Andrew Collis is Group CFO at Moneypenny, an outsourced communications provider that offers call answering, live chat, and customer experience solutions to businesses across the UK and the US. The company supports more than 16,000 clients and, over its 25-year history, has handled more than 180 million customer conversations.
Andrew joined Moneypenny four and a half years ago as CFO, bringing experience from private equity-backed businesses with both UK and US operations. Since joining, he has focused on building the financial structure needed for growth, while helping the business invest in technology, including the recent launch of AI voice agents, alongside its people-led service model.
Here, Andrew shares how he became a CFO, the traits he believes matter most in finance leadership, and how he stays grounded outside of work.
How did you become a CFO?
I have always been interested in business and the role numbers play in shaping it. I qualified as a chartered accountant 22 years ago and then moved through a range of finance roles that helped me build experience over time.
As my career developed, I realized I wanted to be a CFO in fast-growing, private equity-backed businesses. I was particularly drawn to those with a strong focus on people and technology.
Over the past decade, I have held CFO roles in businesses with UK headquarters and US operations. Those roles have given me broad experience in scaling organizations internationally.
For me, being a CFO is about more than the numbers. It means being a strategic partner to the business.
What skills or traits does a good CFO need?
Determination and resilience are essential, because CFOs often have to make difficult decisions. Those decisions are not always easy, and they can affect people.
Alongside that, the ability to connect with people is critical. In a business like Moneypenny, with around a thousand employees across the UK and US, it’s important to be visible, approachable, and empathetic. The final trait is being forward-looking.
A CFO needs to anticipate what’s coming next, particularly when it comes to technology, and work closely with the business to align financial strategy with long-term goals.
What excites you most about your current role?
What excites me most is how we are evolving the customer experience at Moneypenny. We are expanding beyond traditional call answering into AI voice agents, while ensuring technology and people work together in the right way.
At the same time, the culture at Moneypenny is something I genuinely enjoy being part of. We have a strong, values-driven culture and have been recognized repeatedly as an employer of choice. That combination of innovation and culture makes the role exciting every day.
What’s the biggest challenge facing your role right now?
The pace of change is the biggest challenge. Technology is evolving quickly, and it is important to stay on top of that while making sure the business has the right tools and systems in place.
We are currently investing in a new finance system across the group, which will help streamline processes and introduce additional automation.
Alongside technology, building and retaining the right team is always a priority, as people are fundamental to delivering what we do.
What single thing do you think would make your job easier?
More time. We are scaling quickly and running multiple initiatives at once, which can be demanding. Having a strong team around me makes a big difference and helps keep things manageable.
What is the best bit of business advice you’ve ever received?
One piece of advice is to build the best team possible and create an environment where people feel comfortable speaking freely and challenging ideas. That kind of openness leads to better decisions and faster progress.
Another piece of advice came from a chairman who told me that a decision is better than no decision. Business can become paralyzed through slow decision making. If you have a strong team, you’ll get most decisions right, and when you do not, you can recover quickly and correct them.
Which book do you think every finance leader should read at least once?
Legacy by James Kerr. The book explores leadership lessons drawn from elite sports teams, particularly the world’s most successful rugby team, New Zealand’s All Blacks, named for their traditional all-black uniform. It focuses on humility, discipline, and the importance of doing the right things today, even if you never see the long-term results yourself. It also asks a simple but powerful question: What will your legacy be?
What do you do outside of work to protect yourself from burnout?
Family time is really important to me. I have four children, and spending time with them is a priority.
Sport is also a big reset for me. I have been a Manchester City season ticket holder for more than 30 years, and I have coached my sons’ football teams for the past 12 years. Coaching has been particularly rewarding, watching the teams develop and grow together.
What’s been your proudest achievement in your current role?
For me, it is about transforming the finance function into a true strategic partner to the business. That shift changes how finance supports decision-making across the organization.
At Moneypenny specifically, I am proud of the work we have done to grow the US business, including completing two U.S. acquisitions in the past two years. Those acquisitions have played an important role in expanding our presence and capabilities in the U.S. market.
If you weren’t a CFO, what would you like to do?
I would work in sport or in developing talent. Helping people unlock potential and watching them grow is something I find very rewarding.
What is currently inspiring you today and why?
Recently, I have been listening to a podcast called The Founders, which profiles the founders of well-known businesses. It explores what motivated them, how they approached challenges, and what drove their success. I enjoy learning from those stories and taking small insights that can be applied to my own work and leadership.
Andrew Collis is Group CFO at Moneypenny, an outsourced communications provider that offers call answering, live chat, and customer experience solutions to businesses across the UK and the US. The company supports more than 16,000 clients and, over its 25-year history, has handled more than 180 million customer conversations.
Andrew joined Moneypenny four and a half years ago as CFO, bringing experience from private equity-backed businesses with both UK and US operations. Since joining, he has focused on building the financial structure needed for growth, while helping the business invest in technology, including the recent launch of AI voice agents, alongside its people-led service model.
Here, Andrew shares how he became a CFO, the traits he believes matter most in finance leadership, and how he stays grounded outside of work.
