Sara Boyd, MD of Graylaw, nominated at Finance Director of the Year Awards

Graylaw and Datel: a long-term partnership

A logistics company with over thirty years’ experience, Graylaw specialises in freight forwarding to and from the Isle of Man. Now also covering Ireland, the Channel Isles, all of the UK and Europe; Graylaw has an £18 million turnover and employs over 150 staff across four sites.

The business has been a customer of Datel’s for over five years, and is currently using Sage 200 to manage Graylaw’s finance functions. In addition to providing this support, Datel also implemented A La Carte, a Business Intelligence add-on for Sage 200 which provides essential reporting and KPI functions for Graylaw.

Sara Boyd at Graylaw

Sara has worked at Graylaw since 1997, when she first joined the business as a Purchase Ledger Clerk. She was soon promoted to Financial Controller, a role which saw her implement strong financial processes throughout the business, as well as introducing reporting and governance functions. During this time, Sara obtained her degree in Business Studies, and was in training to receive her Associated Certified Chartered Accountant (ACCA) qualification.

In 2004, with her ACCA qualification and degree completed, Sara was promoted to Group Commercial Director, and embarked on a Master’s degree in Business Administration. Sara became responsible for developing and managing the business’s financial, accounting and reporting systems, while performing ongoing reviews of sales pricing structures and supervising Graylaw’s Accounts department.

In 2007, Sara was promoted to Managing Director, which also sees her taking charge of the business’s Finance Director role. The following year, Sara completed her Master’s degree, and completed a CPC Transport qualification.

Finance Director of the Year Awards 2016

Sara has been nominated for the Young Director of the Year award at the Finance Director of the Year Awards 2016. The Awards were launched to recognise and celebrate the outstanding work done by the region’s financial directors.   The Awards are sponsored by Accountable Recruitment, Grant Thornton, Hill Dickinson and HSBC.

The Awards were founded by recruitment firm Accountable Recruitment. The firm’s Managing Director, Simon Massey, has a wealth of experience in the sector, having managed and recruited in the North West for over nineteen years. Graylaw recently called upon Accountable Recruitment themselves to appoint a new Finance Controller.

This year’s event will take place at the Hilton Liverpool hotel on Wednesday, 9th November 2016. Winners across twelve special categories will be announced on the night.

Speaking about her award nomination, Sara said: “I’m honoured and excited about being nominated for an award at this event, especially as the Finance Director of the Year Awards specifically recognises expertise in financial roles.

“It has been a real pleasure being able to look back over my career and recognise all the hard work and achievements to date. I’m looking forward to attending the Awards on the 9^th November and meeting my fellow Financial Directors from across the North West.”

Speaking on behalf of Datel, Andrew Pritchard, Sales Director, said: “We’ve worked with Graylaw for many years, and have always kept in close contact with Sara as the business has grown. During the almost two decades Sara has worked at Graylaw, she has committed her efforts to streamlining the business’s finances from all aspects, so it’s no surprise to hear that she has been nominated for this award.

“We would like to congratulate Sara on her nomination and wish her the best of luck on the night.”