Martin Allen

Summary

A career spanning property, construction and banking sectors, Martin operated primarily in a CFO/COO capacity. He has gained significant experience in dealing with the challenges that both rapid growth and organisational change pose to an organisation whilst maintaining a focused commercial mindset.

A qualified FCCA by profession, Martin has worked internationally and has significant experience in driving efficiencies through a company’s operations. Driving a highly commercially approach to supply chain management and client contractual negotiations are key skills. Currently Non-Exec Director for 2 Asian charities.

Experience

Martin is a qualified FCCA, qualifying in the UK. After spending 8 years in the UK at the head office of leading firm of Construction Cost consultants, he was seconded to Hong Kong where he set up and headed the Finance function for their fledgling operations.  Martin was part of a management team that drove a number of acquisitions during the early 2000`s and together with significant organic growth, the business (Arcadis) was transformed into a market leader in the region. A move to a leading property/workplace outsourcing business with CBRE was followed by moving client side within HSBC`s regional corporate real estate team. During his time in Asia, Martin was a member of the British Chamber of Commerce Angel Investors where he advised many start-ups and early stage SME`s on a wide array of business management issues and growth strategies.

He is flexible and a resilient self-starter, working well either alone or as an effective team player.

Over the course of his career, he has been active with:

  • Business Planning– Led both short operational and longer-term strategic planning process for a leading UK Bank covering 17m sq foot property portfolio in a environment of extreme cost pressure.
  • New business set up– Worked with fashion re-seller of second hand designer wear in Hong Kong . Initial business set up together with evaluation of cash flow needs and funding solutions.
  • Treasury & Cash-flow management– 3 and 5 year rolling cash flow projections driven off growth projections and capex requirements enabling business decisions to be made with confidence
  • Due-Diligence – (for acquirers and vendors) Management of the DD process from both a seller and buyer perspective involving all discussions from early stage desktop DD to full final stage commercial negotiations and legal closure
  • Finance Transformation– Initial business case/ impact analysis and scenario planning around organisational transformation including full stakeholder management
  • Buy/Sell Business – Early stage advice (buyer side) as to issue to consider/overcome leading to information memorandum preparation. On the seller side, full management of sale process through data room preparation through to negotiation and deal  closure.

Testimonial:

“Martin and I worked together at both CBRE and HSBC between 2015 and 2020. Martin is a value-adding combination of commercially orientated business solutioning delivered off a strong base knowledge of finance and accounting. He is particularly good at navigating through complex business and finance issues involving multiple stakeholders , always with an outcome based mindset. Positive, full of drive to deliver and get things done“

Marcus Bowen (Regional Head of Operations , Corporate Real Estate – HSBC Asia Pacific)