Sandra Beck is Director of Finance at Broxbourne Borough Council in South East Hertfordshire. The Finance directorate comprises approximately of 150 staff and includes; Resources (HR, IT, Finance), customers services, commercial and operational property, leisure services (two leisure centres, a golf club and a theatre) and housing and homelessness. She is also the lead director for the Council’s wholly owned subsidiary company Badger BC Investments and acts as the Shareholder Representative for the jointly owned building control group of companies Broste Rivers Ltd. In addition Sandra is responsible for a number of major development projects including the Theobalds Enterprise Centre which, when complete, will accommodate 60 small and medium size businesses. Prior to working in local government Sandra has held senior finance roles in the private sector working in a variety of industries including, retail, manufacturing, distribution and the service industry. Sandra has used this private sector experience to change the Council’s culture to a more customer focussed and a more financially stable organisation. The Borough has a population of around 99,000 and has the lowest council tax of all English Shire Councils including parish precepts. The history of very low council tax meant that when Sandra took up the post of Director of Finance in 2014 the Council was facing a budget gap of £2.3m (30% of its net budget). By 2017 the Council was self-sufficient. Sandra led the Council through its transformation programme, which has seen a major channel shift for customers and an improved customer experience with 76% of all enquiries being dealt with at the first point of contact.