Al qualified as a Chartered Accountant with a global professional services firm after completing a BSc (Hons) in Electrical & Electronic Engineering. His technical foundation continues to inform his structured, evidence-led approach, particularly in innovation-led and technically complex businesses.

He spent a decade within an international consulting organisation in senior commercial and finance roles supporting financial services clients and large-scale transformation programmes. He later joined a global investment bank as an Executive Director, overseeing financial control and third-party cost management within investment banking operations during a period of market volatility.

Subsequent senior finance leadership roles within a FTSE-listed insurer and a global technology and data group saw him strengthen planning, forecasting and performance processes across multi-country structures, improving management information and operational discipline.

As Group Finance Director of a private equity-backed international fintech operating across multiple jurisdictions, Al supported rapid organisational growth, built and led multi-disciplinary finance teams and strengthened board and investor reporting frameworks. His focus was on ensuring that governance, control and planning processes were proportionate to the increasing scale and complexity of the organisation.

More recently, Al held both CFO and CEO roles within a venture-backed sustainable manufacturing business in East Africa. This broadened his remit beyond finance into operational build-out, supply chain logistics and investor communication under volatile market conditions. It reinforced the importance of disciplined capital allocation, scenario modelling and clear stakeholder dialogue when conditions change.

Al supports businesses that require greater financial clarity and governance as they scale or prepare for investment.

His experience includes:

Fundraising and financial modelling

Developing robust financial models, stress-testing assumptions and supporting management teams in presenting coherent and defensible investment cases to institutional and private investors.

Board reporting and performance frameworks

Designing reporting structures that integrate financial and operational metrics, enabling boards to assess performance, risk exposure and capital allocation decisions with greater confidence.

Forecasting, cashflow and financial control

Embedding structured budgeting cycles, improving working capital visibility and strengthening control environments across multi-entity and multi-jurisdiction operations.

Capital discipline and prioritisation

Supporting leadership teams in aligning expenditure with strategic objectives, ensuring resources are directed towards value-accretive activity rather than diffused across competing initiatives.

International and complex environments

Operating across global structures with tax, treasury and regulatory considerations, while maintaining clarity and proportional governance.

Al is particularly interested in innovation-led and technically complex businesses where R&D intensity and capital requirements demand both financial discipline and an understanding of underlying operational drivers.

Core capabilities

• Fractional CFO leadership for growth-stage and investor-backed businesses
• Fundraising readiness support (equity and debt) and investor materials
• Financial modelling, scenario analysis and stress-testing assumptions
• Board reporting packs and KPI framework design (financial + operational)
• Budgeting, forecasting and performance management cadence
• Cashflow, working capital and liquidity management
• Governance, control environment strengthening and audit readiness
• Finance function build-out (control, FP&A, tax, treasury) and team leadership
• Systems and reporting efficiency (data extraction, reporting redesign, process improvement)
• Capital allocation and prioritisation support (focus, sequencing, resource discipline)

Operating context

• PE-backed, venture-backed and privately owned businesses
• Multi-entity and multi-jurisdiction environments
• Rapid scale, operational build-out and stakeholder reporting under pace

Sector exposure

• Fintech and financial services
• Technology, data and innovation-led businesses
• Manufacturing and industrial operations
• Sustainability and energy-adjacent supply chains

Initial situation

A venture-backed sustainable manufacturing business in East Africa secured seed funding to establish an environmentally responsible activated carbon production facility. The project involved commissioning imported plant equipment, building local operations and managing sourcing logistics requiring approximately 1,000 tonnes of raw material per month. The business operated in a market exposed to significant energy price volatility.

Action and result

As CFO and subsequently CEO, Al raised capital from family offices, oversaw plant import and commissioning, built a 90-person workforce and established structured financial reporting for investors. He strengthened financial modelling to reflect changing input costs, assessed vertical integration options and provided transparent analysis of evolving unit economics.

When external market conditions materially altered the economic profile of the business, Al led a structured strategic review grounded in updated financial assumptions. The plant was ultimately divested in a controlled manner, preserving stakeholder relationships and limiting capital exposure.

This reflects his approach: disciplined analysis, clear communication and proportionate decision-making when circumstances evolve.

Outside of work, Al is a school governor and finance committee chair, contributing governance and financial oversight within the education sector. He enjoys running, golf, fly fishing and skiing, and values time with his family. A long-standing Chelsea supporter, he maintains a keen interest in sport and competition.