Meet Client Director, Tom Barrasin

As Offshore Group continues to grow across the Channel Islands and beyond, we're bringing in people who can do more for our clients than simply report the numbers.

Tom joined us as Client Director in March, after more than a decade at Blue Islands, where he held the roles of Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Financial Officer. He now looks after his own portfolio of clients from our Guernsey office, with regular time on the ground in Jersey.

We sat down with him to talk about his route into the industry, what surprised him about Offshore, and an example of how a control he put in place with a client helped mitigate the risk of revenue loss.

Tell us about your professional background

I studied psychology at university and left with no real plan, other than knowing I didn't want a career in psychology. It remains a keen interest though.

I ended up on a graduate trainee scheme at Healthspan Group which involved a 6 month spell at Blue Islands. After a short time away I rejoined Blue Islands, where I stayed from 2012. I loved the team and the work. I started out in the commercial function, but it was a small team so there was a lot of crossover with finance, and I qualified with the ACCA while I was there.

I became CCO in 2016 and later took on responsibility for the financial function too, so from 2019 I was CCO and CFO combined. That took me through the pandemic, which was extremely challenging, but also a great learning opportunity. In 2023 we were able to bring in a designated CFO and I went back to CCO only; allowing me more time to focus on that side of the business.

I left Blue Islands in early 2025, took the summer off with my daughter, then started looking for a new role towards the back end of the year and ultimately found the role at Offshore.

What attracted you to Offshore Group?

It looked like a chance to get hands-on with a lot of different businesses. Somewhere I could use my financial and commercial background to support clients and guide decision making, rather than just churning the numbers.

That's what appealed most: being able to help my clients. It felt like too good an opportunity to miss. And here I am.

Was there anything that surprised you once you joined?

The breadth of the client base was even wider than I expected, which is a good thing on two fronts. It keeps the job interesting and there's a lot to learn, but it also means we have a very good handle on best practice. What works for one client will often work for another, even in a completely different industry, so we can distil what we've learned and apply the best of it.

The same goes for the team. We've got people from audit backgrounds, commercial backgrounds, an ex-tax accountant, an ex-audit director. It's a real mix of talents and experience.

The other surprise was the technology. Having been at my previous employer for a long time, I was used to working with a limited number of systems. Here, I was struck by the time and effort that goes into making sure we've got the best tools available, so we can do the job properly, efficiently and go into an extra level of detail for our clients. It's a genuinely impressive and comprehensive tech stack.

What is the main focus of your role?

Making sure clients have the information they need to make informed decisions about their business.

A lot of the businesses we work with don't have in-house financial expertise, and some are still developing their controls around areas such as the cashing-up process and completeness checks for invoicing. So, with newer clients especially, a lot of the work is building a control environment that both sides are comfortable with.

Walk us through a typical day

I'm usually in Jersey one day a week, on site with clients. The rest of the time I'm in the Guernsey office working through my portfolio, prioritised by what needs doing and when.

I'll probably touch base with five or six clients a day, then get detailed work done for maybe two or three. I work with accountants here in the Guernsey office where my role is more of a review function, and it's the same with the Mauritius team, who I catch up with at least weekly. There's a lot of time on Teams.

Today, for example, I reviewed two sets of management accounts and had a call with the Mauritius team handing over a month-end procedure. It's very varied.

What's the best part of the job?

The most rewarding part is putting something in place that you know is going to add real value.

As an example, we have a client raising hundreds of invoices a month with a lot of them being set up as repeating invoices for a flat amount. Others rely on a more manual invoicing process. It was identified that they were occasionally under-invoicing. The control I put in place working with the client captures that, so we've reduced the risk of revenue leakage due to invoicing errors.

How would you describe the culture at Offshore Group?

Collaborative. People recognise that everybody has their own strengths.

I've had to get used to asking for help. I had been in my previous role a long time and was used to being very independent, so it's a refreshing change to come into a new environment and learn everything again. Even though I have my own portfolio, I'll help on other portfolios where I can, and I'll ask for help on mine.

Everybody is friendly and welcoming, and everybody wants to do the best job they can for their clients. There's plenty of fun to be had too. We don't take ourselves too seriously.

What are you looking forward to over the next 12 months?

I'm working with the team to review our processes and the technology we use, to boost our efficiency. That means faster turnaround on reporting and more capacity to add value for clients.

Beyond that, getting to know my clients better so I can serve them better, and getting to know new ones as well.

What could we find you doing when you aren't working?

Walking, and going out for coffees. I drink far too much coffee. My daughter and I probably spend more time playing video games than we should. Minecraft is the current favourite.

Favourite place to eat on the island?

It was the Old Quarter, before it closed. This might be recency bias, but I had a really good smoothie bowl at Vistas at the weekend, so let's go with that.

Tell us something about you that people at work wouldn't guess

I can probably recite the musical version of Les Misérables word for word.