What has been your greatest inspiration over the course of your career?
I left school – and a challenging childhood home – at the age of 15. With limited financial resources and no family support, I was driven by a determination to change my circumstances and create opportunities for myself. This focus shaped my ambitions and guided me as I navigated an industry where few people from my background had previously succeeded.
Latterly, my inspiration has been to give opportunities to others who have struggled for a break in life. We launched our apprenticeship scheme for school leavers back in 2010. And I am also committed to giving women a platform, the confidence to be themselves, and a choice.
Tell us a little about your career before launching Treasury Today.
Early in my career, I took on a wide range of roles, including waitressing, bartending, cooking, housing association work, and even a brief stint as an estate agent.
My first significant opportunity came at the Institute of Chartered Accountants, where I joined as a secretary. There, I was fortunate to work under Sally Waplington, an inspiring director who recognised my potential. She trained me first as a researcher, then as a commissioning editor, and ultimately as a manager. I owe a lot her and to my first manager, Jackie Gambrell – both formidable women who encouraged me to strive for excellence.
I later specialised in accounting, insurance, and banking across a range of publications, most notably including the Financial Times.
What inspired you to launch Treasury Today? What were you hoping to achieve?
I felt strongly that those working in corporate treasury and the associated functions weren’t getting access to independent information from a reliable source. While the banks were providing plenty of advice, there was very little objective analysis and information available.
My goal was to fill this gap and become THE information broker for treasurers and senior finance professionals. These roles are niche and require specialist journalism that is both dedicated and thoughtful, and I wanted to ensure these specialised roles received the attention and expertise it deserved.
What did Treasury Today’s early years look like?
The early years were challenging, marked by long hours, sleepless nights, and the constant balancing of work, family, and finances. I vividly recall my Co-Founder, Richard Parkinson, standing outside a conference hall in Lisbon giving out the first copies of Treasury Today, because we couldn’t afford to be in the exhibition space. Our first office was my flat in Pimlico, which gave us a London address at a time when we were trying to establish credibility.
We needed guts, that’s for sure. There was endless travelling and pitching ideas, and a lot of rejection. But the biggest and earliest supporters were the corporates, and they gave us absolute hope that the idea was right – they got it, and they really valued having access to well-researched information from a trusted source. They told their banks, who began to support us.
To this day, corporates remain both our inspiration and our primary focus, and many have become amazing friends along the way.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome in launching the company?
One of the initial problems we faced was that potential sponsors didn’t want to be the first to work with us. They wanted to see that the business idea was proven, tested and successful before they were going to use it. It as very difficult to get that breakthrough – I needed nerves of steel!
Fortunately, some people believed in what we were doing, and with the help of our early supporters we were able to prove and test our model to great success. The business has been growing and expanding ever since.
“Be fearless and brave. Keep your passion for what you believe in alive. Don’t get distracted from that belief – if you don’t believe in what you’re doing, no one else will. Seize every opportunity that comes your way, and if it doesn’t work, rethink fast and come back.”
What would you pick out as the key milestones in Treasury Today’s journey so far?
There are many amazing milestones that I now look back on with so much pride. One was launching our Corporate Benchmarking Country and Regional studies with J.P. Morgan back in 2006. The corporate market respected the information we provided on the various regions, including the first ever China study that we conducted in mandarin.
We also started working with John Nicholas, our Senior Advisor, in 2006, and he worked tirelessly alongside us setting up the research projects.
Another exciting development was the launch of Treasury Today in China, a dual language magazine, in 2005. With the Chinese economy opening up, and treasury functions beginning to emerge in Chinese corporations, we wanted to take the opportunity to explain treasury best practice to a new audience. Later we broadened the scope of the publication to become Treasury Today Asia, covering activity across the Asia Pacific region.
What do you see as your greatest achievement on this journey?
The proudest achievement for me would have to be launching the Adam Smith Awards and Women in Treasury & Finance programmes.
The Adam Smith Awards, launched in 2008, following several years of research into creating an awards programme that genuinely recognised the accomplishments of corporates – unlike other programmes that primarily focused on banks. We later expanded with the Adam Smith Awards Asia to celebrate corporate excellence across the Asia Pacific region. Both programmes have been a tremendous success. Today, an Adam Smith Award is recognised as the ultimate benchmark for corporate treasury and finance acheivement, which is a source of immense pride for me.
Our pioneering Women in Treasury & Finance programme was launched over a decade ago, profiling inspirational women across the industry and facilitating insightful discussions through our annual forums around the globe, which continue to be a highlight for the corporate community. This initiative has also given rise to our Within Awards programme, which celebrates exceptional individuals who are making a real impact within their industries and organisations.
If you could travel back in time to the beginning of this journey, what advice would you give yourself?
Be fearless and brave. Keep your passion for what you believe in alive. Don’t get distracted from that belief – if you don’t believe in what you’re doing, no one else will. Seize every opportunity that comes your way, and if it doesn’t work, rethink fast and come back.
How is Treasury Today continuing to evolve? What is the business focusing on currently?
When I set up the company, the landscape for female founders and working mothers was certainly very challenging. I never dreamt of seeing the amazing heights that the business is now reaching, and in particular our success in recent years in North America. Our audience in this region is very important to the company as we scale our operations and activities there, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to watch the business thriving in the Americas.
What initiatives has Treasury Today been working on in the US?
Last year, we launched a Ask A CFO, a podcast series with enormous success. It’s been amazing to see some phenomenal US-based CFOs lend their voices to this new platform.
Where our Women in Treasury & Finance programme is concerned, the annual forum in New York continues to be a highlight for the corporate community in North America. I know the team is thrilled with how active and supportive this community is.
Last year, I was also delighted to see the launch of the Future Treasury & Finance Leaders Forum initiative, bringing together winners of our awards programmes and other industry experts to discuss best practice and personal development. This initiative will include two chapters in North America this year, with even more planned for 2026.
Corporate support
None of this would have been possible without the support of our corporate readership whose feedback has been invaluable to us throughout the years. So a big thank you to all of them as we look forward to continuing our support for corporates in the years to come.
