several months after our work commenced, and Ian was asked to oversee the operation of the finance department pending the recruitment of a new Chief Financial Officer.
In particular, work was undertaken to:
- formulate a detailed ‘zero-based’ budget for each department;
- set up a new format of management accounts, which gave much more detail to management, were more understandable and allowed detailed comparisons against budget;
- establish marginal and fully-costed operating costs, set daily income targets; and
- identify key performance indicators (KPIs), and introduce specific monitoring and targeting of their performance.
Recruiting our successor
Finally, Ian assisted with the recruiting of the new CFO, getting involved in the interview process and the decision-making process, and carried out an ordered handover to the new full-time incumbent. As with all our clients, Ian remains available for continued involvement if the client wishes.
