Financial expertise on demand adds up for SMEs

AN ACCOUNTANT and finance director aims to provide the answer for small businesses which cannot afford their own FD.

Kate Barrett set up Thoroughbred Business Management (TBM) to help SMEs make more money through changing ways of working, mentoring and training and providing financial reporting.

Ms Barrett said the service is about more than “ensuring the numbers are right” and has so far worked with Chadwick Lawrence, a 200-person law firm with offices around West Yorkshire, Torque7.com, a used car dealership bsaed in Batley and Simply Devine, a Tadcaster milliner.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Ms Barrett said: “The current economy is putting businesses under pressures they may never have been under before.

“One of those pressures will be how to stay profitable and how to stay ahead of the competition. Cost cutting always comes into the frame, particular when times start to get tough.

“However, now is not the right time to start cutting headcount where you need it most – good finance people will pay for themselves, just as the good sales people do. The flexible TBM service means you only pay for what you need, when you need it.”

Ms Barrett has more than 25 years of experience with businesses in sectors including law and care homes. She began her career as an office junior before qualifying by studying at evenings and weekends.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

TBM has just completed its second year of trading and turned over £130,000 during the last 12 months.

Ms Barrett, who chose the name Thoroughbred because of her passion for horse racing, said: “I tend to use outsourced book keepers and management accountants to support me in my client businesses.

“That means they work in a similar way to me, meaning they get paid for what they do, when the client needs it, as opposed to having to employ someone full-time. This means that I don’t have the expense of overheads I cannot always keep fully utilised.”

Related topics: