The Work I Do
Most businesses come to me at a transition point.
Something isn't working and nobody can quite put their finger on what. The business has grown past its financial infrastructure and the cracks are starting to show. A significant decision is coming whether to acquire, whether to sell, how to fund the next stage of growth. Or the business is growing fast and the finances aren't keeping pace.
These are the moments when having the right person alongside you matters most. Someone who has been in those rooms before, who knows what a buyer looks for, what growth does to cash, and what an acquisition looks like from the inside.
However, not every business arrives at a transition point. Some come with a specific problem that needs solving, a finance function that needs building, or simply a need for ongoing senior support. The work takes one of two forms an ongoing retained relationship or scoped project .
If you’re not sure what you need, that's fine, the right starting point usually becomes clear in the first conversation.
Retained Engagement
A few days a month, embedded in the business. I'm there for the leadership meetings, the monthly numbers, the commercial decisions, the cash flow conversations. Between visits I'm available, a phone call or an email away when something needs a response before the next visit.
Part-time in presence, not in commitment.
Project Work
Some clients start with a diagnostic, a Financial Management Review or a Business Mapping Review. Both are fixed-price, fixed-scope engagements with a clear output, a written assessment of where the business sits and what to address first.
Some arrive with a specific project already defined and start there instead.
The full range of scoped work is set out below.
Retained Engagement
Three Levels of Commitment.
Every retained engagement is developed around what the specific needs of each organisation. The scope and tier are agreed at the start and reviewed as the business and finance team develop. The three options below give a sense of how the commitment typically works in practice.
Board Advisory
1 day per month
The right level when the finance team is capable and largely self-sufficient, but the owner wants an experienced FD in the room. On site for the board meeting, available by phone or email between visits.
Management accounts review
Cash flow position oversight
Banking and lender relationships
Board meeting attendance, on site
Full participation across the board agenda, not just the finance items
Review of board papers ahead of each meeting
Advice and decision support
Core Retained
2 days per month
Everything in Board Advisory, plus a monthly check-in with the finance team on priorities, progress, and what's emerging. The additional time covers the financial management work that a board-only presence doesn't allow.
Monthly finance team check-in
Cash flow management
Annual budgeting and planning
Pricing and margin analysis
Ad hoc advice to the owner between visits
Premium Retained
4+ Days Per Month
The right level when the business is in a period of change — scaling, preparing for a transaction, managing a finance team transition, or pursuing acquisitions. Weekly on-site presence alongside. Everything in Core Retained plus:
Finance team management and development
Twelve-week rolling forecasting
Commercial challenge across operations, sales, and delivery
Forecast and pricing modelling
Strategic and commercial sounding board for the owner
Strategic initiatives: acquisitions, funding options, growth planning
Fees and day rates are available on request. Local travel within Buckinghamshire and Thames Valley is absorbed. All engagements are ongoing retainers with no fixed term, reviewed annually.
Project Work
Start with a clear picture.
Some clients start with a review to assess their current situation. Some arrive with a specific project already defined. Either way, scoped projects are fixed-price engagements with a clear output and no ongoing commitment beyond the work itself.
I offer a Financial Management Review, which is a focused assessment of the finance function itself, a wider Business Mapping Review across six dimensions of the business and Ad Hoc Project work. Both reviews follow the same process. A preparation call to understand the context. A day, sometimes two, working through the relevant dimensions, talking to you, looking at the data, asking the questions that don't usually get asked. A written report within a week setting out what I found, what matters most, and what to address first.
Most clients find the day itself useful before the report arrives. The process of looking at the business this way — systematically, from the outside — tends to surface questions that hadn't been asked and connections that hadn't been made. The report gives those observations structure and a clear set of priorities to work from.
The goal is simple, that you finish the process knowing where you stand and what to do next.
01 Start Here
Financial management Review
3 Day Project
A focused assessment of the finance function alone.
A focused assessment of the finance function itself, how it's set up, whether the management accounts are reliable, and what needs fixing to give the business the information it needs. The right starting point when you know the issue is in the numbers and you want someone experienced to tell you what to address first.
Suited to owners who know the issue sits in the numbers.
£2,250 · Fixed price
02 FULLer Scope
Business mapping review
1 Week Project
A structured look across all six dimensions of the business.
A structured review of your business across six dimensions of the Business Mapping Review model, finance, operations, governance, commercial, risk, and strategy. At the end of it you'll have a clear written assessment of where the business sits, where the gaps are, and what to address first. The right starting point when you know something isn't working but you're not sure where the issue really sits.
Suited to owners who know something isn't working but can't pinpoint where.
£3,000 · Fixed price
03 YoU know what you want
Ad Hoc Projects
Scope oN Application
A specific piece of work with a clear brief.
Other scoped work includes:
Systems implementation · Cash flow model build · Pre-sale financial preparation · Post-acquisition integration support · Client profitability and margin analysis · Pricing review
Suited to owners with a clear brief and a finite shape.
Fees on request
Most scoped projects can transition into a retained engagement if that's where the work leads.
Not sure where to start?
A self-assessment questionnaire takes around an hour and gives you a structured picture of where the business sits across the six dimensions before any work begins. It's useful whether you're considering a diagnostic, thinking about ongoing support, or simply want an honest view of where the gaps are.
Ready to Start?
The right starting point
is a conversation.
Not a sales call, just an open discussion about where the business is and whether I can help.
If you'd prefer to start with a diagnostic, the Financial Management Review and Business Mapping Review are both fixed-price with no ongoing commitment.
If you'd like a sense of where the business sits before committing to anything, request the Self-Assessment Questionnaire →
Have a question first? Read the FAQs →