Treasury Strategy & Transformation
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Setting up a New Treasury Centre for WTW


Following the merger between Willis and Towers Watson, we reorganised and streamlined the newly combined group’s treasury function and decided to set up a new treasury centre in The Netherlands. The plan for the new centre was to consolidate and unify treasury activities from the two legacy companies, improve visibility and transparency and service all jurisdictions with the exception of the US and UK due to their strategic importance and need for an in-country treasury team.
 

Willis Towers Watson offered me the opportunity to manage the set-up of the new treasury company in The Netherlands, and as such, in February 2017 I packed my bags and transferred from London to Amsterdam to start on this once-in-a-lifetime project. From a personal point of view, the move to Amsterdam was easy. Having previously lived in The Netherlands, I considered it a home away from home. I spoke the language, was familiar with Dutch customs and culture — and knew how to survive when commuting by bicycle. 

The remit of the new treasury centre in The Netherlands was to

  1. be the new in-house bank to the group
  2. manage the hedging programmes,
  3. be cash pool leader and master account holder for cash concentration.

The go live deadline was set for Q4 2017.