Steve Fernback – Finance Director

Steve Fernback joined the company as Finance Director in June 2006, following a period in which he had acted as a consultant to the business.

Steve is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (F.C.C.A.) having qualified as an Associate Member in 1980. He began his career as a Trainee Accountant in Habitat and at the age of 30 was promoted to Finance Director of this substantial, high profile Retail business, where he managed the financial issues through a period of significant growth, before being “headhunted” in 1988 to join another UK Retailer, “the Reject Shop PLC”.

At the Reject Shop Steve supervised the financial aspects of their successful flotation on the USM and managed the companies affairs within a public company background including liaison with the “City”.

In 1990 Steve moved from Retail to the Automotive Sector as Finance Director of JaguarSport Ltd. and played a key role within this Joint Venture Company (jointly owned by TWR Group and Ford Motor Company) in obtaining financial support for two significant new car projects (the Jaguar XJ220 “Super-car” and the Aston Martin DB7). In 1992 Steve was promoted to Group Finance Director of TWR and supervised strategic development for the Group and managed the financial affairs including the acquisitions and disposals programme, liaised with various financial institutions and negotiated the commercial aspects of new contracts with large multinational companies including Volvo Car Corporation (for whom TWR designed and manufactured the C70 coupe and cabriolet).

In 2003 Steve left TWR Group and set up SJF Associates to provide Accounting and Management Consultancy services to various clients including Price Waterhouse Coopers and James Cowper. Through James Cowper (who are Richards Gray’s Accountants and Tax Advisors) Steve met Mike Richards in 2004 and started work on several new projects including the implementation of new Accounting Systems and Controls and a financial restructuring for the rapidly growing business including the merger of several separate companies into one entity “Watervale Limited”.

Outside of Richards Gray, Steve is a keen naturalist and photographer and with two young children, when the family can find the time, he relaxes by taking the wheel of his newly acquired “Thames Cruiser” for weekend and day-trips along the river.