Address
Form of workBackground
Independence Capital ("IC") are a hybrid private equity & advisory firm specialising in developing new management-led buy-build groups. IC commonly enable teams and leaders who have scaled and (or) exited with private equity before but whom wish for the next venture to see management more favourably benefit and (or) leaders and management teams from global corporations who wish to lead their own operation in the market they know so well.
IC approach creates structures which allow management teams an order of magnitude larger equity incentive than traditional Private Equity would provide.
Strategy (Project Edge)
Alex Heslip & Chris Earle led the growth and secondary exit (£430m valuation) of Verastar - the SME focused business services group, back in 2019. Since then the team have worked with IC support to orchestrate a new strategy built upon a foundation of IT Managed Services & Unified Communications.
In June 2024 the first acquisition was made of a £5m turnover cloud-service-provider, RISC IT Solutions. The business is in process of acquiring targets 2 & 3, which it expects to conclude in 2024. The business expects to then roll-out nationally that presently regional and soon to be integrated platform. The business expects to make 2-4 acquisitions per annum for the next 3-years + before planning for an eventual exit event.
Role
Project Edge finance function is presently served by a PE-experienced portfolio CFO and an inherited Finance Manager within deal 1. Through the next 12-months the business intends to build a central finance platform which will serve the whole group and that will be comprised of both hired and inherited staff.
The role will require a balance between Strategic - forward planning mindful of acquisition appetite and exit horizon, Tactical - leading and supporting the build of new systems, processes & teams and Operational - supporting seamless best-in-class processing and reporting of day-to-day activities such that the group is proactively led by data and insights farmed by the finance team in concert with the other functions across the business.
Candidates will be expected to not only bring their technical skill-set and experience to their function but to extend their input in a collaborative and collegiate approach identifying opportunities and solving problems as a team.
Requirements
- Over 5 years experience at Board level
- Over 7 years experience of IT/Telco Services or similarly adjacent B2B recurring revenue service markets (ideally SME focused)
- Demonstrable track record of enhancing EBITDA/EV through financial actions
- Demonstrable experience translating financial requirements into operational actions
- Desirable to have experience of platform build/integration but not essential
- Desirable to have M&A experience but not essential
- Desirable to have prior PE experience and delivery of exits but not essential
- For outstanding young candidates; consideration would be given for those taking on their first CFO role - having previously been subordinate to a Group/CFO i.e in FD/Div FD/Group FC/Group FP&A roles - especially where domain knowledge is highly relevant to the strategy in question
Package
Industry leading equity reward & salary packages
Candidates maybe afforded the opportunity to buy-in to the equity stack to enhance their equity position over and above the incumbent mgmt LTIP/EMI.
