Andrew Sugden

Andrew is a robust, “hands on” Finance Director with significant international experience, having worked with a variety of successful media, publishing, telecoms and technology companies varying in size from globally listed operations to family owned SMEs and venture capital backed start up businesses. Recent EFM assignments have included working with businesses in the ed-tech, AI, augmented reality, sign language interpreting and events sectors and supporting a client on a number of due diligence exercises.

Prior to this Andrew qualified as a chartered account with KPMG. He has a proven track record of delivering increased shareholder value and sustained growth, and of driving transformation and cost effective solutions to businesses in rapidly changing markets.

While he has spent a significant portion of his career in the industries listed above, Andrew has found that his experience is readily transferable to other sectors in which he has also worked.

Andrew qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG’s London office.  He remained with the firm for 2 years after qualification, working on a variety of M&A projects before being headhunted into the commercial sector.

He has worked in a number of business sectors, holding a variety of senior finance roles in organisations ranging from PLCs to SMEs, being equally comfortable in large and small businesses.

His experience as a Finance Director during his career includes:

• Business Turnaround – Rapidly identified problems within businesses and developed and refined action plans to correct them
• Acquisitions and Disposals – Worked on various acquisitions and disposals, both from the buy and sell sides of transactions.  Very familiar with Due Diligence processes.
• Raising Equity – Involved in two full listings (LSE and NYSE) and various debt and equity raising projects
• Investor Relations – Managed investor relations with both PE and Corporate investors. Also experienced in liaising with external brokers and bankers
• Cash-flow management – Familiar with identifying problems within the cash-flow cycle and developing and implementing correction plans
• System Selection and Implementation – Worked on a number of system implementation projects, ensuring that the system meets the needs of the business.
• Accounts preparation – Significant experience in designing insightful management accounts and in coaching management teams to appreciate what the reports are telling them
• Business Process Improvement – Able to summarise existing processes and work with management teams to streamline activities without damaging customer and employee experiences
• Company Startup – Been involved in two “green field” start up businesses, as well as launching international subsidiaries.
• Project management – Worked on a number of complex projects, delivering them on time and on budget
• Financial Modelling – Developed models to assist managers and funders to understand the key drivers within businesses, and to evaluate the impact of changes to key assumptions

Although he has significant experience in the technology, Media and Telecomms sectors, Andrew has found that his experience is very transferable to other sectors in which he has worked.

Testimonial:

“Andy who we work very close with, is superb. What stands out about Andy is that he’s always available for the exec, his flexibility, agility and patience. He’s supporting me incredibly well. Andy has created a financial model that is understandable and easy to manage. What’s important is that I feel as though I own it when I meet with potential investors.”

Auris Tech

Background:

The company had just taken over a competitor business, doubling its size overnight. It had relocated to allow the two businesses to be co-located and had lost key finance staff as a result of the move. In addition to this, immediately prior to the acquisition, the business had undergone a G/L implementation that had been poorly project managed resulting in unreliable data. Ultimately the company was looking to integrate the two businesses in order to achieve synergies and to resolve issues within its finance function.

Challenges:

The business faced a number of challenges.  Firstly cash flow management was an issue. Due to the sub-optimal G/L implementation, it was hard to tell which sales invoices were genuine and which needed cancelling, leading to poor credit control and an overdrawn cash position,