Why does growth feel this hard?

Decisions keep landing with you. Revenue is growing, but margins aren't keeping up.

For CEOs and PE operators of £5m–£100m businesses whose growth has outrun finance, data and operations. I redesign the engine underneath, so growth turns into EBITDA, not drag.

Trusted By

Vodafone
Panasonic
Lucid Group
Iris Software Group
MaxTag
Abbott Laboratories

Delivered finance and operational transformation inside these organisations.

The reframe
Nothing is broken - it just feels heavier than it should. The business has grown, but the way it runs hasn't kept up. Complexity builds quietly underneath. And leadership ends up carrying what the system should handle. Individually, these feel small. But collectively, they suppress EBITDA and reduce what the business is worth.
Case study · Lucid Group · ICG-backed

How a PE-backed global professional services group grew from £31m to £102m revenue and expanded EBITDA 5x

Group Finance Director, 2020–2026. Rebuilt the finance and operating model after acquisition.

Numbers were debated, not trusted. Forecasts were guesswork. Decisions were made without reliable data. Things worked - but only because people kept stepping in.
Revenue
£31m → £102m
Scaled across markets
EBITDA
£3.6m → £18.1m
5x expansion
Finance
283 →
573
Monthly transactions per FTE
Forecast accuracy
±1% at 8 mo
Zero audit adjustments (two years)
Cash conversion
~94%
3-year average
Month-end
8 days
Down from 60 days
See the full case study
Case study · Iris Software Group · Hg-backed

Iris Software Group — the largest privately held software company in the UK.

PE-backed, five-year exit window. The financial architecture to support a credible valuation story didn't exist. Board and PE approval secured. Reinvestment confirmed. Business prepared for larger M&A.
See the full case study
Testimonials
Design

AI doesn't fail.
The operating model does.

This isn't accidental. It's designed. Most AI efforts don't fall short because the technology can't deliver. They fall short because the business wasn't designed to absorb it. This is exactly what the Scale Engine Diagnostic surfaces.
See how this is designed
Most businesses don't fail to grow -
they fail to absorb growth.
Andrew McBarnett FCMA CGMA
Value Creation Architect
#1 Amazon international bestselling co-author · Building businesses that scale and a Foundation that creates opportunity for all.
LinkedIn
In closing
As growth accelerates, everything still looks fine on the surface. But underneath, it's already getting heavier. Over time, that weight builds. And by the time it's visible, value has already been lost.
Contact

If this describes your business - let's look at the engine.

No pitch. No proposal. A clear read on where complexity is creating drag and what to address first.

Book a Scale Engine Diagnostic