Insights on Finance, Growth and Leadership

What gross profit and cost of sales actually mean for a UK agency, why the 50-70% margin benchmarks you'll find online don't tell you much, and what to track instead.

Clicks and impressions are not proof. Paper Planes founder Daniel Dunn shares how test-and-control testing reveals genuine marketing performance indicators, and why agency finance teams should be watching them closely.

What separates a genuinely capable fractional CFO from a good pitch? Three vetting questions every agency founder should ask before hiring.

A due diligence checklist covering 12 areas buyers check before an agency sale. Having it ready before a buyer appears is consistently the difference between a process measured in weeks and one measured in months.

A charity CEO plans two years of unpredictable grant funding at once. His approach reveals the real advantages of a cash flow forecast, and a lesson agencies juggling retainers and project work can borrow directly

Agreeing to sell your agency is not the finish line. Due diligence is the buyer's verification process, and most founders underestimate how long it takes, how much of their time it absorbs, and how stressful it is to get through unprepared.

Gulliver Moore built a £2 million creative agency, Sunday Treat, working with Google, Revolut and Canon without a penny of external investment. His approach to managing the working capital cycle is straightforward, and most agencies learn it too late.

Many profitable founder-led service businesses fail for one simple reason: they run out of cash. A well-built cash flow forecast ensures you stay ahead of risk, not reacting to it.

Most agency founders experiencing cash pressure assume it is a revenue problem. It rarely is. The more common cause is working capital: the gap between money that has been earned and money that has actually arrived.