ACCA-qualified finance leader, Top 6 trained with first-time passes throughout, bringing big-business rigour and discipline into an SME setting. Career built across large, complex organisations including retail, FMCG, and housebuilding — but with a genuine talent for getting hands-on, building things from scratch, and delivering results an SME owner will actually feel.
A finance leader who consistently steps into businesses, rolls up their sleeves, and makes a measurable difference fast — exactly the mindset an SME needs rather than a big-corporate operator who needs a large team around them.
What makes them genuinely different:
- Built a comprehensive finance manual and management accounts pack from scratch — the kind of foundational work an SME desperately needs but rarely has time to do properly.
- Reduced an operating cost base by £10m through hands-on budget rebuild and tighter cost discipline — proves they can find real savings, not just report on numbers.
- Identified £13m of previously unreported provisions, bringing critical financial visibility that had simply been missing — the sort of gap that often goes unnoticed in a smaller finance function.
- Recovered £1m in overpaid tax from HMRC by spotting historic misallocated payments — a direct, tangible cash win.
- Negotiated additional lending headroom directly with banking partners, demonstrating genuine treasury and relationship-management capability without needing a specialist team.
- Brought outsourced management accounts back in-house, delivering annual savings and stronger control — exactly the kind of practical decision an SME owner cares about.
- Hands-on with stock, margin, and cashflow management — comfortable getting into the operational detail, not just sitting above it.
- Started as an apprentice and qualified with 100% first-time passes — built technical excellence from the ground up, not parachuted in.
Best suited for: Finance Director or Head of Finance roles within an SME, ideally £5m–£50m turnover. The ideal hire for an owner-managed business that wants someone who can build the finance function properly, find real savings, and operate hands-on without needing a large team to lean on.