Client Testimonials

“Trevor came to us during a difficult time and was highly recommended as an FD/turnaround specialist. Trevor’s down to earth attitude makes him very relatable and easy to work with. His skill set and ability to ask the right questions at the right time no matter how difficult and the support he offers are invaluable. He has made a very positive and lasting impact on our business and I will always be grateful for this.”

Robert Hill, Managing Director, EOC Services Ltd

“It has to be said that not all heroes wear capes. For me Tony is approachable and has the ability to convey the information in layman’s terms. I think the key thing with Tony is that he puts things into context, so it’s not just about the numbers, it’s the meaning behind those numbers and what they mean for the business. He’s a friendly, down to earth individual who has your best interests.

He prioritises projects well and doesn’t bombard you with information. Tony’s involvement with BCM has led to me making more informed decisions, rather than going on instinct, allowing me to be pro-active rather than merely reactive. He gives you a short, medium and long-term decision-making process which instills confidence and a sense of control.”

Miriam Drahmane, CEO, BCM Agency

“Tracy has been an absolute asset to me. It’s a complete service when it comes to her support. Tracy takes the time to understand your business and understand you as a person. Her budget friendly teachings makes me feel more effective in running my business.

I feel like a leaner and more focused businesswoman thanks to Tracy’s mentoring. It’s easy to get lost at times, and Tracy has helped provide clarity and a roadmap to achieving my business goals”.

Karen Cureton, Director, Cureton Consulting

“Steve Smith grasped the important issues very quickly and developed a very good monthly financial report that covered all relevant details and was used by the Board to review performance and agree strategy and priorities.

Steve was extremely accurate and conscientious and was always available to help with queries. The EFM Book-keeper was also excellent back up and very good at solving paper-work problems. Steve has extensive commercial experience and his views were always very sound”.

Peter Wall, Director & Shareholder, Tails Ltd

“BITA has been faced with a very daunting task of continuing as an organisation during such difficult times. What EFM did for us was to help us with our financial forecast and created a vision for us to see clearly how BITA can survive in these challenging times.

Its important for any business now to know how to go forward. EFM has been fantastic in creating a template for us to understand our vision and forecast for the future of our organisation”.

Paul Whitnell, President, BITA (British and Irish Trading Association)

“Steve has worked with AAA Linen for over a year. He was initially asked to review the cash flow requirements for this turnaround business and to make recommendations to improve the management information. He didn’t just tell us the problems, he came in and implemented solutions.

Not only do we now have more reliable budgets and forecasts, but also more dependable accounting information. He has remained calm and diligent through some difficult times, has acted as a good sounding board, mentor to staff, and has managed difficult customer issues to achieve positive outcomes”.

Stephen Lloyd, CEO, AAA Linen

“I have worked with Glyn for almost 2 years, after he joined us in early 2019 after a change in how we operated, having been introduced to us by David Nelson of Smith Cooper, our accountants.

Since day one, Glyn has fitted in with our unique way of working, and over this time has helped us to streamline our company structure, accounting processes and online accounting. He has consistently given us great advice, support, and commitment, starting initially as 3 days per week, and now just one day, supporting the accounts team with the monthly accounts and the ongoing transitions.

During this time, within accounts, alongside the day-to-day work, we have embraced VAT, the amalgamation of accounts from 5 sets into 2, the transition onto Xero, and the restructuring of the management team, of which he is a loyal and dependable member. Glyn, alongside his Finance Director role, has been available as a sounding board in all areas, and has supported me without question in a calm and efficient way, offering both a listening ear and advice as appropriate.

Glyn has connected with all our team members, and is now considered an integral part of the G Wathall & Son team. I can highly recommend him to anyone needing an experienced Finance Director or Business Advisor. The changes he has made for us have been beyond excellent and I now see him as a long term advisor and colleague”.

Helen Wathall, MBE – Managing Director – G Wathall & Son Ltd

“Kim Antoniou of Auris Tech, another one of Andy’s clients, recommended Andy Sugden to us at Love Language. Andy has brought a wealth of knowledge and competencies to our business. His most valuable quality has been his sincere approach and dedication to our team. He genuinely cares about the success of our company and is 100% team material. I would highly recommend his financial management services!”.

Naomi Bottrill, Co-Founder, Love Language

“From the moment Jonathan started up at Flexipol, he exercised a high degree of independence and worked autonomously. With the incumbent having just left the company, Jonathan just got on with the role and only came to me when he needed questions answering.

It’s worth mentioning that he arrived right at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown, so the entire Flexipol finance team was working remotely at home. He’s a very amenable character and never came across any obstructions. Jonathan completed his projects with a very strong work ethic and engaged with the rest of the team positively and promptly.”

Mark deMeza, Executive Director, Flexipol

“I’ve worked with Trevor on a number of diverse projects over the last 20 years and his contributions have always been invaluable.

He is an astute financial analyst and obviously a first-class accountant and finance director, but his real USP is his understanding of business, particularly those aspects involving people and process.

A strong track record in Mergers and Acquisitions has equipped him with the kind of curiosity that allows him to ask difficult questions at just the right time – a very useful trait in a management consultant.

He is also fun to work with and possesses a sense of humour which he uses to his advantage, especially when delivering critiques or challenges which might otherwise be hard to accept – and I have been on the receiving end of a few of these myself over the years.

I strongly recommend Trevor for any roles where an understanding of what makes businesses ‘tick’ is as important as the ability to analyse a P&L or Balance Sheet.”

Mike Moore, Managing Director, MM&A Limited

“Michael’s common-sense and can-do approach stood out for me the most. He’s thrown himself into a very difficult situation, especially throughout covid-19. He’s very resilient and adapts to difficult situations easily. Thanks to the dedicated financial management support of Michael and the whole Clarion UK team, we have made it through this crisis in a decent shape. I also want to say a huge thank you to Gary and Josh for getting back to me and facilitating this support when I was in serious need of financial expertise and a fresh set of eyes.”

Sally Chalk, CEO, Clarion UK

“Irregularities were discovered by the management board after the last finance person left the company in some difficulty. Ian managed to fill an immediate need and had the necessary experience to turn the business around. Ian has the essential financial management experience that APL needs and truly understands how to work with small businesses.”

Paul Walker, Non-Executive Director, Applied Photophysics Ltd

“Over lockdown I decided to use my time to address anxieties relating to spreadsheets and really getting to understand the financial reality of my business. I had three training sessions with Tracy and the results thoroughly exceeded any expectations! Her ability to pivot and tailor the training to align completely to my needs was astounding. I found Tracy’s unique storytelling method when explaining what can be analysed and pinpointed within spreadsheets absolutely captivating.

I work in a creative industry and the way in which Tracy was able to interpret my business’ accounts through this teaching style really appealed to me. I feel hugely empowered to ‘get behind the driving seat’ of my business’ financials with confidence and purpose. Tracy’s manner is relaxed and warm, and being new to an experience like this she made me feel completely at ease. I would highly recommend working with Tracy Lewis.”

Judith Winwood – Artistic Director – BeatFeet Ltd

“I was referred to Graham by EFM when I was looking to set up a company over 5 years ago. Graham is exceptionally knowledgeable, professional and has supported me without question through the trials and tribulations of setting up my business. His total commitment, belief and dedication to my venture has been unprecedented. 5 years on and a successful business Graham still supports and guides me to this day and is my ‘go to’ whenever I need advice. I couldn’t recommend him highly enough”.

Sophia Harris, Executive Director, Mi Casa Care Ltd

“Many thanks, again, Tracy, for all of your hard work on the provision of management accounts which will help us to make informed decisions concerning the finances of the parishes.

This format works well for me. For the first time we have accurate financial information from across the Team. Previously it was there, of course, but not in a way which is immediately accessible.

I found our meeting very useful yesterday. I wish that I had been able to engage in such an exercise 16 years ago. It would have made life so much easier!”

Canon David Truby, Reverend, Wirksworth Team Ministry

“I knew Trevor when we both worked for AE Oscroft & Sons. I was the business advisor and Trevor was on the finance side. Trevor has a strong financial knowledge and is determined to always see a job through. Thanks to his clear rational thinking and energy, he helped lead the finance team and got along well with people. Trevor and I worked together to bring stability to the company. He could always point out the issues very quickly and explain to the board how best to resolve the issues effectively”.

Gary Mather, Chair of the Board, AE Oscroft & Sons

“Mike’s professionalism was evident from the first moment we met him. We were impressed at how quickly Mike was able to add true value to Clear Treasury and really challenge the management team around the company’s financial strategy expectations. Mike was never afraid to get stuck in and help with the day to day as well as applying strategic thinking to help us to make better business decisions.

From having no in-house finance function to then having that high-level of expertise to map out what we needed to do to enable our business to grow, was fundamental in helping our business to take the next step to scale. Financial control is so important and having the right people beside you to help you make the right decisions is key. I would certainly recommend small businesses to use EFMs services”.

Jordan Tilley, Chief Executive Officer, Clear Treasury

John and I work exceptionally well together.  We are in a start-up scenario and until we’re much bigger it enables me to keep the bare minimal expenditure on admin and accounting.  I couldn’t afford to do it in house at this point.  Also, I can tap into all different levels of expertise – all the way up to finance director level if I need to. It’s absolutely vital, without it we don’t work.

Maurice Diamond, Managing Director, Hidros UK Ltd

“Jonathan is always able to provide positive solutions in a timely manner.

His depth of commercial knowledge makes him a truly reliable asset and someone you would want onboard your team.”

Will Smith, Head of Finance, OPES International Limited

“We were delighted to work with EFM Ireland in establishing our EU presence and found them to be experts in the SME Irish corporate entity space. We look forward to working with them in the future, to ensure that we remain fully compliant, and assisting Oyster IMS’ growth strategy within the EU. EFM Ireland offered us a cost effective and rapid solution to a significant business challenge”.

Josef Elliott, Managing Director, Oyster IMS Ltd

“Gary has been extremely helpful and gave Auris Tech really good advice,  we’re also very impressed with his FD recommendation Andy, who I have worked incredibly close with in recent weeks, he is absolutely superb.

The support and guidance he has supplied has been invaluable to my business, he is always available for the exec team, is incredibly flexible, agile and patient.

Andy has created a financial model that is understandable and easy to manage and more importantly I feel as though I own it when I both answer to the board and meet with potential and existing investors.”

Kim Antoniou, Chief Executive Officer, Auris Tech

“Having Gary on board has really helped WestInsure Plymouth’s financial and growth strategy. Gary always follows through on getting tasks done on-time and to a high professional standard”

Brian Jones, Managing Director, WestInsure Plymouth

“I originally came across EFM at a finance event organised by Informed Funding where they spoke intelligently about growth funding at one of the panel discussions. Following that I met up with them to discuss my requirements – essentially a part-time FD for my growing software SaaS company, but also somebody who could get our financial reporting and accounts ready for investor scrutiny, as well as somebody I could use as a sounding board for business decisions beyond pure finance.

I’m very glad I did as I now have a professional FD without the high price tag of a full-time one, as well as the ability to lean on EFM’s network of 70+ other finance professionals for additional specialist guidance.

Our FD, Paul Jesson, is very much seen by both me and the rest of the company as part of the team rather than an outsider, and crucially our financial processes and reporting are now in a hugely improved state!”

Jens Lundgaard, Founder & CEO, Brandworkz

“Graham has been a fantastic asset to our business, providing key financial and strategic support in the role of FD. His calm and methodical guidance coupled with his excellent communication skills have proved invaluable in supporting our growth. He fast became a valued member of our team and continually provides thoughtful insight on a wide range of issues, way beyond the traditional remit of an FD.”

Rob Myer, Managing Director, Light Fantastic Production Services

“I’ve known Malcolm for circa 10 years. I began working alongside Malcolm on an investee company project. The relationship has grown stronger since then and spread across to EFM with a large number of referral projects and clients that each party has benefited from. EFM has good reliable people that we can call upon to help assist with financial support work. Malcolm is always able to work to Mercia’s specifications to offer a tailored service.”

Ian Wilson, Fund Principal, Mercia Fund Managers

“We met up with Andrew and the support he gave us from that point was excellent. We learnt a lot from him in that difficult time and we were really pleased. Some of the main things we liked was how quickly Andrew would turn around a task. Anything that was set he’d do without having to be asked twice, and he’d be finding more work and coming back to us saying “we need to do this”. A lot of the systems and procedures he put in place are very strong procedures and are still in use to this day.

As an MD from when I started working with Andrew, I learnt a lot, and very quickly, as he has not just completed the task but shown us how to do it too. He didn’t just solve the problem but created systems to help the business going forward. I firmly believe that he has helped transform a lot of what we were doing commercially as an organisation which helped to put us on really solid ground and helped us to grow”.

Steffan Bowen, Managing Director, M&D Care Limited

“EFM offer professional advice; the quality of advice is fantastic, the speed of follow up, and for me as I work closely with Gary, the value of having him as a sounding board. I’ve worked with them in two ways. With one of their consultants, Andy, on the financial modelling. He’s significantly helped me model the numbers for our future growth, and with Gary who continues to be a mentor for building the business plan”.

Ed Warner, Director, Motionspot

“Edward is an experienced financial director so he comes with the right level of skills and experience to mentor what we need at this stage of our business and growth. In addition to that he has the right attitude and approach; he’s got a good flex approach to working in, what has at times, been a challenging environment. He’s been resilient and supporting. The challenges have become quite acute at times and he’s remained very calm and supportive.

He’s agreed with a lot of what I’ve wanted to do and gone away and done those things, but at other times he’s pushed back and said “that may not be a smart move, lets try this instead” so he’s course corrected me on a few occasions which again is valuable, especially in high stress situations. I like his calm collected manner to get us through. For example, we’ve just been through an acquisition which is all high stress, dealing with lawyers, shareholders etc. and he’s helped me to navigate through to a successful outcome”.

Bulent Osman, Founder & CEO, StaffConnect Group Ltd

“Scott has some great ideas and he can back it up. The value that he’s added is crucial to our business. He acts really senior; it’s been a great experience and it’s really added value to our business.
Having Scott on board we’re in the process of automating our invoices which means we’re going to get our billing out quicker.
Prior to using EFM it was somebody internal and it just didn’t work. I’d only been in the business for seven weeks and it wasn’t working with the person before, so Scott stepped in and was able to pick up everything that we needed him to do, not just what he was taken on to do”.

Leigh Cannon, Financial Director, Custom Gateway Limited

“Malcolm goes out of his way to really get to know and understand the business so it’s not just numbers – he can and has offered proactive advice.
Working with EFM has benefited our business immeasurably. I wouldn’t classify myself as being a numbers person. I’m proficient and I understand numbers but to me it’s a sanity check every month which is great. It gives me confidence, and gives my board confidence, that the numbers are correct. I’ve used freelancers in the past and EFM compare really well”.

Zoe Farrington, CEO, Realsafe Technologies Ltd

“We were able to source an interim finance professional to undertake some due diligence for us on an investment opportunity, at reasonably short notice, on reasonable fees. Previously we would have just engaged a firm of accountants to do due diligence for us. However, working with EFM has enabled us to get a more in depth understanding of the financial position, and systems and processes, within the investee company, which we felt was a more helpful financial due diligence exercise. We have used EFM again since for other on-going projects”.

Peter Kirtley, Investment Director, Beechbrook Capital LLP

“We have one particular contact, Graham. It’s a personal contact rather than if you’re going to a big firm of accountants and you feel like you’re one of many. With EFM, we feel like Graham is part of our team; we get the personal approach rather than being lost in a big corporation with a large accounting firm. We use Graham as the initial point of contact but we know he does tap into other areas of the network if there’s stuff outside his skill set, so we feel well covered.
I’ve used EFM with 2 businesses: My current business is Version 2, a Lighting rental company servicing the television industry. As a start up it was excellent to have someone like EFM working beside us, with their wide expertise, having been through it with many other companies. As a small business owner that advice is invaluable. With my previous company, Aurora lighting Hire, we successfully sold the company to a large american company in 2015. During the sales process it was invaluable having EFM by our side to advise us as it’s not something we’d done before”.

Nick Edwards, Director, Version 2 Lights Ltd

“Michael from the outset brought a logical and understanding thought process to a sector known for more often than not for its creative thinking rather than the bottom line. He linked seamlessly with artistic staff, sales and publishing departments along with third party professional advisors and reporting accountants. He was constantly in touch with department heads in ensuring that operational costs and overheads were kept under control and within budget”.

Howard Shaw, Chief Operations Officer, Profile Books

“With EFM we are tapping into specific individuals with a specific skill set. They have allowed us to scale up our own financial capabilities”.

Stewart Baird, Managing Partner, Stone Ventures

“Glyn is an exceptionally able finance director who understands our business culture and strategy. In addition, due to his broad commercial experience he regularly expands his remit beyond the confines of the finance function to deliver excellent advice and support on the broader commercial issues of the business. Glyn is always reliable and efficient and has a high degree of involvement with the Leadership Team where he consistently delivers great support and advice. Glyn has been involved with issues such as funding, taxation, business restructuring, tax advice, HR support, recruitment, property issues, new IT systems, internal company presentations, and general hand holding for the directors!”

“Glyn is very personable and quickly establishes excellent working relationships with everyone in the business. He has integrated himself seamlessly into our business and is recognised by all colleagues as fully effective member of our Leadership Team. I would not hesitate to recommend Glyn Abba to any organisation that wants to appoint an experienced and effective Finance Director to the management team.”

Martin Pugh, Managing Director, Pure Washrooms Ltd

“Ann is proactive, dedicated, professional and loyal. I’m very pleased with Ann’s work”.

Howard Gell, Managing Director, Glanville Consultants Ltd

“EFM have introduced us to two good consultants. It’s given us good ideas and guidance. We didn’t have those people in place beforehand”.

Nathaniel McCullagh, Director, Simply Learning Tuition

“EFM are efficient, quick, and really nice and personable. You feel like they really care. They always like to help; they’re a resource even if it’s beyond the scope of what they’re doing for you. Steve has helped us to raise investment; it’s looking positive. EFM introduced us to people who can help in all areas; they’re really supportive. We were looking for a while to find someone for our financial support and they understood right at the start that we don’t have a lot of cash and that they actually want to help you”.

Lucy Buckley, Co-Founder, Dr Fertility Limited

“EFM are always very open. Whenever I contact Paul about either resource, or just a general query, he’s always very helpful and seems to understand the requirements well. It’s allowed us to flex our resource in a very quick and nimble way. If we need somebody quickly, they’re always happy to try and get someone in quickly to help, and likewise. Overall I’m extremely satisfied”.

Julie Richings, Chief Finance Officer, Springboard Research Ltd

“EFM are professional, approachable and friendly.
We have benefited as a company from Jonathan’s professional advice.
We have previously used a mix of in-house & 3rd party service providers. In my opinion EFM are a lot better”.

Graham Peace, Founding Partner, Digital Fusion Limited

“I like James. He’s really good at what he does. Very professional, gets everything done and is very responsive to our needs. Working with EFM has taken all the finance stuff and dealt with it. It’s very good. I took them on when I took over the company”.

David McNairScott, CEO, Trailight Ltd

“Ravi’s very professional and knows what he needs to do. He comes in and gets it done in a timely and accurate manner.

Our company has a very junior data debt collector clerk. Ravi provides the higher end management of cash flow that is beyond our employees capabilities. He handles one companies financial statements monthly and then he does the consolidation for both sets of UK companies.

Ravi also manages the cash flow for one company and various other duties as well. Any reporting that we need doing in the financial area, anywhere in the UK group, would go straight to Ravi. He’s overseen the auditing for both companies and provides week on week reporting”.

Heather Watherston, Vice President International, The Green Board Game Co

“We’ve been with EFM for around three and a half years – I feel they offer a very personal service.

Our business has benefited significantly, especially from the advisory perspective.  EFM get to know and understand your business, so therefore all their advice is in the context of where you are as an organisation and where you’re going.  I know that get more objective advice from EFM than if I resourced internally, so I much prefer buying in their services and consultancy than recruiting direct.

Our EFM Associate, Tony, is included in all of our leadership meetings concerning planning and it’s very important for me that we have his advice and support”.

Dean Gray, Manager Director & Founder, Graymatter Limited

“I really value having someone with expertise and a good head on them to work along side us at a board level, and someone who can challenge our thinking in a way which I think employees often don’t.  There’s a huge amount of ambition with our FD and he’ll take any challenge on and give us a new perspective on things.
Structure and organisation are two big benefits.  That’s everything from budgets and forecasts, through to board meetings and having proper minutes.
Working with EFM has brought a more structured approach to how we were doing things before and added some normality to the chaos of running a business.
I think generally everything we have tasked him with he’s done well at.”

Joe Bush, Co-Founder, The Chat Shop Ltd

“EFM got me out of a hole. We didn’t have an accountant. We needed resource, we got it, and we got it quickly thanks to Peter. It was a real lifeline”.

Andrew Forster, Director, Peart Fencing Limited

“I work directly with John Devaney who is part of EFM and my experience of working with him has been excellent. He is highly professional and takes great care and consideration over the work he does. It’s helped us get in control of the accounts.”

Peter Tanner, CEO, Boomerang Messaging

“Charles’ technical knowledge is at a very high level. We’re back into profitability so that’s as good an indication as any of his services. I didn’t have any previous experience of using any external help, so this is my first experience and it’s been extremely positive so far”.

Darren Phillips, Founder, Hatch Interiors Limited

“Mike understands the needs of a small, growing business. He has great awareness of the disciplines we needed to adapt and the support we needed to continue to grow”.

James Post, Managing Director, Ashbury Labelling

“The service provided by EFM is scaleable, and it’s an outsourcing solution so they provide expertise. Working with Tracy has given us a better handle on our finances; reporting, forecasting and financial management”.

Dez Derry, CEO & Founder, MMA Digital Group

“I have liked everything about EFM, from the initial contact with the head of the North West. It’s just been very good all the way through. The company has benefited extremely from working with them. The consultant has brought a new focus in, relieved pressure from me, and brought lots of new ideas in. I don’t think they could do anything better. Mark’s not just a financial director, he’s coming up with sales ideas, ways to record sales, and how to bring in new clients. It is financial management but it’s also a business process change”.

Robert Bullock, Finance Director, Bullocks Coaches

“From the request being made, EFM was able to link us to the right person (Edward) very quickly which was impressive considering my requirements. Meeting Edward for the first time was pain-free and the kick off conversation was very progressive. Edward started quickly and made himself part of the team immediately. I was able to hand large areas of responsibility and ownership to Edward to free up my time and he did a great job. It was like having an extra team member who was totally committed and I trusted implicitly.”

Rolf Groenewold, CEO & Co-Founder, KeyAGENT Limited

“EFM has 100% commitment to my business – strategically not just operationally.

We’ve been partners since 2012, at start-up stage. Since then we’ve been on the inevitable roller coaster together of highs and lows, lefts and rights. They’re willing to go on that roller coaster with you. Sit next to you and make sure you’re properly buckled in. We’ve made near-death mistakes more than once. When ambitions and cash don’t match up, ambitions aren’t compromised, they carefully roadmap a way forward and help us stick to that roadmap.

We are audited every year by Kingston Smith, who observe how immaculate our reporting is. Our private equity investors comment on our due diligence, compliance and the stylistic aspects of our monthly accounts. We run a best-in-class creative business. They understand creativity is a complex environment, with emphasis on culture not just efficiency. What gives us the freedom to allow that creativity into the company – and to the benefit of our clients – is a fastidious discipline around how we handle their and our money.

There’s nothing else this service could offer me as long term partners.”

Jonathan Trimble, CEO, 18 Feet & Rising