There’s a particular kind of meeting happening in boardrooms across the UK at the moment. Energy costs are up, input costs are rising, margins are tightening, and the consensus tends to be that there’s a need to reduce costs. What follows is often a flurry of well-intentioned activity – renegotiating supplier contracts, trimming budgets, delaying […]

Imagine a business, let’s call it BrightSpark Solutions Ltd, a perfectly respectable SME turning over a healthy few million pounds, staffed by well-meaning professionals who pride themselves on being ‘client-focused’. Driven by the pursuit of excellence and a steadfast work ethic, the BrightSpark team have developed a habit of answering emails at 10pm, reworking deliverables […]

Management Information (MI) is often seen as dry and technical, filled with unhelpful numbers and jargon; and far too long! But it does not have to be this way. It is not that difficult to prepare MI that can be a powerful tool to enhance strategic decision-making, to help you stay in control of your […]

Introduction Buying a business can be a strategic move to complement and accelerate growth of an existing business you own, a way to diversify your portfolio, or simply to fulfil a lifelong dream of entrepreneurship. However, it is a complex process that requires careful planning and execution. This article will delve into the key steps […]

Running a business is rarely easy. Change is the new normal and this brings its own challenges. If you are running a business and there is significant change, these are the sort of signs to look out for that could mean that a fractional FD/CFO is for you: Experiencing financial challenges This is a worrying […]

We have already outlined the role of an FD/CFO in this article, whether that is full time, interim or fractional. A fractional FD/CFO provides the financial oversight but they will be supporting multiple businesses – perhaps a day or two per week in each one. In terms of the role and responsibilities, the two are […]

Soundbite: A FD/CFO is a highly experienced finance profession who is responsible for the strategic financial management of the business. What does this really mean? We can view this as two main areas: Tactical – Helping you understand where the business is – right now: this is the crucial task of ensuring that the finance […]

It is all too easy to make assumptions, isn’t it? And, as I found out to my cost, doing this can come back to bite you. More specifically, when asked what Tectona does, my answer is usually something along the lines of: “Tectona provide part time finance directors/CFOs to owner managed businesses who don’t need, […]