Ashley Young #TeamRenewables

Within RES, we have a large team of specialists ranging from tax and management accountants to administrators, currently servicing more than 150 projects for clients across the full lifecycle of wind, solar and energy storage projects.  

In this latest edition of Team Renewables, we speak to Ashley Young, Assistant Finance Manager in RES’ Financial Asset Management team in the UK&I. 

Find out more about Ashley in the latest #TeamRenewables: 

Career Journey  

Following my Business Management degree at Kingston University I was unsure, like many, about what I wanted to pursue but fell into a finance role at a prison due to my good mathematics GCSE’s. After some lived experience in the finance industry, I realised it was something I wanted to pursue. While doing my AAT and ACCA qualification’s, I held roles at; an Electronics company, a Racecourse, a surgical equipment company and then onto REG (later acquired by RES). Each role has given me a useful insight into different industries and helped build on my skills.  

Every role before RES was mostly focused on profit but now it’s refreshing to be at a company which has goals more focused on more than just money – working towards a more sustainable future is something to be proud of.  

What are you most proud of at RES?  

Personally, what I enjoy about working in finance is problem solving and creating reports using spreadsheets. Over my time with the company, I started off financially managing ten renewable energy companies and at one point it was over 25. I am proud to say that all my clients are very happy with the level of service and kindly often remind me of this. Recently, RES were appointed financial asset manager (FAM) for a 240MW project acquired by one of our clients, positioning me as the lead contact for the project. For another client I created a financial dashboard to present the consolidated performance of over 30 assets which they were very happy with. 

Where do you see your career in five years’ time?  

I have never been a career driven person, if I am happy in my role then that’s my aim. So, I see myself in five years doing a similar role that I am currently doing now but with the current progression of the company. I see RES acquiring more FAM contracts consequently increasing the portfolio or number of people I manage. 

The Role 

I’m based in Guildford where there are nine people, in the FAM team of which I manage three. We provide financial asset management to the client which includes; management accounts, preparation of financial statements, budgeting, quarterly board reports, distributions, bank model submission and other ad hoc reporting. My role is to ensure that the financial information is accurate and presented professionally and in the format that suits the client. Over time my role has become more of a reviewer than processor, so I am responsible for checking most of the work before it is sent to the client. This is either in the form of monthly reports or quarterly board meetings. 

A day in the life  

The management accounts process is fairly consistent each month whereby from the 1st to the 12th involves finalising the previous month’s financials but the work for the rest of the month can vary (depending on the month). What can be quite time-consuming is the preparation of the financial statements and the onboarding of new companies. The onboarding process is always an interesting task which involves understanding how other companies manage their assets and carry out their services. This often highlights how good the service RES provides is and why we are an industry leader. 

Tell us about your favourite hobbies and interests  

I am fairly active when it comes to hobbies, I enjoy almost all sports and pre-covid I used to play football twice a week which I hope to get back into. I also like to go to the gym (I think all the pictures of me playing sports or going to the gym are over 10 years old!) I love to eat out, so I am always looking for new places to try. Apart from that, most of my time is spent with my family, I’ve got two kids who are six and eight, so they are at a good age where they want to spend time with me!