Background
Social Chain are a highly profitable, fast-paced and entrepreneurial global social media marketing agency based in Manchester.
After raising $2m of funding from the Germans “Dragons’ Den” (“The Lions’ Cave”, they needed to:
- Expand into international markets.
- Improve reporting standards and controls.
- Build out a Board team.
Rowan were retained by Social Chain Founder, Steve Bartlett and CFO, Christian Grobel, to appoint a new Head of Financial Reporting.
Journey
Rowan worked closely with the Social Chain founder, along with the Investors, to:
- Understand the challenging balance needed between the ”old school” investor approach of the German Investors who needed to preserve & model cash flow to allow international expansion.
- Appreciate the unique & dynamic culture of Social Chain; office slides, ball pits, pool tables etc – something they wanted to endure for the long term.
Rowan completed a Search & Assessment process to:
- Find a long-term fit for the company who could be part of and encourage the culture; yet bring financial discipline.
- Examine the technical abilities of candidates to implement improvements to a standard that would please the investors and the Social Chain Board.
Impact
Rowan appointed David Cawley – who had highly relevant experience as Head of UK Finance for a privately-owned, international tech business that went on to be AIM listed
Rowan assessed beyond the CV & understood David’s personality was adaptable to suit both the merge the culture & expectations of both investor & founder.
After being appointed by Rowan, David Cawley successfully:
- Built & led Social Chain’s first finance team (growing from zero to 7).
- Supported an 900% international revenue increase from £7m to £18m.
- Worked with the founder and investors to achieve listing on the Dusseldorf Stock Exchange (2019).
- Moved into the Group Finance Director position.
- Won the Manchester Young Finance Director of the Year award (2019).
