Graham Sheward : Paving the unconventional path to success

He leads one of the thriving businesses in the financial sector of the country. Managing Director of Cim Global Business Graham Sheward was not afraid to stand out and has had a successful international career fuelled by hard work.

Where there is a will there is a way. This quote well describes Cim Global Business Managing Director Graham Sheward, who took over early this year. Discrete and determined, business success is the single motivating factor on the job for him.

Born in London, Graham Sheward studied in Middlesex until the age of 16 before joining Natwest Bank prior to his 17^th birthday; fuelled by encouragement from his father to get in the job market. The choice for the banking sector was made rather at random, but partly by his one week internship during high school with Barclays Bank, a bank he would later on work for in more important positions.

“I was offered a job both by NatWest and Barclays, but chose the first one since it was closer to my hometown. All of my academic pro-gress since then has been through relevant professional qualifications”, he states. Working for Barclays however was only a matter of time and Graham Sheward responded affirmatively when he was approached by a head-hunter via his LinkedIn profile for a three-year contract. It was within this bank that he got the opportunity to discover Mauritius for the first time, he says.

Mauritius and Graham Sheward, indeed, is a love-at-first-sight tale. “Coming to Mauritius is one of the most memorable experiences that have changed my family’s life. We have left the Northern hemisphere for the Southern one and embraced new cultures and especially the multitude of them you can find over here. This has been a pivotal move in my life. I think a change in culture is really important in any person’s career,” he observes.

It is thus partly motivated by his keenness for Mauritius and desire for a new challenge that Graham Sheward chose the transition from banking to Cim Global Business. The work, he says, is similar to banking since it is still in the financial sector, but allows more scope for learning about certain aspects such as fund and fund administration. “I find it important to always have a new area of development in any role I get into. After 32 years in the banking sector, I have performed in virtually any role that exists in a bank. Becoming MD of a small bank in 1999 was a real challenge and required that I understand every facet of the banking business. I have only been within Cim for a short time but it feels much longer, since the team has been very welcoming and supportive,” he says.

The Isle of Man and Jersey have also been milestones as part of Graham Sheward’s career. His youngest daughter Phoebe was in fact born on the Isle of Man. He takes pride in the fact that his children are currently in their fourth country of residence before even turning 18. The world, for them, is a small place and represents a lot of opportunities career-wise, Graham Sheward adds. He has also spent time working in Dubai, Switzerland, Ireland and Guernsey.

Had he not been into finance, Graham Sheward would have dabbled with carpentry, a long-lost aspiration, he admits with a laugh. “I was never good at it. I have enjoyed my banking career and I know financial services well and so am comfortable working in this sector. I do not envi-sage anything else for the rest of my career,” he muses.

The most enjoyable aspect of his job, he reflects, is its complex and increasingly challenging nature, while being in a highly regulated environment. Graham Sheward has also served as board member for several companies in various countries. “With that comes a lot of responsibility and I enjoy that,” he says.

On a lighter note, Graham Sheward also enjoys being with his family, friends and his two dogs, practising tennis, golf and reading. “I am not a very good golfer but I do enjoy the company and the view,” he grins, while tennis is an activity he mainly enjoys with Phoebe.

Graham Sheward is also into rock and alternative music. ‘Stairway to Heaven’ by Led Zeppelin is an all-time favourite.

In a nutshell, the man des-cribes himself to have been lucky to be blessed with a successful career and amazing family; namely wife Becky and daughters Megan, Hannah and Phoebe. “My career however is not built on luck because when you leave school at 16 and end up in a position like this, there is not much luck involved. Rather, a lot of hard work. I have enjoyed every minute of it,” he reflects back.

For him, the most obvious way to realise that is by looking at his children who have experienced living in four countries already, a fact that makes Graham Sheward fondly proud. “I grew up in a village just outside of London, met the lady that was going to become my wife at 23, moved around the country essentially because of my job and then we got married. My children are leading a very different life from mine. The fact that my daughter is going to university, which unfortunately I was unable to, is amazing,” he emphasises.

Education is one of the values he particularly cherishes, along with equal opportunity and empowerment for all, qualities he tries to enforce in the workplace as well. “Providing learning and development opportunities and helping people be more confident and better at what they do is one of the things I am passionate about,” says Graham Sheward. The Mauritian adventure, thus, continues, seasoned with its dose of passion and blessings.