Financial leadership that translates strategy into reality.
CFOs, Finance & Tax Directors, FP&A leads, Controllers, interim finance leaders. The business partners who hold the organisation together when it matters most and make sure the numbers mean something in the boardroom.
The situations we know →Live Mandates
The Advisory Perspective
Every significant finance hire happens in context. A new CFO doesn't arrive into a steady state. They arrive into a PE entry, a restructuring, a scale-up that's just hit a wall, or a board that's lost confidence in the numbers. The context shapes everything: what profile you need, how you run the process, and what good looks like on day one.
That's why we start every conversation with the situation, not the job spec. We architect the financial leadership capability required for the moment the business is actually in, not the one it was in six months ago.
The Situations We Know
Getting the finance function investor-ready.
Private equity moves fast. The finance function must be investor-grade before the first board meeting. We architect the financial leadership required to secure reporting cadence, forecasting quality, and the crucial CFO-fund relationship at every stage of the investment cycle.
When the business has outgrown founder-led finance.
The first CFO hire is one of the highest-stakes decisions a growing business makes. Getting it wrong stalls the business or undermines the board. We deploy the strategic leadership that builds an institutional-grade function at the exact right stage of growth.
Managing the transition without losing momentum.
Succession is rarely clean. There is a sitting CFO, a board with opinions, and a business that cannot afford disruption. We execute discreet, highly targeted advisory mandates to secure the leadership the next chapter demands, protecting critical internal and external relationships.
The people behind the numbers when it matters most.
During an acquisition, the finance function must run the business, support due diligence, and prepare for integration simultaneously. We deploy the specialised capability required to hold the operation together under intense transactional pressure.
When the pressure is existential and the margin for error is zero.
Turnaround situations demand a highly specialised capability. We mobilise elite finance and tax leaders who cut through noise, manage lender relationships, protect cash, and stabilise the operation during periods of acute distress.
From startup chaos to institutional quality.
High-growth businesses hit inflection points where the function that got them here will not get them to the next stage. We architect the capability required to transition the business securely without losing operational momentum.
When the function needs to change, not just grow.
Major systems implementations and operating model redesigns fail when the leadership cannot run the transformation and the business simultaneously. We deploy the capability to do both seamlessly.
Finance Intelligence & Market Views
Partnered with the founder to secure a strategic CFO, before being retained to architect and build out the wider financial leadership team, including VP Finance and VP FP&A, to secure international scale. An eight-year advisory relationship built on a single brief.
Partnered with leadership to deploy a blended team of systems specialists and finance leaders to deliver complex OneStream and chart-of-accounts transformations. Governance maintained throughout. Core retail operations uninterrupted from day one to go-live.
Finance Journeys
Deep conversations with CFOs, Finance Directors and finance leaders on what it actually takes to lead at the top of the function.
Peter Beard is a qualified accountant who became an AI evangelist after gaining access to ChatGPT just six days after its public launch. With over five years at EY, where he joined the exclusive global AI research group (120 of 400,000 staff), Peter now runs GenFinance.AI, helping CFOs and Finance Directors navigate AI adoption.
The Finance Practice
Five specialists across finance and tax. Permanent and executive search, interim leadership, senior tax — with deep relationships across the CFO, senior finance and tax communities.
Co-Founder & Director
Finance Executive Search
Phil co-founded The Consultancy Group and leads the firm's executive search practice at the most senior level. Two decades of relationships across the CFO and Finance Director community — appointing into FTSE-listed businesses, PE-backed companies and high-growth SMEs across Media, Technology, Consumer and Retail.
Head of Tax
International Tax Leadership
Bethany leads the Tax practice. FTSE-listed businesses, PE-backed firms and multinationals — senior tax appointments across corporate tax, international tax, transfer pricing, VAT and tax technology, both interim and permanent.
Consumer Finance
SME through FTSE permanent search
A decade appointing senior finance into TMT, retail and consumer. Finance Directors, Commercial Finance, FP&A and Controllers — across fast-growing SMEs and FTSE businesses.
Interim Finance
PE-backed & FTSE interim mandates
Ophelia's focus is interim — Finance Directors, Controllers and senior commercial finance into PE-backed firms, FTSE businesses and high-growth SMEs. Fast, high-impact mandates where the quality of the brief determines everything.
Technology Finance
High-growth Tech & Fintech
Henry's market is Tech and Fintech — where finance functions need to scale fast and the talent pool is competitive. Finance Directors, Controllers, FP&A and Commercial Finance at senior level.
Finance Journeys
Finance Journeys is our specialist community for finance professionals and the organisations that hire them — with current opportunities, salary benchmarks, and market intelligence.
Visit Finance Journeys →Whether you're heading into a PE process, making your first CFO hire, or navigating a finance function through change — the conversation starts here.