Hiring a CFO? Don’t make these 7 mistakes — they’ll cost you time, money, and momentum.

It’s been a really good month, with a couple of interesting (and challenging) processes coming to an end. One of them has got me asking: should I be more assertive about my own choice of candidate when I'm convinced there is an ideal match?

What’s the Real Cost of a Bad Finance Hire?

Hiring a CFO isn’t just about finding someone good on paper — it’s about avoiding the cost of getting it wrong

If you're hiring a CFO into a private equity-backed business, what should you expect to pay in 2025?

Base salaries typically range from £150,000 to £220,000

How Much Should You Budget for an Executive Search Firm?

Thinking of hiring a CFO or Finance Director? You might be wondering — what will a search firm actually cost us?

What’s the Average Day Rate for an Interim CFO in the UK in 2025? Thinking of hiring an interim CFO in 2025? Here's what it costs — and why.

How much does it really cost to hire a CFO in the UK? Let’s break it down. For growth-stage and investor-backed businesses, you’re looking at:

Hiring an interim CFO isn’t a luxury — it’s often the smartest move a business can make.

We’ve worked with companies in chaos after a funding round, leadership change, or audit red flag. The numbers just aren’t where they should be — and that’s when the pressure mounts.

One of the nice things about being on holiday is the change of scene. OK, admittedly I had to decamp to a Regus office one afternoon to shepherd through a couple of urgent placements, and one room-with-a-desk looks much like another. But Devon in the spring was beautiful and restorative.

How flexible are you? When we talk about flexibility – outside of the yoga kind – it could mean any number of things. Are you flexible on salary? Can you shift your working commitments around? What about your skill-set – can that change?

Well, this has been a busy first couple of months to 2025. The news agenda has responded predictably to the arrival or President Trump, revving up to manic levels as everyone responds to the flurry of executive orders, foreign policy interventions and corporate reactions to his second term.

At the start of the year, the big story was the elections in India, the US, the UK and across Europe. A big year for democracy, then – but, as it turned out, a bad year for incumbency. There’s been a lot of change in 2024. What does that mean for 2025 and beyond?

What a dismal month. I’m writing this a few days before Rachel Reeves delivers the first Budget of the new Labour government, and the steady drip of negative stories about the economy and politics in general is souring the mood. (The weather hasn’t helped.)

It’s funny how the “back to school” feeling lasts well beyond your school days. After a summer hiatus, we get back into work mode with new energy, long to-do lists, and a fresh sense of optimism.

You’re probably reading this a few days before the election. The campaign hasn’t been terribly edifying, has it? The Conservative Party seems to be on a self-destruct mission, while Kier Starmer’s “safe and steady” approach has been pretty “low energy” (to borrow a phrase from that other 2024 electioneer, Donald Trump).

A few months ago I mentioned CrossFit, the popular workout regime. I don’t do it to be macho. I do it because being in good shape makes ordinary tasks much easier.

There are two reasons you might look over your shoulder. First is fear: what’s approaching out of your eyeline? You might have an uneasy feeling or hear a noise.

Heard of CrossFit? Wikipedia calls it “constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity”. As someone who’s been doing it for a while, that's accurate... but hugely underplayed. CrossFit’s own slogan is “forging elite fitness” – a more compelling branding.

Non-finance folk often think the FD doesn’t need to be a good networker. You’re back office! Marketing people schmooze, HR people are gregarious – but finance is like IT. Your value is technical skills!

2024 has kicked off with a slightly different mood in the business world. We seem to have shifted from mild pessimism to cautious optimism.