Flourish 
Cash flow clarity
Where the money actually goes, which channels earn their keep, and what your numbers are telling you before your bank balance does.
Fractional CFO · Board Advisor · NED
Straight-talking advice for founders who want to actually understand their numbers — and what they should do next.
For UK founder-led businesses turning over roughly £2m to £20m — often multi-channel, usually growing faster than the finance function.
it's just a conversation
Cost of capital, halved
Bank partnerships renegotiated, so the business could keep scaling — Santi, Co-Founder
Finance Directors needed
Team recruited and mentored until they could run it themselves — Lorna, Founder
Growth, with the weak lines cut
Reporting that showed which products, channels and regions actually paid
Being a founder can be tough — why not have someone who's been through it before beside you, whether that's rapid growth, fundraising, systems improvements or selling a business?
What I do
Just the numbers, explained properly, and a plan you can act on.
Most finance advice for founders is either too basic to be useful, or so full of jargon it might as well be a foreign language.
I've spent 20 years as a CFO — through start-up, high growth, acquisitions, an AIM flotation and exits — mostly in e-commerce and retail businesses just like yours. I know what it's like to grow fast and still stare at the bank balance wondering where the money went.
Now I work with founder-led businesses to build genuine cash flow clarity, stronger financial foundations, and — when the time comes — a business that's actually ready to sell.
Exit readiness
Getting a founder-led business into the shape a buyer or investor expects — long before you start the conversation.
Funding & deals
Debt and equity raises, acquisitions and disposals, due diligence — negotiated from both sides of the table.
Board & governance
Non-executive and board advisory roles, plus mentoring for founders and finance teams.
Who this is for
You might recognise yourself here.
- Revenue's growing but cash always feels tighter than it should.
- You've never had anyone explain your numbers in a way that actually made sense.
- You're managing multiple sales channels and honestly aren't sure which ones are making you money.
- You're thinking about a sale or investment in the next few years and have no idea if your numbers are ready.
How we work together
Three ways in, depending on what you need.
A defined project
One thing, done properly. A funding round, a sale, due diligence, or rebuilding the reporting so you can finally see what's going on.
Board Advisor or NED
A seat at the table. Governance, challenge and a second experienced head in the room for the decisions that actually move the needle.
Fractional CFO
Ongoing, in the business. I own the numbers alongside you — cash flow, reporting, the finance team — without you carrying a full-time CFO salary.
Typically one to two days a month, flexed around what's happening in the business. Tell me what's going on and I'll tell you honestly whether you need me, and what that would look like.
Where I'm most useful
Someone who's been through it before, beside you.
Cash flow and exit-readiness are where most people find me — but 20 years across start-up, high growth, acquisitions, an AIM flotation and multiple exits means the list is longer. I've raised debt and equity, negotiated deals on both sides of the table, built stock forecasting and logistics systems from scratch, cut costs, restructured teams, and sat on boards negotiating through everything from rebrands to shareholder disputes.
If your problem is "we're growing but something feels off and I can't quite name it," that's usually exactly the kind of mess I'm most useful in.
Multi-currency, multi-channel, multi-warehouse complexity is where I've spent most of my career. If your finances have outgrown a single neat spreadsheet, that's familiar territory, not a special case.
Why work with me
I'm not guessing what a buyer cares about. I've been one.
Most advisers have done the operator job or the advisory job — rarely both, and rarely across the full lifecycle of a business.
I've been the CFO in the room during 200%+ growth, the one steering a flotation, the one restructuring a business that was struggling, and the one on the other side of the table doing due diligence on an acquisition. So I'm not guessing what a buyer, investor or board will actually care about — I've been all three.
If you want someone who'll hand you a report, there are plenty of options. If you want someone who'll make sure you understand what's happening in your business — and can hold your own in that boardroom conversation without me in the room — that's the bit I do differently.
A bit about me
I'm Cate Hulme.
20+ years as a CFO across e-commerce, retail and multi-channel businesses, an ICAEW Fellow, and someone who's sat on both sides of the table in acquisitions, disposals and a stock market flotation.
I work as Board Advisor, Non-Executive Director or Fractional CFO across a small portfolio of UK founder-led businesses, and I mentor founders and finance teams on behalf of investors.
- ICAEW Fellow
- Fractional CFO
- Non-Executive Director
- Board Advisor
- E-commerce & retail
- M&A — buy & sell side
- AIM flotation
What it's like to work with me
Explained the way I'd explain it to a mate over coffee.
I'll walk you through your own numbers with a whiteboard, a napkin, whatever's to hand — until it actually clicks, not just until you've nodded politely enough times that I move on.
I ask a lot of "why" questions, because half the time the real problem isn't the number itself — it's the decision hiding behind it.
Expect direct, honest input rather than avoiding the awkward stuff. I'd rather have that conversation early and informally than let it become a crisis you find out about from your bank balance.
What people say
In their own words.
Very commercial, comfortable in both the detail and offering strategic output. An amazing human being who gives everything for the cause and genuinely cares.
Instrumental in reorganising our business units. Recruited and mentored our Finance Team… we are able to operate without the need for an FD as our team have been developed so that they can take on the mantle.
Not afraid to roll up her sleeves and do the repetitive work of a six-figure startup. Always worked both on the business and in the business. As a very analytical CEO, my expectations were high, but her delivery was not shy of superb.
She developed custom databases that outputted margin, refund, costs and profit figures on a market, product, category or region basis and any combination of the aforementioned. This allowed us to kill less valuable product lines, and focus on our Pareto’s and achieve exponential growth. Her great relationship with banks forged great partnerships that lowered our cost of capital by half and allowed us to keep scaling quickly.
So — will you flourish?
If something in your business feels off and you can't quite name it, that's a good enough reason to get in touch. No pitch, no 40-page report. Just a conversation.