Meet… Gemma Scott
Welcome to our meet the team content series where we find out more about the people – we like to call them ‘UrbanChainers’ – driving UrbanChain forward.
Please tell us about your role at UrbanChain…
I’m UrbanChain’s Finance Manager and joined in early 2023 from Manchester-based property consulting firm Turley Associates.
Tell us about you, where you grew up, education, previous work experience…
I grew up in the south of Manchester and went to Altrincham Girls Grammar School through to completion of my A-Levels. After that I went to the University of Sheffield and studied a dual degree in accountancy and mathematics. Shortly after graduating I moved to Indianapolis for three years and did some accounts payable work and then moved to London to join renewable energy asset management firm Quintas Energy, doing the accounts for client owned solar parks. Around 18 months later I moved to asset management renewable energy firm Low Carbon and provided management accounts services for part of the portfolio of a very large client in addition to other services. In 2020 I left Low Carbon as I wanted to move back to Manchester and spent a year at Well Pharmacy as a Financial Accountant helping with financial year end, VAT and monthly reporting. When that ended I moved to Turley.
What are your passions, interests and hobbies outside of work?
Outside of work I love to cook and have a whole bookshelf full of cookbooks. I love to travel and to try cooking the food I tried on holiday when I’m back. I’ve also been learning French for a while and have weekly lessons. I love to read and to crochet and also love cats, I have three of them.
What are your strengths as a thinker and what are you best at?
I am open-minded and like to hear different people’s viewpoints. I am fairly forward thinking so when I do a task I think of how it will affect the future e.g. level of information to include, how it can be automated etc. My best qualities are that I am quite happy with doing work at any level as I believe that seeing things from the bottom up is how you can see how everything works together in the business. I’m also a person who is always wanting to learn something new which has led to me having quite a diverse range of experience.
What’s it like working at a disruptive technology company?
I am excited to be working for a disruptive technology company in the energy sector. There is clearly a crisis within the energy industry that has exacerbated what was already a poorly functioning market. I feel that UrbanChain is offering a real solution to this that I haven’t seen elsewhere. I think that working for UrbanChain will offer me new challenges that would not be available working even at another start-up company.
What does company culture mean to you?
To me, company culture means that all the employees believe in the business and that they are incentivised to help the business progress. Everyone is considered important within the company and the company promotes the growth and progression of the employees. The employees are kept in the loop about company decisions and future plans.
Describe UrbanChain’s company culture…
There is transparency with what’s going on in the business. If we ask about what happened in a meeting, it will be shared with everyone. It’s fairly autonomous with no micro-managing but also supportive when you do have questions. I would also describe it as welcoming and flexible.
What personal values do you bring to UrbanChain
Fairness as I think of the team as a whole and what everyone needs to be able to do their job. I persevere with things – if something’s difficult, I will keep going back to it until I solve the problem. I’m also open minded and happy to consider new ways of doing things.
