A day in the life of Matt Howard, Finance Accountant

Our next ‘Day in the Life’ focuses on our brilliant Finance Accountant, Matt Howard. Matt has been in the business for two years and works at our head office in Salford. Matt Howard has extensive knowledge and experience and has worked for some of the best accountancy firms in the country. A few years ago, Matt Howard decided to relocate his family to Manchester and join the Thermatic family and he hasn’t looked back since!

Can you give us a brief insight into your career path which has led you to be in the position you are today?

I actually trained as an accountant at my dad’s practice, and then moved to a top40 firm to work in their corporate services team, this was hard work but I learnt a lot, working really closely with SME’s and groups, it gave me the experience to then move out of practice and into industry with Thermatic!

I enjoyed working in practice but always knew I wanted to move to industry when the time was right.

Are there any moments in your career, past or present, that stand out to you?

Getting the job at Thermatic changed my life a lot, (and I’m not just saying that) my family and I were looking to relocate from Norfolk to Manchester so I came up for a week to look for a job, and had a second interview at Thermatic and was offered the job, without the job we wouldn’t have been able to get a house, needed a house to get my boy in school etc so it was in hindsight massive for us, and it was my first move out of practice so a big change all round.

What kind of skills do you need to be effective in your role?

Organisation is really important, it is an extremely busy environment with multiple businesses and stakeholders, lots of growth happening and being able to stay on top of things can be challenging.

Can you tell us about a typical working day for you?

Every day of the month tends to be a different job but I do prefer to come to the office most days. With multiple companies there is always a deadline of some sort looming so I tend to write lists to keep me on track and judge how productive a day it was by what is left on the list at the end.

How do you think Thermatic Energy Services reacted to the pandemic and what kind of effect on the overall industry do you think it will have?

I think Thermatic Energy has done really well, the staff are very pro-active and haven’t let Covid stand in there way, albeit they do love to get out and about with clients.

In terms of the industry, I think a lot of people are hoping Covid has helped the environment long term, allowed people time to really consider what they are doing to fight climate change and hopefully this will mean we see a big shift in the industry towards reducing energy consumption and companies engaging a lot more with businesses like us, as there is so much more we can all do.

Where do you see Thermatic Energy Services in 5 years?

There is no doubt in my mind it will continue to grow as the team is brilliant at what they do, and what they do is becoming more and more important each year.

However, I don’t think the business will fundamentally change, the staff are really supportive of each other and are excellent at looking after clients and assessing their needs, and I don’t think that will change.

Can you tell us about the hardest moment in your career and how you overcame it?

I don’t think I have had one ‘hardest moment’, pre-qualification was hard work, you don’t get treated overly well which I found disappointing, but getting qualified is a long road that builds character as well as technical skills, it’s long hours and not overly enjoyable but you end up with a lot of options and skills that you wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Thermatic’s culture is at the heart of the business – can you describe what the culture means to you?

Its brilliant, I do feel very lucky to work with the people I do, everyone is different but adds value in their own way. Within the group there is a brilliant mix of skills/experience but also a willingness to learn off each-other. Whether it be the MD or a trainee, people are always talking to each other.

What do you believe is the greatest thing that Thermatic Energy Services has achieved so far?

Wow tough question, I think getting the team together that they have in place is extremely important, full of energy (excuse the pun), enthusiasm and knowledge and I really think it is set up for a bright future. They really do know the industry inside out, spend 10 minutes with them and you will no doubt agree.

Do you have any advice for people who want to work in the industry?

I think to succeed in any industry you have to be willing to work hard and learn off the right people, get yourself into a role where you can do that and over time you will see yourself progress.

What do you love most about your job?

I like having a group role, I can experience and learn about different industries as well as see different approaches senior managers take to certain situations. There are so many challenges that all businesses face, by working so closely with many businesses you build up your experience at the same time.

Finally, if there was one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

I feel very fortunate so I wouldn’t perhaps change anything per say, but I would say to just be honest with yourself and the people around you, if you don’t know what someone is asking, that is ok, there is so much to know in accountancy, you can’t possibly remember it all, sometimes you just need to be honest, say you don’t know and go and find out the answer!

About Thermatic Energy Services

We work with end-user clients to help them achieve their energy management targets. Our support ranges from Install, monitoring and compliance to procurement. Our main focus is giving our customers visibility to their systems and data to allow them to make actionable decisions to reduce their energy consumption, improve their building operation and achieve their sustainability targets.