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Stuart Jeffrey
Director
London
stuart@smecf.com
Stuart Jeffrey has over 20 years senior level experience in
the corporate finance industry and is the founding partner of SME Corporate
Finance. Consulting for a wide range of companies in business development
issues including start-ups, business plans, fund raising, mergers,
turnaround, recovery, acquisitions and both MBOs and MBIs, Stuart has been
instrumental in driving forward client projects to meet designated timeframes
and expectations. The result of this culmination of knowledge and
experience is a highly regarded reputation within the industry.
After qualifying with a city firm in 1975, Stuart enjoyed a
brief spell working overseas for an international company. Upon returning
to the UK, he bought and turned around a furniture manufacturing company.
Through this experience, Stuart developed an excellent commercial acumen
and went on to found his first Corporate Advisory Practice in 1981. With
the help of funds from 3i (ICFC) to expand the business, Stuart saw an
opportunity to use his skills and experience to help other small
businesses.
Early projects included troubleshooting for the Zockoll Group
and a four year buy and build programme for the Interfax Group which grew
from £250k to a £10m turnover within that time frame. Stuart also provided
support and guidance to Tranzline during the sales process despite the
company being in CVA. As a result, the company achieved sales valuation of
twice annualised turnover.
In 1994, Stuart was seconded as CEO of Organisational
Dynamics Inc, with a remit to merge ten profit centres throughout Europe
using the European Economic Investment Grouping. His ability to translate
pan-European opportunities into reality and his knowledge of the US private
investment market were the result.
Stuart is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants
and a member of the Corporate Finance Faculty.
Stephen Harris
Director
London
stephen@smecf.com
Stephen Harris has over 15 years industry experience and became a Director
at SME Corporate Finance in 1998. Stephen has focused on advising
hi-technology companies in making strategic decisions and analysing
business models providing expert advice in identifying channels to market
and market opportunities.
After qualifying with Deloitte Haskins & Sells, Stephen
moved to KPMG in 1987 where he managed the Business Services department.
During this time he dealt with multi-national plcs and owner-managed
businesses as well as acting as Finance Director for a £90 million
business.
With this wide range of experience in 1992, he moved into a
consulting organization and spent five years advising business
professionals, primarily Accountants and Lawyers, on change management and
achievement of their business and personal goals. As a driving force within
the consultancy team, Stephen was instrumental in increasing income and
profitability for the business and the clients.
In 1997, Stephen was appointed Finance Director at the
Professional Enterprise Group plc. which, at the time, was a company on the
OFEX exchange. During this period, Stephen co-authored various technical
publications for Gee Publishing and was a member of a working party
commissioned by the Institute of Chartered Accountants to consider the
involvement of the Institute in the provision of technical services to its
members in both practice and industry.
Stephen's experience as a consultant has covered IIP and
ISO9001 and he is an NLP practitioner as well as a Fellow of the Institute
of Chartered Accountants.
Chris Grindal
Consultant
London
chris@smecf.com
Chris is the latest member to join the SME team and brings
with him in-depth knowledge and extensive hands on experience of the
technology sector and company turnaround and recovery situations.
After graduating from Cambridge with an MA in Law, Chris then qualified as
a Chartered Accountant whilst at KPMG in London. After spending a short
time in venture capital, he joined the MBI team of a turnaround situation
in the commercial printing sector. After spending five years as Deputy
Managing Director of this company, Chris used his turnaround and
fundraising experience to carry out consulting assignments for a number of
small and medium sized companies. Many of these assignments were completed
whilst working as a consultant for Postern which at the time, were the
leading turnaround specialists in the United Kingdom.
During
the past three years, Chris has concentrated on the technology sector and
held the position of Group Finance Director at Keystone, a quoted provider
of software solutions to the professional services sector. Most recently
Chris was the Chief Operating Officer at Prism Group, a supplier of ERP
software to the printing industry.
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