Laura C

Finance Director - Tech Products

PE Backed Tech Business • Temps partiel

May 2022 - Present • 4 yrs 3 mos

- Led the creation of a 5‑year strategic plan, aligning multiple stakeholders around next‑generation product development and ambitious cost‑efficiency targets. - Built advanced financial analysis and metrics to assess ~£3m annual cloud spend, delivering ~10% savings in six months and a further 20% the following year through a structured optimisation programme. - Supported the formation of a dedicated Cloud Operations function, mentoring the team to develop the capability needed for a full cloud‑based operating model with costs set to quadruple over five years. - Partnered with cost‑centre owners to deliver insightful financial analysis, achieving results c. 10% better than budget despite significant inflationary pressures. - Enhanced R&D tax credit claims for FY22 and FY23, increasing recoverable amounts by ~£800k versus initial drafts. - Collaborated with external consultants to produce a detailed technical due‑diligence report for a major sale process, ensuring all financial information reconciled across workstreams and supported the product narrative. - Played a key role in all financial due‑diligence activities, including building sell‑side models and managing detailed buyer Q&A. - Led the creation of the financial model and contributed significantly to due diligence for the acquisition of a ~£5m ARR software business, partnering with technical teams to shape integration plans.

CFO & COO

Consillion EMEA Ltd • Temps plein

Feb 2019 - Apr 2022 • 3 yrs 2 mos

- Delivered a full balance‑sheet and controls overhaul, identifying risks and implementing robust financial controls across the business. - Cut month‑end reporting from 14+ days to 4 while improving reconciliation quality and documentation. - Restructured and upskilled the finance team, securing ICAEW Approved Training Employer status and building a strong succession pipeline. - Co‑designed the 3‑year strategic plan to grow revenue from ~£10m to £15m+ and triple EBITDA. - Introduced weekly commercial and operational reviews, significantly improving forecasting accuracy and supply‑chain planning. - Led successful implementation of NetSuite ERP, migrating bespoke processes into a controlled, scalable system environment. - Improved product quality and reduced costs by switching a key supplier, saving ~£800 per machine. - Strengthened supply‑chain resilience through dual‑sourcing, increased critical stock, and enhanced freight‑monitoring processes. - Delivered major operational improvements, including build‑time reductions of ~20% and a site‑layout redesign increasing capacity from £12m to £17m. - Re‑engineered pricing models to grow recurring revenue from <10% to 30%+ over three years. - Managed COVID strategy, ensuring safe operations, protecting staff pay, and maintaining covenant compliance despite a 35% revenue drop. - Enabled a 7–13% sales price increase by modelling commodity‑cost impacts and implementing quarterly review processes. - Built strong relationships with auditors, legal, HR, tax, pensions, and quality advisors, delivering improvements including R&D tax credit claims and updated legal frameworks.

Finance Director - FP&A

Masco UK Window Group Ltd

Nov 2015 - Jan 2019 • 3 yrs 2 mos

- Stepped into a newly created Leadership role to elevate management accounting and business partnering across multiple manufacturing sites. - Realigned the finance structure by creating Centres of Excellence, later progressing to lead FP&A across all sites. - Standardised management information through new data templates, creating consistent, comparable reporting from complex IT systems. - Designed and embedded a new stock count and valuation process, enabling the organisation to achieve its first fully compliant SOX audit result in this area. - Introduced structured problem‑solving methodologies across operations, driving measurable improvements in sales performance and cost efficiency. - Led the annual operating plan and long‑range planning cycles, implementing unified templates to improve data consistency and variance analysis. - Partnered with credit control and commercial teams to reduce overdue debt by over 10% in six months, improving cash by approximately £1.4m.