The CFO Playbook

What do a retail powerhouse, a manufacturing giant, and a financial services titan have in common? According to our guest Helen Ashton , it’s the universal value of cross-sector experience. In conversation with David McClelland , Helen shares her fascinating journey through multiple industries, emphasising how diverse roles have armed her with unique insights and essential relationship-building sk...

In May’s episode of The CFO Playbook, David McClelland talks to Mehjabeen Patrick , Director of Finance at Arts University Bournemouth, about the challenges and opportunities of finance leadership in the creative sector. As former Chief Finance and Investment Officer at Creative UK, Mehjabeen is all too aware of the financial challenges faced by creative businesses. From her early days working in...

In the latest episode of The CFO Playbook, David McClelland is joined by Giles Andrews OBE , co-founder of Zopa, the world’s first P2P lending business launched in 2004, to discuss two decades working in FinTech and the role of artificial intelligence in shaping the financial services of the future. Finding himself as an accidental CFO in the early days of Zopa thanks to an accountancy qualificati...

In this episode of The CFO Playbook, David McClelland explores how financial management should be embedded into company culture with Richard Dana , co-founder and CEO at Tembo Money. With a background in corporate finance, Richard shares how he leveraged his interest in travel to co-found the budget-boutique hotel booking platform Doris and Dickie, and the lessons learned from being thrifty in bal...

With growth at the heart of the recent Spring Budget, how can companies fuel productivity and accomplish more? On March 13th, 2024, business and economics experts met at the London Stock Exchange to decode the Chancellor’s Spring Budget at an event hosted by Soldo. This live episode of The CFO Playbook is hosted by David McClelland and features an expert panel - David Owen , Chief Economist, Saltm...

Welcome to a new series of The CFO Playbook, brought to you by Soldo. In this episode, our new host, technology reporter, presenter and consumer champion, David McClelland talks to Baron Anyangwe , a finance leader, about his journey and insights into leadership. They discuss the importance of flexibility and passion in career choices, the impact of volunteering, and Baron’s own holistic leadershi...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Ed Lu, Chief Financial Officer at Fandom, a San Francisco-based gaming and entertainment community platform. Ed is a gaming and media tech executive with deep finance, strategy and operational experiences focused on VC and PE-backed Gaming and B2C companies. He holds a Master’s in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford Universit...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Bill Fahrbach, Chief Financial Officer at Facet, offering impartial and invaluable financial advice and services at an affordable membership fee. Bill is a strategic Financial Executive and Entrepreneurial CFO/COO with an extensive investment banking background and rounded technology operational experience. With a track record of signific...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Andy Dean, Chief Financial Officer at Eden Futures, providing high quality, person-centered care, supported living and enablement for people with disabilities and support needs. At Eden Futures, Andy leads the Finance, Service Development and IT teams. Prior, he started his career training with KPMG as a Chartered Accountant, gaining expe...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Chris Voss, Founder and CEO of The Black Swan Group. Previously, Chris was the lead international kidnapping negotiator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the FBI’s hostage negotiation representative for the National Security Council’s Hostage Working Group.  Chris used his many years of experience in international crises and hig...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Robin Dunbar, Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at University of Oxford and Co-author of The Social Brain: The Psychology of Successful Groups. Professor Dunbar is British anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist and a specialist in primate behavior. He is best known for formulating Dunbar’s number, a measurement of the “cognitive...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Tom Herbert, Tech Editor at AccountingWEB, the largest independent online community for accounting and finance professionals in the UK. Tom is a journalist, editor and broadcaster with experience across digital and print publications. For the past seven years, he’s specialized in business, accountancy and technology journalism. He writes...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Peter de Silva, Author, Director, and Trustee. Peter is an experienced chairman, CEO, president, executive committee member, public and private company director and trustee for national not-for-profit organizations and national charitable foundations. He’s a Former Harvard University Senior Fellow - Advanced Leadership Initiative, and aut...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Chris Gaunt. He is the CFO Practice Leader for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Spencer Stuart, an executive search, board, and leadership advisory service. In his role, Chris works on a variety of Group CFO appointments for many of the world’s largest publicly traded companies, as well as for private equity-backed portfolio companies. H...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Justin Lackey, CFO at Asset Panda, a powerful, highly configurable asset tracking and management SaaS platform on a mission to help the world work smarter. In his current role as the Chief Financial Officer, Justin oversees revenue operations, pricing, and data analysis, which are all transferable skills brought over from his previous pos...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Rebecca Kacaba, CEO & Co-Founder of Dealmaker, the leading platform turning all capital raise types into simple ecommerce. Rebecca practiced law on Bay Street for over 10 years, founded the startup practice group at one law firm, and was co-chair of the Toronto Venture Technology and Emerging Growth Companies Group. Rebecca’s vision a...

Being a good CFO isn’t just about managing money anymore. The modern CFO is being asked to implement new technology, guide product and business decisions, and look ahead to the future. On the CFO Playbook we look at how the finance functions at companies stay ahead of the curve.  In season 2 we bring you new host, Fran Badenhorst, a career journalist and UK Content Lead for Soldo. You will still g...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Paul Cunningham, Partner and CFO at Helios Investment Partners, an Africa-focused private firm managing funds totalling $3.6 billion. With 34 years in the industry, Paul has an overall responsibility for all matters relating to accounting, financial control, taxation, fund administration and reporting and regulatory compliance for the Hel...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Chris Stefani, CFO at DWF, a  leading global provider of integrated legal and business services. Chris is a specialist in performance improvement in professional services, finance transformation and profit improvement. He oversees all of DWF's financial operations in the UK and internationally, with a focus on enhancing revenue, improving...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Alwyn Jones, Group CFO at Luno, a leading global cryptocurrency company with over 9 million customers in 43 countries that provides services for making it safe and easy to buy, store and learn about cryptocurrencies. Alwyn has more than 20 years of experience as a hands-on leader with a track record of delivery in financial and digital se...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Manish Sarin, CFO at Sprinklr, a leading enterprise company for all customer-facing functions. With advanced AI, Sprinklr's unified customer experience management platform helps companies deliver human experiences to customers across modern channels. Manish is an experienced public company executive leading finance teams, investor relatio...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Mark Freebairn, Partner, Head of the Board Practice, and the Financial Management Practice at Odgers Berndtson a global executive search, interim management, talent assessment, and leadership development firm based in London. Mark focuses on advising Odgers Berndtson’s Board as a whole and others, while maintaining the track record the Fi...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Chitra Balasubramanian, CFO at CircleCI, a continuous integration and continuous delivery platform that can be used to implement DevOps practices in the cloud or on private infrustructures.  With more than 20 years of experience accelerating business growth through data analysis, Chitra is best known for scaling technology startups. As th...

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Gemma Castle, CFO at Cult Wines, which blends heritage, expertise, and innovative technology to transform the fine wine industry for producers, wine enthusiasts, collectors, and investors alike. With over 20 years of experience, Gemma Castle is well versed in delivering nuanced and sophisticated financial strategies in the fast growth SME...

With 7 years of leadership experience, Navpreet Randhawa has a passion for Enterprise SaaS businesses with focus on the financial technology sector. He found himself on the path to being a self-described “accidental CFO” by having a drive to help build companies and be successful. Navpreet has leaned into prioritizing what is best for his business through the help of using technical tools and outs...