Diageo Scotland FD, Richard Bee

“But if that means we can’t sell our products competitively elsewhere in the world, that could be a problem for us.”

We return to the jam-packed CV that has taken him (and in the last decade, a wife and three young children) to several cities in England, western Ireland, Belgium and North America. Bee pulled out of the running for a job with Diageo in the Far East because of concerns around a previous restructuring effort there and the impact on his family.

He admits that the number of roles he has stayed in for two years or less reflects the fact that he gets bored easily. He has taken a two-pronged attack to his finance career, keeping one ear to the ground on upcoming opportunities that provide exposure to different elements of the contemporary group FD job, as well as simply going for roles that get his synapses snapping.

“I was 18 months into a performance ­management role when I landed at Diageo’s Great Britain business [as commercial FD for Diageo Great Britain]. One of the conversations I was having there was, ‘I’d like to be FD of a ­business, please.’ It was almost a bit of a barrier for me to being able to move on.”

Then an opportunity came up in Belgium [FD, Belgium & Netherlands, which Bee took up in 2004], “probably a little earlier than was ideal in terms of where I was with my role, but it was a business FD job so I took it.” That lasted 14 months because the role was made redundant in another restructuring exercise, but Bee made capital from it and found himself in Connecticut as vice president of financial planning and analysis for Diageo’s North American business just a month later.

“I was really enjoying the job and would have liked to stay longer. But on the other hand, I feel lucky because I think it is very important for a finance generalist to find opportunities to build expertise. It was probably a bit soon, but I felt that those jobs didn’t come up that often.”

Fifteen months into that job, an FD role for a supply business came up there. Rather than ­moving again, he combined the two, staying put for nearly four years before coming back to Europe last February for the Scotland FD role (which, true to form, also encompasses the role of FD, Europe supply).

“If I ever did just one thing, I’d be bored,” Bee concedes. “I’ve been challenged every step of the way and if I wasn’t I would be bored – but it’s never happened to me,” he admits. “[Diageo CEO] Paul Walsh often talks about wanting Diageo to be an iconic company in the way that Procter & Gamble or Coca Cola is. The only way we’re going to achieve that if we do it individually. That really energises me. It is a bit daunting sometimes, but it keeps me engaged.”

What’s next?
Temptation lurks in many corners for Bee’s next move. He wants to be a part of Diageo’s financial leadership group and is currently reviewing the financial capabilities in his team that, he indicates, will probably lead to change within the finance function as the group expects more output from reduced resources. He’s keen on an FD job at one of Diageo’s bigger markets, but equally interested in moving to a treasury role.

“Some exposure to ­treasury is a good thing if you’re going to continue up the finance ladder. I don’t see myself being a CEO. I like the controlled finance environment; I don’t like the term beancounter, but someone’s got to count the beans and I like being a strong business partner with those blocks of experience,” he says. Bee had some exposure to investor relations under the CFO in the US and put an IR role in Edinburgh on the list if the Scotland FD gig didn’t materialise. That’s a direction he has on his radar, too.

The try-everything-once mentality seems to be something Bee imparts on his 70-strong finance function, which sets the financial direction and provides financial leadership to Diageo’s production business across worldwide Scotch Whisky, Irish Cream production and European vodka and rum production, with his team spread across Scotland, Ireland and Italy. “One of the things I coach my staff to think about is to consider the exposure and experience you might get in a role even if you hate it. You can do it for two years, then go and do something else. Nothing is forever,” he says. “I had a very tough time in my l ast role with P&G and I found it difficult to settle into that team. But I can genuinely say I’ve never had a role I didn’t get a lot out of.

“There’s always something there: and if there isn’t, you can get out and do something else”. Make no mistake, you’ll be hearing from Bee in the future.

For more interviews with leading FDs, go to www.financialdirector.co.uk/interviews