Power NI is the largest electricity company in Northern Ireland. Their parent is the Energia Group, a leading integrated Irish energy business with substantial businesses in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

In 2018, F1F9 created a best practice budgeting and reporting model for Power NI, followed by two smaller builds looking in more detail at specific elements of the business. Subsequently, Energia Group expressed a desire to improve and standardise their range of financial reporting and forecasting models. In response to this we delivered a series of in-house training courses on best practice excel modelling to finance delegates from businesses across the Group. We recently supplemented this engagement with a ‘model clinic’ and remediation work to a tax model that the Energia Group identified as a priority for development.

As a result of this work, the Energia Group has realised significant efficiencies in their modelling practices. The staff we have trained are now equipped to build better structured, more robust models and have direct access to F1F9 resource wherever it adds value.

We have been working with Mubadala to standardise their approach to financial modelling (“The Mubadala Way”) since 2012. We have taught over 200 analysts from a wide variety of sectors. Our training programme uses a variety of learning approaches: self-study backed up with support from our team of modellers, informal and formal assessments, instructor-led classroom sessions and webinars. At the final stage of the programme, participants are required to present to senior members of the organisation. Our initial brief was to run a programme for Mubadala’s core modellers – those professionals who work with financial models of considerable complexity on a daily basis. Based on a real-world case study, the training took participants through all the requirements for financial modelling from basic skills and drills in Excel to the design and construction of a highly complex set of financing requirements.

Since running the early programmes, we have amended the course material to give it a more general appeal (suitable for analysts for whom modelling is not core but nonetheless important). This included the development of further case studies relevant to the work being undertaken (including a hotel and a satellite). We continue to work with Mubadala’s learning and development team in improving the design of the programme.

Mubadala’s commitment to a single financial modelling standard has resulted in its analysts understanding the importance of a common approach and honing their technical skills. The course has been popular and in high demand – with participants enjoying the study material and the opportunity to present their work to senior colleagues.

Eneco is a Dutch energy company that works for all to participate in the transition to sustainable energy. It services 5.3 million customer contracts across The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and has an ongoing commitment to promoting financial modelling skills amongst its analysts. Eneco engaged F1F9 to deliver a programme of excel modelling courses to their investment analysts. The initiative has been extended to include advanced Project Finance modelling. 70+ analysts have completed the F1F9 training. Eneco has adopted a standardised approach to modelling across the business and finance functions. Analysts are able to build high-quality models across multiple business units (wind, solar, heat and industrials).

Following a recommendation from Grant Thornton UK, Warth & Klein Grant Thornton (WKGT) with offices in Hamburg and Düsseldorf, Germany, engaged F1F9 to enhance proficiency in financial modelling in Excel, within the organisation. The participants included junior team members as well as seasoned professionals from varied service lines including Corporate Finance, M&A, Audit & Assurance, and Valuation. Since 2015 and supported by WKGT’s in-house FAST modelling champions, we have delivered several intensive in-house financial modelling courses and provided ongoing post-course learning in the form of online tutorials and support from our modelling experts. The training has been delivered in German using F1F9 staff based in Germany and has been held annually since 2015.

The course participants gained a deeper understanding of efficient modelling and a general improvement in their Excel skills. This knowledge facilitates decision making by providing easily-understood results in reasonable timeframes. The modular structure of FAST has also reduced the time it takes to review models, particularly larger or more complex ones.

F1F9 worked closely with the Finance Director at Rocket Marketing Group, a business that creates, develops and manages a variety of added-value reward and customer loyalty programmes. Our client needed to create a forecasting model to support the planning of a medium-term business strategy and, by the end of the process, have the capability to build models of similar complexity without help. We planned a combination of online modelling resources, on-the-job coaching, and joint design and build — all to fit within the available budget. Online excel financial modelling resources could be utilised when time allowed and when content was relevant to the build. The model build itself was facilitated by regular video conferences for planning, discussion of approach and targeted training on specific aspects of the model. We took responsibility for parts of the build where Victoria needed to focus on her role as Finance Director.

Our flexible response to the needs of Victoria and Rocket enabled them to gain the key business insights they needed, and to be equipped for whatever analysis the business will demand in the future.