FINANCE
Partnership – Atom Financial founders Matt Herrell ( right ) and Matthew Fannan
WORDS : PAUL FRASER PICTURE : TOM BANKS
DYNAMIC DUO
Best pals focused on helping North-East businesses
A
couple of friends from Teesside are focused on providing financial consultancy to a wide range of clients after going into business together . Matt Herrell and Matthew Fannan are helping companies across the North-East following the launch of Stockton-based Atom Financial last summer .
The pair are putting their vast combined experience to the best possible use by providing different financial , operational and accounting services to give clients essential advice in the areas they need it most .
Matt and Matthew came up with the idea of Atom Financial , based in the Durham- Tees Valley Business Centre , during years of friendship , which began while working together at an accountancy practice in Hartlepool in the early to mid-2000s .
Together they offer key aspects such as financial consultancy , predominantly due diligence and forecasting , an outsourced chief financial officer / finance director service and outsourced finance teams to work with .
Matt said : “ We are different because we recognise that a flexible , efficient approach is vital to a business . When a client has a requirement they will more often than not need it turning around quickly and we can do that .
“ There is a gap in the market in the North-East for what we provide and we just felt it was the right time to do it after years of talking about it .
“ We had enough experience , senior experience , from helping to run multiple other businesses and Atom Financial is basically a culmination of that . We wanted to make sure those experiences and our knowledge are put back into the services we offer .”
After a period of working together in Hartlepool 20 years ago , Matt and Matthew ’ s working lives have gone in different directions at times , yet they have tended to end up working together again and again at different organisations .
Their friendship away from the office blossomed to the point where they were the best man for each other at their weddings .
“ It is about dealing with real people because we can empathise with owners . We understand what they are going through . We have the knowledge and experience to do that .”
Matt said : “ We wanted to combine the senior level of experience we both had personally by directing it to our own model that we firmly believe in .
“ We ’ ve both been finance directors in fast-growth commercial businesses , we have had operations roles , finance roles , logistical roles and we have predominantly been in fast-paced SMEs .
“ We have been involved in high level decision-making in a range of businesses , both acquisitive and organic . We have been through private equity sales , management buy-outs and large-scale
For further information on Atom Financial , visit atomfinancial . co . uk
funding drives . Our experience can help others .”
During Matt ’ s chat with Tees Business , he stressed that Atom Financial should not be seen as an accountancy practice , although it does provide that service . The greater focus is on other elements .
He said : “ It could be that a company needs transactional assistance , like with the sale of a business , or it could be that a business is looking for funding . In-house they might not have the skillset for this kind of transaction , but using our experience we can address that .
“ Our outsourced FD and CFO approach means we operate with flexible models and we know that recruitment is difficult for companies in those areas . Our approach is to be efficient and flexible so we can scale up and scale down , so we can fit the needs of clients . That is at the strategic level .
“ Alongside that , we have outsourced finance teams - effectively we can put teams into a business on an outsourced basis , again with flexibility and efficiency to suit a business ’ s needs .
“ Being flexible allows us to have the ability to put specific skill sets on a business ’ s requirements . There are other organisations that offer the outsourced model , but me and Matthew have been FDs , we have been at the coalface for years .
“ It is about dealing with real people because we can empathise with owners . We understand what they are going through . We have the knowledge and experience to do that .”
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