JOHN ANTHONY DAWSON BA (HONS), ACA
Mobile: 07710 737701
Email: johndawson@gunthorpeconsulting.com
Personal company website: www.gunthorpeconsulting.com
LinkedIn profile: <uk.linkedin.com/pub/john-dawson/10/955/671/>
Attributes
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Internationally experienced finance professional specialising in partnering management teams, boards
and business owners through periods of commercial change.
Practical, with the commercial approach required to drive initiatives to enhance cash flow and
profitability
Career history
2001 to date
Gunthorpe Consulting Limited, Director
Performing interim management, project management and consultancy assignments via own company.
Assignments include:
Italian SME’s
September 2013 to date
Assisting a number of Italian consumer product producers with UK market entry.
UK businesses of Austrian Energy & Environment Group, Interim Head of Finance - UK
May 2010 to September 2012
Initially engaged to reorganise the finance function and drive cost savings for two UK subsidiaries (the larger of
which was closing out long term construction contracts to the value of circa £500 million):
 Partnered the UK MD to stabilise local finances after the Austrian holding company and subsequently
the respective German and Swiss intermediate holding companies of the two businesses entered
administration.
 Subsequently, assisted steer the businesses through sales processes.
 Partnered the UK MD through the transition of new ownership.
 Tax structuring work performed should reduce the group corporation tax charge for the years 2008 to
2011 by £2 million to £3 million.
Baco Consumer Products Limited, Interim CFO – UK and Bulgaria
February to September 2008
 Partnered the European Managing Director of this £50 million turnover, FMCG business through a
transition from US corporate ownership (Alcoa Inc) into private equity hands as part of the wider
acquisition of the US$ 2 billion turnover Reynolds Packaging Group.
 Subsequently, partnered the management team and private equity owners to restructure the business to
return it to profitability from a starting point of annualised operating losses of £7 million (The slimmeddown business was forecast to post an annualised EBITDA of £1.5 million on a turnover of £15
million).
Aviva PLC, Interim Project Manager – UK and Sri Lanka
March to December 2007
 Managed an accounting process improvement project for the £6 billion turnover general insurance
business, which had previously off-shored much of its finance function.
GDR Group, Consultant – UK
July 2006 to February 2007
GDR was a £60 million turnover, 30 plus legal entity, property development group. The business had been built
up almost entirely in the black economy and previously had no real accounting records. The role involved
 Partnering new director designates to regularise the business in accordance with agreements negotiated
with HMRC and the DTI.
 Specifying and implementing new financial and management reporting systems.
John Anthony Dawson BA (Hons), ACA
Email: johndawson@gunthorpeconsulting.com
PCS Technical Services Limited, Interim Finance Director – UK
July to September 2005
 Assisted this £12 million turnover, owner-managed, IT service support business to rationalise its back
office functions to drive synergies in the wake of an acquisition.
 Two service call systems were merged without significant glitch, despite the distraction of cash flow
concerns.
MYOB, Consultant – UK
November to December 2004
 Assisted this Australian own IT software business simplify its European legal structure by addressing
tax and liquidation practicalities.
Global Garden Products, CFO and special projects consultant – Italy
February 2001 to July 2003
Provided virtual cradle-to-grave assistance throughout a major private equity house’s ownership of Europe’s
largest lawnmower manufacturer (Euro 500 million turnover, with factories in Belgium, Italy and Sweden and
sales subsidiaries in 12 countries). The involvement was in three phases.
First phase:
 Using stop-gap measures to establish monthly group reporting (including KPI’s) within a month of
appointment, thereby averting default against commitments under the senior debt agreements and,
incidentally, identifying a first year projected cash generation shortfall against both covenanted levels
and the amount required to meet an initial debt repayment.
 Partnering the management team to drive synergies and enhance cash flow (first year cash generation
enhanced by circa Euro 10 million despite poor trading conditions leading to EBITDA falling short of
the circa Euro 60 million target).
 Forging good relationships with senior debt providers such that full compliance with on-going reporting
was able to be phased in gradually and some covenants renegotiated.
 Implementing formal budgeting and reporting structures to replace the initial stop-gap procedures.
 Partnering the CEO to streamline transfer pricing.
 Achieving an effective hand-over following the appointment of the permanent CFO.
Second phase:
 Co-ordinating medium term planning to marry operational business plans with the private equity exit
strategy.
Third Phase:
 Co-ordinating vendor due diligence across a complete range of disciplines and driving data room and
sales information memorandum preparation to facilitate an auction, negotiations with short-listed
bidders and a successful sale.
Earlier career:
1980 to 2001
PricewaterhouseCoopers, qualified accountant/manager/senior manager
Long career with PwC and predecessor firms, Coopers & Lybrand and Deloitte Haskins & Sells. Initially based
in Nottingham in audit and then, from 1985, in London specialising in: corporate transaction and advisory roles;
privatisation; inward investment in emerging markets; business valuation; complex carve-outs; litigation
support and commercial dispute resolution.
1976-77 and 1978-80
Hubbart Durose & Pain, Student Chartered Accountant
Qualifications
BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance (Upper second) Trent Polytechnic (1978)
ACA, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (1980)
Languages
English (mother tongue), Italian (fluent), French and Spanish (elementary level)
John Anthony Dawson BA (Hons), ACA
Email: johndawson@gunthorpeconsulting.com
Skill and experience glossary for word search
Activities and specialisms
accountancy, acquisitions, audit, business partner, budgeting, carve-outs, due diligence, disposals, dispute resolution,
emerging markets, forecasting, interim management, international account standards, investigations, inward investment,
legal, litigation support, mergers, off-shoring, outsourcing, post-acquisition integration, privatisation, project management,
rationalisation, restructuring, stock exchange listings, synergy maximisation, transfer pricing, US GAAP, vendor due
diligence
Industry
accountancy, building materials, building services, cement, chemicals, cigarettes, commercial banking, construction,
consumer durables, energy, engineering, film studios, energy, financial services, FMCG, fruit growing, government
agencies, haulage, hotels, house building, insurance, IT hardware, IT services, IT software, leisure, legal, logistics,
manufacturing, mobile networks, mobile service providers, off-shored financial services, pharmaceuticals, premium
branded goods, professional services, property development, property estate management, property finance, restaurants,
retail, sea port facilities, shipping, snack food, sports facilities, steel, telecoms, tobacco, train rolling stock manufacture,
transport, wholesaling, wine and spirit distribution
Size and ownership
blue chip, FTSE 100, global, government, international, multi-national, owner-managed, private equity, SME
In-country experience
Africa, Asia, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Europe, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong
Kong, Hungary, India, Italy, Jordan, Latin America, Macau, Malaysia, Middle East, Netherlands, Nigeria, Northern
Cyprus, Norway, Peru, Romania, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, USA
IT exposure
Access Dimensions, Business Objects, Cognos, ERP, Excel, Frango, Office, Oracle, PowerPoint, Sage, SAP, Word
John Anthony Dawson BA (Hons), ACA
Email: johndawson@gunthorpeconsulting.com