Barry Jenkins
Assistant Director of Finance
Before I came to the North-East, I was at NHS Argyll and Clyde as national Finance trainee. I was looking for a promotion opportunity in management accounts, and the job here perfectly fitted the bill.I’m originally from Glasgow and I must confess I didn’t know much about Aberdeen. Initially I saw this job as a stepping stone in my career. However, I have a keen interest in the outdoors, and the lifestyle and being near the Cairngorms was a big attraction. The work life balance here is great: the size of the city makes it easier to get around compared to Glasgow and Edinburgh. You can live close to your work or you can live in the countryside and everything you get in Glasgow you can get here. There’s nothing I miss. The oil industry has brought money into the area and kept the standard of life high, which helps make it’s a nice place to live, work and bring up a family. I met my wife here and have a young, 17 month old daughter. It’s a great place to bring up young kids.
I think people are pleasantly surprised when they get to Aberdeen – the people here are very friendly, the Finance team is very welcoming, and the trend in recent years has been for people to come in from overseas. Polish people, Nigerians, people from the Indian subcontinent. It’s much more cosmopolitan. If you go back three years then people from Glasgow were from far away!
What’s it like working in Finance in NHS Grampian? – well, there are tremendous number of opportunities for enthusiastic and talented people. Like me, you can get promotion and there is a huge amount of support from colleagues and management. In fact, it’s second to none, the most I’ve had from any organisation. For example, they’ve supported me with professional development, notably an MBA, and for anyone who is prepared to put in the effort you’ll find that the NHS will support you every step of the way. It’s a genuinely exciting organisation. There are always new things to get involved in, there are always new challenges, and that’s why I have stayed here.
The Finance agenda in the public sector is continually evolving, continually trying to find ways to improve effectiveness and processes. It’s very much the case that we need succession planning and bringing in the right people. We have a range of different functions, different skill-sets, Treasury, Financial, Management, etc. We need people with lots of different skills. We have had a number of people who have gone into Finance who have gone into general management roles within the hospital: e.g. the Finance Director is also the Deputy Chief Exec.
The weather here is much better than the west coast, slightly cooler but with much less rain, and much drier. Outside work social life and leisure are great. My passions are mountain biking and getting into the hills. Pubs and clubs are excellent, though I don’t go to them so much now I’ve got a family.
