Current · private equity
International manufacturing group
Multi-country production under PE ownership. Reporting, internal control, systems and the monthly rhythm investors expect.
Fractional FC · FD · CFO · FTC
Fractional finance leadership for manufacturing.
Outsourced FC, FD and CFO support for UK manufacturers, production groups and professional-services firms. One principal, scoped in writing. Retainer, day-rate or fixed-term. Board reporting and the operating close, on the same engagement.
Two current retainers · owner-managed and PE
20+
Years in operational finance
62%
Overheads reduced in a multi-site turnaround
16
Entities on a single close
90%
Manual finance processes automated
Sectors
Industries on the books.
CurrentEngineering and contract manufacturingWIP, BOMs, recoveries. Two live seats.
FMCGFMCG manufacturingProduct costing. Multiples, marketplaces, export.
AutomotiveAutomotiveFacilities, seasonal peaks, the covenant pack.
LogisticsWarehouse, logistics and distributionWorking capital, facilities and the stock between plant and customer.
Professional servicesProfessional servicesBuy-and-build. A close that survives the next deal.
Production & retailProduction and retailMake, wholesale, retail. One pack.Official figures
Choose a sector. The pack changes.
WIP, BOMs, recoveries. Two live seats.
£452.0bn
UK manufacturers’ product sales, 2025
ONS, ProdCom · Jul 2026
+0.5%
Manufacturing output, 3 months to July 2026
ONS, Index of Production · 11 Sep 2026
−13.7
Manufacturing & engineering confidence, Q2 2026
ICAEW Business Confidence Monitor · Jul 2026
Latest official pack. Linked. Engineering
Fit
A confidential conversation. Then a written brief.
Two retainers are already live. Capacity is limited on purpose. Board reporting, the operating close, or both.
This is a fit
- Manufacturers, production–retail groups, and professional-services firms running a buy-and-build.
- Turnover typically from a few million into the mid-market, including PE-backed groups.
- You need an FC, FD or CFO a few days a month — or a fixed-term seat — not a two-year recruitment.
- Someone in the business can run the close once it is designed, or you will hire that person.
This is not
- Bookkeeping or payroll as the primary brief.
- Pensions, ISAs, or discretionary investment — that is an FCA-authorised adviser, not this practice.
- A software purchase with no operating model behind it.
- A slide deck in place of working papers.
Current retainers
Two seats. Different heights.
Current · owner-managed
Contract manufacturer
Jobbing and contracted plant. Standard costing, month-end, cash and procedures a small team can run without a full-time FD.
Method
Costing. Close. Reporting. Cash.
Four places, one number. If they disagree, the work stops until they do not. A retainer is finished when the close still runs without the principal in the building.
01
Costing
Bills of materials, routing, hours and scrap, walked against the job — not copied from go-live.
02
Close
A month-end a controller can run. Work in progress is a job position, not a balancing figure.
03
Reporting
The board pack is the ledger, written so a non-accountant can use it.
04
Cash
Facilities, covenants and the current account. The same numbers as the pack. If they diverge, we stop.
Services
What you can buy.
01
Fractional FC, FD and CFO
A named principal in the finance seat — owner-managed or PE-backed — on a defined monthly retainer.
02
Day-rate consultancy and FTC
Call-off days, or a fixed-term contract when a few days a month is not enough.
03
Finance operating model
Close calendar, roles, procedures and management information the team can run without a heroic month-end.
04
Entity and team restructuring
Legal entities, reporting lines and the cost of a finance team that grew around people rather than the work.
05
Costing, bills of materials and margin
Standard costing, WIP and a quotation model that agrees with the ledger.
06
Systems and integrations
ERP, the ledgers around it, and the integrations that stop re-keying.
Principal
Paul Yeates
Twenty years of operational finance in manufacturing, engineering, FMCG, automotive, warehouse and logistics, and professional services. Current retainers: an international PE-backed manufacturing group, and an owner-managed contract manufacturer.
Equally comfortable with investor reporting and with the month-end file. No slide-only transformation.
The practiceHow to engage
Score. Call. Diagnose. Retain.
Indicative 2026 rates on the fee menu. The letter of engagement is the price.
No fee
Finance score
A two-minute fit reading. Costing questions if you want them. Nothing captured unless you send yourself a copy.
No fee
Discovery call
Thirty minutes, confidential. Fit, scope and whether a diagnostic, a retainer, a day-rate or an FTC is next.
Fixed fee
Diagnostic
Two to three weeks. Written pack. Credited against a retainer if you proceed.
From £550 / day
Day-rate / FTC
Call-off days, cover, a deal window, or a bridge while you hire. Three to twelve months if the seat needs a full week.
Monthly retainer
Fractional FC / FD / CFO
SME or corporate contract. Two to eight days a month. Board work, the operating close, or both.
Before a call
A two-minute reading.
If the brief does not belong here, the diagnostic will say so. Nothing is captured until you choose to book or enquire.
- Standard costing and BOM rebuild
- Taken out of administration
- Export channels and process automation
Insights
Notes for operators.
September 2026 · 7 min
Consultant, not adviser
Private offices, mid-tier firms and fractional networks all sit near this work. They are not the same job.
September 2026 · 6 min
Costing the floor will defend
If the estimator, the cell leader and the ledger disagree, the ERP is not the problem. The standard is.
Next
Thirty minutes. Confidential. No fee.
Bring the problem, the turnover, and whether you need board work, the operating close, or both.