Case Study: Andrew Munro excels in Interim CFO role

Pure360 is a Brighton-based email and digital marketing automation company that specialises in helping businesses get the best results from their email marketing campaigns. It works with over 1,400 organisations including brands such as Tetley, NHS and Innocent drinks. Pure360 customers have access to the largest UK-based customer support team of all email marketing providers. Customers receive dedicated support, training and regular free advice, all supported by the company’s own email and digital marketing software which is continually developed in response to customer feedback.

The Challenge

Having grown rapidly from its formation in 2001 and reaching a turnover of £6.2m in the year to 31 March 2013, the company secured a substantial private equity investment in July 2013 to support its plans for further growth. The investment was made as part of the acquisition of the company by Scottish Equity Partners.

To achieve the next phase of its growth plans the company sought to strengthen its management team with the recruitment of a new CFO. The company appreciated that finding a new CFO with the skills and experience that its growth plans demanded, could take some time. However, the need for a CFO became more urgent in October 2013 when the company’s long term Financial Controller gave notice.

The company recognised that while it proceeded with its search for a new CFO, the imminent departure of its Financial Controller meant that it would need help to manage the finance team, support business as usual and to start to address a major change in its revenue recognition policy required by its new auditors.

The Solution

Pure360 engaged Andrew Munro, one of EMC’s team of professional consultants as Interim CFO, to head up the finance function whilst the search for a permanent CFO continued. Andrew is an experienced interim Finance Director / CFO and a qualified Chartered Accountant with 12 years’ experience at board level and a track record of managing change, developing finance functions and improving financial management.

Andrew was engaged on a flexible part-time basis, typically three days a week, and was quickly able to pick up the duties of the departing Financial Controller to ensure that these were covered. In addition, Andrew began work to improve the processes and quality of financial reporting, to speed up the production of the management accounts and to prepare for the change in accounting policy. Andrew held the fort, led the finance team through the first year-end with the new auditors, and progressed the work on the change in revenue recognition policy.

The company’s recruitment process was successful and Carrie Hutchison joined Pure360 as CFO in June 2014. Andrew provided a thorough and flexible handover and then continued to provide support on an as-needed basis through to December 2014, developing the reports and analysis needed to prepare the first set of financial statements produced under the new revenue recognition regime.

The Results

By engaging EMC to provide flexible, professional and experienced interim support, Pure360’s management was able to remain focused on running the business, knowing that the finance responsibilities were under control. Andrew ensured a smooth transition between the Financial Controller and the new CFO. In addition he improved financial processes and reporting, and addressed the substantial demands of the change in revenue recognition policy.

Stuart Dawson, Pure360’s CEO who originally hired Andrew in October 2013, said: “Andrew provided flexible support to the business during a critical period following the SEP acquisition. We worked closely together and I appreciated Andrew’s professional support as well as his personal commitment to the business. Andrew was one of the team and remains a valued contact.”

Carrie Hutchison the company’s CFO, also appreciated the flexible support offered by EMC, saying: “When I joined the business, I immediately entered into intense business analytics culminating in a finance-raising event. At the same time year-end audit was proving particularly challenging due to a change in accounting policy and auditors. Not having the bandwidth myself, Andrew led this exercise on my behalf to a successful conclusion, not just managing the audit process but identifying process changes and automation improvements for the business to implement.

“Andrew is a cheerful, dedicated and immensely reliable professional who does what it takes to get the job done. Onsite or off he was always prepared to answer questions and support on a same-day basis and he added immense value during his time here.”