Knowledge Hub | Finance Recruitment Insights & Trends

Private equity firms now prioritize CFOs who act as strategic data architects, not just financial reporters. Modern finance leaders must bridge the gap between financial accounting and operational data systems to ensure transparency, support AI-driven forecasting, and mitigate valuation risk during due diligence.

Choosing the right finance leader depends on your business's current pain point. A Financial Controller ensures data accuracy, a Finance Director manages operational scaling, and a CFO provides strategic vision for future growth. Diagnose your bottleneck to hire the perfect partner.

At £75m, your CFO is not a cost—they are a growth decision. This guide outlines current UK market compensation, why outdated benchmarks cause hiring failures, and how to structure a total rewards package that attracts strategic finance leadership.

Harper May partnered with a £50m SaaS enterprise to appoint an AI-literate CFO. By addressing structural lag and implementing automated forecasting, the business reduced reporting cycles by 60%, improved margin visibility, and successfully facilitated a major £50m Series B funding raise.

Learn how Harper May helped a £40m retailer transition from reactive reporting to proactive growth. By appointing a specialist Finance Director, the business secured real-time site visibility, protected margins, and built the financial infrastructure necessary to scale toward £100m.

Finance roles across London and the UK are evolving as AI reshapes the profession. The “Digital Senior” represents a new standard, where professionals at every level combine technical expertise, commercial judgement, and system oversight to drive business value.