10 October 2005

Small businesses in Newbury to benefit from new part-time Finance Director Service

Today sees the launch of The FD Group, an exciting new concept in finance director services, specifically aimed at small and medium sized enterprises in the Thames Valley and Hampshire.

The FD Group provides business owners and MDs across the region with access to highly experienced finance directors, giving first class financial advice on an as required basis.

The FD Group was formed by its 3 founding partners in direct response to a growing need by small businesses for specialist financial advice at certain crucial times, to help them avoid many of the common financial pitfalls faced by growing businesses.

Bevan Metcalf, Newbury based director of The FD Group explains why the company was formed: “We have all worked as Finance Directors in the Thames Valley and Hampshire for many years and realised that there is a real need by many of the region’s small businesses for a part-time finance director service.

“Many small businesses have grown to a point where the business owner or MD needs high level financial expertise, but may not yet have the resources to employ a full-time FD, that’s where we come in.”

The catalyst for The FD Group’s involvement with a growing business is often a financial problem, the business may be facing cash flow difficulties or making losses; or maybe a potential lender is asking for information that is not readily available to help a company expand.
The FD Group provides support at a peer level, working hand in hand with the business owner or MD to develop specific solutions designed to meet individual client’s needs.

Bevan Metcalf: “We are seeing a lot of interest in our part-time finance director service in the area. Many of our clients value the fact that we are independent which allows us to be objective bringing an external perspective and fresh ideas to their business.

“They also understand that we provide an effective route to accessing high level financial expertise without the need for employing a full-time FD and all the ensuing costs this involves. We also have a wealth of financial and commercial experience which allows different skill sets within the Group to be used to the best advantage for the client. For many small businesses struggling to cope with the burden of finance our part-time service may be the answer.”

The FD Group provides a broad range of services, from half a day a month to as much as 2 days per week, to help businesses succeed and reach their full potential. Please go to www.thefdgroup.co.uk for a full list of services.

The FD Group has offices in Reading, Newbury and Basingstoke.

For further information on The FD Group or a regional client case study, please contact:

Katie Duff
Tel: 01932 231 229
Mobile: 07748 645 223
E mail: info@katieduff.co.uk

Notes to editors:

The FD Group provide business owners and MDs across the Thames Valley and Hampshire with access to highly experienced finance directors, giving first class financial advice on a part-time basis.
The FD Group provides a broad range of services to help small businesses succeed and reach their full potential. These include:
• Financial Leadership - bringing order to the financial side of the business
• Strategic Development – focusing the business
• Stakeholder Management - managing financial relationships
• Turnaround & Recovery - restoring businesses to full health
• Profit & Cash Management - improving performance
• Business Planning - setting out the way forward
• Reporting & Analysis - giving businesses the information to take decisions
• Managing the Finance Function - putting the right resources in place

For further information on The FD Group please go to www.thefdgroup.co.uk

Biographies of the 3 founding partners:
Basingstoke based Ken Bisset is a Chartered Certified Accountant with 28 years finance and management experience including 10 years board level experience as Finance Director.
His career has included working for household names like Macmillan Publishers and Motorola along with senior financial positions at Nabisco, Lucas Industries and smaller more specialist companies. This experience also extends to different sectors including engineering, publishing, medical and IT.
Ken has been providing part time Finance Director Services since 2002.
Newbury based Bevan Metcalf is a Chartered Accountant, with 25 years industry experience, principally in pharmaceuticals and animal health. Bevan has worked on international assignments in Belgium, Australasia and the USA.

He has experience working for big companies such as ICI and SmithKline Beecham, and for smaller businesses such as Orion Pharma where, as Finance Director, he was instrumental in the start up and development of the business.

Bevan started to provide part time Finance Director Services in January 2004, and is currently supporting a number of businesses, as diverse as a gold exploration enterprise to a multi-site hairdressing and beauty business.

Reading based Trevor Wilson is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years experience of which 15 years was spent in a top 4 accountancy practice where he specialised in performing independent business reviews, analysing company operations and making recommendations to both management and stakeholders.

He has owned and run an SME print encapsulation and plastic printing business. Prior to that he worked within the oil and gas industry for Shell Exploration & Production (UK) Limited.

Since commencing part time Finance Director Services in 2001, he has helped clients in diverse areas such as foreign currency exchange, IT storage, audio visual services, business travel, chauffeur hire, and a black Christian church.