Sarah Prescott (BA, FCA, BFP, CIH)

Sarah Prescott is a Chief Finance Officer with responsibility for ensuring that finance, governance, and corporate functions effectively support the organisation to deliver high-quality outcomes for stakeholders, residents, and partners. Her role combines financial stewardship with strategic leadership, ensuring resources are aligned to organisational purpose, regulatory expectations, and long-term sustainability.

Sarah is a PwC qualified Chartered Accountant with extensive experience across the social housing and public-interest sectors. She has built a strong reputation for aligning financial strategy with organisational objectives, particularly in complex, regulated environments. She is also experienced in managing multi-disciplinary teams and not just finance. Her career spans senior finance leadership roles, non-executive positions, and other work, giving her a well-rounded perspective on risk and performance from both executive and board viewpoints.

In her CFO roles, Sarah oversees core corporate functions including finance, treasury, risk management and governance and has extensive experience of other disciplines such as EDI, HR and ICT. She works closely with executive colleagues and boards to support sound decision-making, balancing financial resilience with social purpose. She is particularly experienced in housing development and long-term investment planning, ensuring that growth ambitions are supported by robust financial frameworks. She is also an experienced NED, and is currently Vice Chair of Tai Pawb, a housing charity in Wales.

Previously, Sarah has held senior finance and advisory roles working directly with boards, audit and risk committees, and executive teams across organisations of varying scale and complexity. She has led financial transformation programmes, improved financial reporting and data storytelling, and strengthened internal controls and governance arrangements. Her work has supported organisations through periods of change, regulatory scrutiny, and strategic reset.

Sarah is known for her collaborative leadership style and her ability to communicate complex financial issues clearly to non-financial stakeholders. She builds strong cross-functional relationships and mentors developing finance professionals, aiming to create high-performing teams that are both technically strong and values-led. Her approach is data-driven, but grounded in an understanding of the human and wider impact of financial decisions.

Career Highlights

• A highly experienced Chief Finance Officer and Chartered Accountant with deep expertise in social housing, governance, and regulated environments.
• Strong strategic thinker with a proven ability to align financial planning, treasury, and risk management with organisational strategy. Able to lead multi-disciplinary teams.
• Extensive experience working with boards, audit and risk committees, and regulators, providing clear, balanced advice on finance and risk.
• Led budgeting, forecasting, and financial transformation initiatives that have improved financial resilience, transparency, and decision-making.
• Recognised for translating complex financial information into clear narratives that support effective stakeholder engagement and accountability.
• Collaborative leader who develops high-performing teams, fosters trust, and promotes a culture of strong governance and continuous improvement.