Our People Back
John Kitson
Finance Director
- Biography
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John qualified as an accountant at the age of 23, and has spent the majority of his career working in Senior financial positions in food or food related businesses. After starting his career at Asda he spent 14 years working at Northern Foods in a variety of operational and Head Office roles, including Group Financial Controller. He then moved to a role in London as Finance Director at Booker, a food distribution and agribusiness company, where he stayed for seven years.
John’s most recent position before joining Symington’s was as Finance Director of Peter Black Holdings, a Private Equity backed business based in Keighley. In this role John was involved in a buy out of the business, its refinancing and subsequent disposal in 2007 to a major international trading company.
John joined Symington’s in March 2008, following David and Henrik’s takeover of the company, where he is focused on managing the banking and external funding relationships of the company to ensure that sufficient financial resources are available to facilitate the long-term growth of the business. In addition to this, he is also responsible for financial planning, reporting and control as well as heading the HR and IT functions of the company
“I joined Symington’s because I didn’t want to work in a bureaucratic, corporate environment,” said John. “The company culture here has an informal, flexible feel which means decisions can be taken quickly. It’s a fast-moving place to work, which helps create a great deal of opportunities for the business and its employees.”
In the coming years, John is looking forward to playing a key role in the continued growth of the company through new product and channel development and by acquisition, ensuring that we exceed the financial targets of the company
When not hard at work, John is a fan of Leeds United, as well as a keen golfer. He is married with three children.
Joceline Morley
Assistant Management Accountant
- Biography
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Joceline joined Symington’s in June 2008 after starting a career in investment accounting at a large blue-chip company where she soon decided that a career in management accounting would be more relevant to her qualification and give her more hands-on business experience.
Her role involves producing a range of weekly business reports that allow teams to see key profit and loss data, as well as sales figures, which enable the decision makers within the business to easily see how the key areas are performing and what action needs to be taken, if necessary, to keep the business on track
Joceline was excited about the prospect of becoming part of the team at a fast-growing business:
“I knew there would be lots of opportunities to get hands-on experience at Symington’s,” she said, “and I certainly haven’t been disappointed. The working environment also has a very strong family feel, which appealed to me.”
Since taking up the post, Joceline has risen to the challenge of assisting in the implementation of new accounting systems with the restructure of the team.
She also benefited from the ongoing training and support from other members of the team, has been granted study leave when necessary for her ACCA training. This is a major goal in the development of her career.
“I’m always learning from the high-calibre team members I work with. I am also given the opportunity to lead new projects when they arise.”
“There’s a strong team culture here; we are all pulling in the same direction, and senior staff are approachable, and make you feel appreciated. I’m really looking forward to helping the company grow in the years ahead!”
When not at work, Joceline is a keen gym goer. She is also an enthusiastic musician and plays violin with the West Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra.
