Alastair Barlow

Seven years ago, flinder grew out of a desire to address the challenges and gaps we saw in what was previously a sub standard solution offered to fast-growth businesses at the time. Back then, too much effort was spent on outdated methods that didn't align with clients' strategic needs. We wanted to change this by focusing on delivering valuable insights and very much starting with the end in mind.

Our ambition was to reinvent the way finance functions were run for agile, fast-growing businesses. And we wanted to create an environment that reflected our clients – nimble, tech-savvy, and dynamic.

We also wanted a place where we could come to work and be ourselves; get the best out of us and our team.

We wanted to reinvent how accounting should be delivered and how finance should interact with the business.

Before founding flinder, I spent 16 years at PwC, working in various business units across different offices and countries. Prior to leaving, I led MyFinancepartner in London and the South East, where I worked closely with Luke, my now co-founder and business partner.

Reflecting on our journey, I think our management style is collaborative and open to challenge. We work as a team and encourage a culture where everyone’s ideas and feedback are valued. This approach has shaped the supportive and fun environment we have at flinder today.

I think in some ways, seven years building a team has gone by extremely quickly, but in other ways it's been slow. We're often just looking forward, but when we do manage to step back and watch the team interact with each other, have fun and support one another it helps us reflect on how far we've come in those seven years - the team, their development, and their spirit is what makes me the most proud about flinder. Watching them operate as a team and a having a group of people that genuinely care about each other and have fun!

Team socials were originally just events organised by me and Luke, but of course, now have an independent life of their own and are driven by the team and what they want. In many ways, we've created a self-propelling social culture and of course the annual flinder ski trip remains the highlight of the year! It’s incredible to see the team work together and party hard when were away.

Luke and I pride ourselves on our doors always being open.

We welcome ideas, opportunities, and challenge from everyone in the team no matter how long they've been with us or how experienced or inexperienced they are. Everyone has a voice at flinder and we’re always willing to listen.

Our vision was to create a new type of accounting firm and a new way of delivering services, with a strong focus on data. I think the fact that many firms have since taken inspiration from our approach shows we we're on the right path.