Ski lifts and strategic plans with flinder’s Alastair Barlow

• Alastair Barlow, co-founder of flinder, believes that defining a clear company culture is key to attracting the right clients and employees.

• Rapid growth requires careful planning and decision making. flinder is careful to do its research when expanding verticals, geographic locations, and services.

• flinder’s annual ski trip has become a huge part of its culture and business strategy. In fact, Alastair recently created an opportunity for UK accounting leaders to brainstorm and share insight all while hitting the slopes. 

Alastair Barlow’s next great idea may just come from a heart-to-heart on a ski lift.

What started as a two-person work retreat—before he and his business partner, Luke Streeter, had even built an employee or client base—has evolved into a multi-week event that is central to their accounting firm’s culture: #flinderTakesThePiste. 

Now, flinder, a London-based accounting and business advisory firm specializing in e-commerce and SaaS businesses, hosts its employees for an annual work retreat before repeating the experience for its clients. In addition, Alastair and Luke have recently added a third event: a skiing retreat for fellow UK-based accounting leaders.  

While flinder wasn’t founded on the slopes, the retreat has certainly become a central part of the company’s ethos. And yes, though the co-founders make time for fun and games, there’s also a great deal of strategic planning during the trip. According to Alastair, learning to ski has a lot in common with becoming an exemplary accountant. 

Alastair shares more insight with Karbon CEO and host Stuart McLeod on episode 22 of the Accounting Leaders Podcast, including his thoughts on workplace culture, how accounting firms can provide expert insight to clients through fractional CFO services, and opportunities for intentional growth. 

Building the right foundation

Alastair credits a lot of the company’s success to its structure. He believes in the benefits of firms led by multiple people versus those founded and led by a single individual. 

“Everyone has good days and everyone has bad days,” Alastair says on the podcast. “And everyone has strengths and weaknesses—or development points, as we call them. Playing to each other’s strengths and being the yin to the yang really, really helps.”

But it’s not just about having multiple people in leadership roles. It’s also essential that leaders have clearly defined roles. 

Too often, Alastair sees accounting firms led by partners operating in isolation from one another: separate clients, separate support staff, but a shared firm name. Acting as partners in name only is an outdated practice and strategy that Alastair and Luke firmly reject. 

Instead, they’ve developed a “proper structured C-suite,” which Alastair believes has propelled the company forward on a path of rapid growth and success. 

Standing out in the hiring crowd

Even before the pandemic, hiring exceptional accountants was a challenge, particularly in London, one of the most competitive cities for CPAs. This has only been exacerbated by the global cultural employment trend colloquially known as the Great Resignation. 

Alastair’s managed to keep flinder’s competitive edge in the hiring market through a multi-prong approach:

1. Tell it like it is

flinder’s YouTube channel is an open book. The company showcases its culture through candid interviews of its employees—both longtime and new. 

The reasoning: By giving a glimpse into the day-to-day experiences of its team, prospective employees will be eager to jump on board. 

2. Cultivate growth opportunities

flinder is committed to supporting professional development opportunities for its team. 

Case in point: Beyond the annual ski retreat, Alastair and Luke have plans to expand their learning and development syllabus even further in 2022. 

In addition, flinder provides unparalleled learnings through its unique client base of fast-growing startups. Its interesting clients appeal to the kind of employees flinder wants to attract: ambitious accountants interested in developing a broad range of experience.

3. Differentiate yourself from your competitors 

Alastair knows that flinder offers opportunities that most accountants, even seasoned professionals, won’t get elsewhere—particularly at any of the Big Four firms. 

Understanding how your company differs from competitors isn’t just a valuable strategy to land clients but also to acquire talented professionals.

“We’ve got a couple of people that are expert portfolio CFOs,” Alastair tells Stuart. They were given a narrow scope for their work in their previous roles, but at flinder, they’re encouraged to step outside of the box. “We’re much more like, ‘If there’s an opportunity, let’s try it’.” 

Recommended reading: Three stages to hiring the perfect accountant

Growing with purpose

In just five years, flinder has grown from a two-man operation to a booming team of 40 with three locations across the UK. The fact that it’s achieved such growth during a pandemic is a remarkable feat. 

And while the pandemic may have slowed Alastair’s vision for the company, it’s not stopping the ambitious accounting leader from setting his sights on additional expansion opportunities. He’s focusing his sights on three key areas: 

New services

Alastair is especially inspired by the success of flinder’s fractional CFO services. The advisory role is both broader and deeper than the typical virtual CFO. Instead, flinder’s fractional CFO services include challenging and supporting a client’s board in pursuing its strategic plan. The role goes beyond reporting numbers, with flinder becoming an active presence in the boardroom. 

The company has found so much success with the offering that Alastair is looking to expand the concept to create an expert panel that flinder’s clients can tap into for advisory purposes. 

By bringing former C-suite executives from tech and e-commerce onto its team, flinder plans to create an in-house group of experienced professionals to support its clients in various areas. 

Alastair’s also looking to develop data analytics software to support clients’ unique needs. By building access to the right metrics, flinder can provide targeted data analysis and fill a gap for its clients while also expanding its revenue streams. 

New verticals

Although currently focused on e-commerce and SaaS companies, Alastair is constantly researching new opportunities. However, it can be easy to get lost in the possibilities, so he’s careful to consider how flinder’s current capabilities appeal to his team, using those factors as the foundation for his search strategy.

He knows that data-rich, complex business models are flinder’s wheelhouse. As a result, Alastair focuses solely on potential industries that fit the basic criteria. Some areas for possible expansion include cryptocurrency and NFTs. 

New locations 

With most of flinder’s business based in London, Alastair knows there’s great potential for growth by expanding the company’s geographic footprint. 

Tech hubs like Bristol and Manchester stand out as potential opportunities to focus. He’s also eager to research potential partnerships in Scotland.

Staying true to yourself 

A common theme in flinder’s journey is the strong understanding of purpose. Alastair and Luke were eager to form an accounting firm different from many competitors—and they’ve successfully built an organization that reflects their love of a good challenge, while also cultivating a creative culture. 

“There are accounting firms and then there are accounting firms, right?” Stuart observes. “The ones that are passionate, that have purpose, that do their best to enjoy what they do, that work with great clients, that have great culture, and that do the things you’re talking about … that make a workplace appealing.” 

By shouting flinder’s love of a good challenge and love for a good time from the proverbial mountaintops, the company attracts not only avid skiers but also creative problem solvers energized by new situations.