Kajan Anand, a Senior Finance Manager based in London, shares his experiences in the latest instalment of LoopMe’s employee spotlights, a series designed to offer an insight into the LoopMe team’s work, life, motivations and aspirations.
Life at LoopMe
Why did you decide to join LoopMe?
LoopMe’s technology, innovation and culture of pushing boundaries were major factors in deciding to join. Seeing the YoY growth, especially in such a difficult market, also had me excited at LoopMe’s potential. To hopefully play a small part in LoopMe’s future success felt like it would be an achievement in itself.
What project or event has been your favourite to work on at LoopMe?
Being a part of the team which brought the Poland entity to life was an incredibly formidable task yet one that I found very fulfilling. Bucket loads of paperwork, Excel workbooks, and a multitude of calls with Polish accountants, HR specialists and tax advisors all came together as part of a massive team effort. Seeing the entity grow from 0 to 50 employees in no time at all is testament to the growth of LoopMe as a business.
Similarly, working on LoopMe’s first carbon emission report with Chloe Hill has also been extremely rewarding. A lot of time has been invested to get to the source of all of LoopMe’s emissions but we have now hopefully set the groundwork to start deep-diving into our emissions to see what improvements we can make to our sustainability effort. It’s great to work for a business who prioritises and understands their environmental responsibilities.
What motivates you to come to work?
The team, 100%! I feel very blessed that I have colleagues who I can learn from, collaborate with and who challenge me. The reality TV gossip and rounds of Baby Guinnesses are truly the cherry on top. It’s never a bad day in the office when you’re surrounded by such great people!
Also, I must mention the phenomenal output from the team in Ukraine over the last 2 years. The team’s robustness and diligence in the face of extraordinarily difficult circumstances makes me proud to call them all colleagues
Who are you?
Tell us a bit about yourself.
Born and raised in Lewisham, South East London to Sri Lankan Tamil parents. I studied Maths at Cardiff University and then fell into accountancy following graduation. My career background has predominantly been in media and brand design so I have always enjoyed working in innovative, forward-thinking industries.
What was your greatest achievement last year?
Managing to purchase a home with my wife at the beginning of last year. The housing market was chaotic and there were several moments where we thought that the whole sale may fall through. It could have been very stressful but we were very lucky that we managed to get it over the line in the 11th hour.
Do you have any hobbies?
A new home has meant most of my time and energy has gone into fixing and/ or breaking things in the house. A patient brother-in-law and 1,001 YouTube tutorials was all I ever needed to guide me. I never realised how much satisfaction I could get from spending 2 hours unclogging an external drain.
However, the less said about the radiator which, as we speak, is still leaking in the bathroom, the better.