Roles Recruited
Chief Financial Officer
The CFO Practice recruits CFO and finance leadership roles on a permanent, interim and fractional basis for high-growth, transformational and turnaround businesses. In the summer of 2025, Rob engaged with 118 Group to lead a CFO search for a permanent hire operating on a fractional (part-time) basis.
118 Group is a UK-based digital performance marketing business, based on the outskirts of Birmingham, helping companies grow by connecting them with new customers through intelligent data, lead generation and search marketing.
The Situation
Backed by PGIM Capital, the Managing Director and Chair required a commercially focused CFO to support the business and its investors strategically, without the need for a full-time finance leader, to drive a new phase of growth.
Following detailed discussions, the brief was defined to secure a hands-on, commercially focused CFO who could partner closely with leadership while working alongside investors on key strategic initiatives.
A critical aspect of the CFO search was aligning the distinct priorities of both the Managing Director and Chair. The Managing Director required a strong commercial business partner with cultural alignment and leadership capability, while the Chair prioritised Board-level credibility and significant investor exposure. It was essential that the shortlisted candidates demonstrated both.
The Approach
The CFO Practice adopted a flexible and highly targeted approach to this fractional CFO search, focusing on part-time CFOs able to support a period of change and growth. The brief required experience across service-led and technology-enabled sectors, combined with investor exposure and Board-level capability.
The search was driven through Rob’s network of proven fractional CFOs, alongside targeted outreach via professional networks and advanced online search tools. This ensured access to high-quality candidates operating in investor-backed and scale-up environments, many not visible through traditional executive search.
The successful candidate was a CFO with significant experience operating as a fractional finance leader within investor-backed businesses, bringing a strong blend of commercial and strategic expertise.
The Outcome
Since joining 118 Group in September 2025, the CFO has made an immediate impact, delivering upgrades to commercial processes, supporting an ERP implementation, and providing strategic finance leadership to investors.
We managed to find a great replacement for our departing CFO with Rob’s help. We didn’t start with the clearest brief either, but he helped us come up with a plan. Every person he put forward for interview fit the bill, and it was such a hard choice to narrow them down to one. The process was seamless, and the communication was brilliant throughout. I would definitely use Rob again (though hopefully not for quite a while!).
Kelly Preston, Managing Director
118 Group