Jamie reveals his nostalgic game favourites, how he’s settling into Genba and what makes a great Finance Director…
What are the most nostalgic video games from your youth?
My first games console was a Sega Megadrive so titles like Streets of Rage, Revenge of the Shinobi and Street Fighter bring back a lot of happy memories! After the Sega my Playstation kept me entertained for hours. The original Call of Duty games had me hooked but I used to love playing the various Pro Evolution Soccer games most, that was until FIFA became the better football game! Another Playstation title which deserves a mention was SOCOM US Navy Seals, this was the first game I properly played online which was great fun play with a group of friends.
Tell us a bit about what you do at Genba Digital and how you got here.
My main role at Genba is to help the business achieve its financial targets, ensuring we are on a solid financial footing and that we manage our fantastic growth in revenue efficiently. I originally started training as an accountant in practice before moving into industry roles at fast growing technology related businesses in E-commerce and IT solutions.
You’re one of our more recent recruits at Genba. What have been some positive changes or surprises for you since you joined the team?
The team at Genba have helped me settle in really quickly, the people are really friendly and the working environment is great and that’s been one of the biggest positives since I joined. The biggest surprise was the amount of titles I have never heard of that we distribute. I thought my knowledge of games wasn’t too bad but I’ve still got a lot to learn!
What would you say makes a great Finance Director? And which parts do you think you’re pretty good at?
You obviously need to be comfortable with numbers, that’s always a good start! A good FD must always be looking forwards to help drive strategy to ensure the business is on track to achieve its strategic goals. This forward thinking has to be balanced out with ensuring current performance and financial health is on a solid grounding. My main strength is balancing these two elements of the role and not being too bad with numbers!
What Genba Value resonates with you most?
I think to ‘Be Agile’ is a really important value, especially in a dynamic fast-growing business like Genba Digital where there are always new and different challenges that crop up each day. Genba as a business has to be ‘Be Agile’ to ensure we stay at the cutting edge of technology in an ever changing and dynamic gaming industry.
And finally… What does Jamie like to do, watch and play when away from the Genba grind?
Outside of work I love to play sport, football, cricket, golf, snooker, the list goes on. Naturally I tend to watch lots of sport too when I’m not playing! I’m an avid Nottingham Forest and Leicester Tigers fan so enjoy going to the occasional game when I’m not busy playing.
