Episode 209

In our first FP&A Today episode to cover the shipping, ports and haulage sector, we look at the FP&A powering Peel Ports Group, the second largest port operator in the UK, which manages the vital gateways powering the UK. Alex Roche has built the FP&A team at Peels Ports, based in Liverpool, England, which generates £800M spread across 10 divisions. The group has invested over £1.5 billion over the past decade in advanced logistics, cranes, warehouses, and terminal upgrades. Highlights of his nearly decade time at Peel Ports include Co-building the Group's FP&A function for a £400m-EBITDA multi-site, and developing formal evaluation models for two major commercial deals totalling £100m+, enabling better-informed investment decisions and a £7.5m increase in realised deal value 

In this episode:

• The importance of volume in ports and how KPIs revolve around the metric
• M&A at Peels Port and setting up the FP&A team and building models 
• FP&A recommendations around vertical integration  with a new haulage business 
• The power of teaching others coming up in finance and accounting
• Why Simon Sinek was right and FP&A should start with why  
• Board on Peace Brigades International UK as a finance trustee 
• Two favorite Excel functions 

Dan Newman

heads FP&A at RingCentral, a $2.5B public SaaS company (a platform for business phone, SMS, contact center, workforce engagement management, video collaboration, and messaging) , where he has overseen a  period of 10X growth. Discussing a career comprising consulting, being a financial analyst at Salesforce, private-equity-backed startups, Dan discusses building financial models towards a sale, navigating the shift from 30% growth to efficiency, and AI processes.

In this episode

• Building the FP&A team at SchoolMessenger and pivoting to a sale 

• Joining RingCentral at a $250m run rate and a six-person FP&A team towards $2.5billion

• Why revenue is rarely as simple as it looks 

• Business partnering in an age of efficiency in SaaS

Caroline McAuliffe is Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Finance (FP&A and Procurement) at Fannie Mae. In its Q1 2026 results, the government-owned mortgage giant boasted 33 consecutive quarters of profitability and $3.7B in net income in the quarter—delivered by a team of 7,000 employees. In this episode Caroline reveals the FP&A mindset and processes behind this success.

• The career progression from audit to controllership, and FP&A
• Combining procurement and FP&A 
• Shifting from an annual budget cycle to a 2-year rolling forecast
• How AI is transforming repetitive low value work including AI “flash reports needed supporting 50 officers at Fannie Mae
• Secrets to being a CTA (Challenging Trusted Advisor) at Fannie Mae