With an excellent handle on cash management, Charlie Batho provides a wealth of services for a diverse range of clients, including the provision of management buy-out funds, debt raising, buy & build strategies and exit strategies.

His personal, hands-on approach in installing robust internal financial controls has helped clients to generate increased added value, significantly improving their performance and creating strong, sustainable growth.

Charlie also has significant SME experience in supporting high-growth companies. He has a wealth of expertise in the management of mergers and acquisitions and in enabling the smooth integration of businesses. He can provide financial due diligence for acquisitive companies as well as determining appropriate valuation ranges and KPIs.

With years of experience in the professional and financial services sectors, Charlie is well placed to help clients take advantage of growth markets. He has an impressive background in dealing with private equity houses and can help clients raise capital, for example, to develop new products or services.

Charlie also has a proven track record in delivering turnaround strategies for struggling businesses, executing effective cost reduction programmes, providing working capital stability and offering expert cash flow forecasting.

For instance, he can step in at short notice and assist with cash flow management if a business is running short of capital. As part of the support he provides, Charlie can liaise with HMRC to set up Time To Pay arrangements on a client’s VAT, PAYE and NIC commitments, help renegotiate loans with creditors or assist with sale and lease backs to reduce demands on cash flows.

He can also assist both growing companies and clients in financial distress by reporting to the bank and managing their covenant reporting.

Charlie is an expert in forensic investigations and has assisted clients where fraud has allegedly been committed. For instance, in insolvency cases, if a company is at risk of wrongful trading, he possesses the skillset to rework the management accounts and cash flows to determine whether wrongful trading has taken place.

In addition to his work in the UK, Charlie has notable international experience. He spent over two years working as a financial accountant for the New Zealand Guardian Trust and undertook a secondment to South Africa while working for Jersey-based Coopers & Lybrand. He has conducted financial due diligence assignments in Kenya and New York.

Charlie is currently finance director for a successful manufacturing SME, where his role has included helping the entrepreneurial owner-manager and the management team to stabilise, secure and grow cash flows and profitability, all against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also holds a part-time chief financial officer position for London-based Redress Solutions, one of the longest established and most experienced litigation funders in Europe. Charlie has worked alongside an ultra-high net worth anchor investor/shareholder and investment bank to secure multi-million pound capital raised from private equity and debt funds. He has also implemented and managed a new and more efficient accounting system for the business.

Previously, he worked as Finance Director for transport and logistics business City Air Express for three years. During this time, he oversaw a successful management buy-out, maintained tight cash flow management and was instrumental in implementing a sales development strategy to improve margins. As part of this role, he developed strong stakeholder relationships with bank funders, investors, buy/sell lawyers, auditors, tax advisors, insurance brokers, landlords and key account customers.

Charlie spent nearly ten years at Begbies Traynor Group (BTG) where he held three key positions. As Financial Controller, he was responsible for strengthening the company’s financial controls and improving its management reporting in preparation for a successful floatation.

He then worked as BTG’s Acquisitions and Integration Manager and was the operational lead throughout the company’s buy and build mergers and acquisitions phase where turnover grew from £20m to £70m. He also worked with the CEO and commercial director on acquisition investments worth around £90m, performing investment appraisals pre- and post-acquisition and commercial due diligence reporting and analysis.

As Finance Business Partner he was instrumental in improving operational efficiency in the aftermath of the 2009 recession. Through the delivery of cost reduction initiatives, the restructuring of divisions and improvements in productivity, he stabilised the business’ financial margins.

Charlie is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.