After speaking to around 100 FDs and CFOs across the North, Olly Gaydon, Director of Finance Recruitment, Better Placed, has noticed three consistent patterns in why finance leaders decide to move on – and they’re rarely about money.
I’ve spent the last six months speaking to finance leaders across the North. FDs, CFOs, heads of finance – people running the numbers at agencies, tech businesses, consultancies and professional services firms. I wanted to understand what makes them stay in a role and what makes them leave.
The answers surprised me. It’s almost never about salary. The reasons are more personal, and often invisible to the businesses that are about to lose them.
Three patterns came up again and again.
The mission has changed
Finance leaders tend to join businesses because they buy into a story. A growth plan, an exit trajectory, a vision for where the company is heading. When that story changes – a sale falls through, growth plans are quietly shelved, a restructure is handled badly – they notice before anyone else. They’re the ones closest to the numbers, so they’re often the first to see the gap between what was promised and what’s actually happening.
This doesn’t mean you can’t change direction. But if your finance leader signed up for one journey and you’re now on a different one, you need to bring them with you. Poorly communicated pivots are one of the fastest ways to lose good people.
They’ve lost their seat at the table
The second pattern is about influence. Finance leaders tell me they took their role expecting to be a strategic partner to the founder or CEO. Then, slowly, things shift. They’re brought in too late on key decisions. They’re asked to report on what’s already happened rather than shape what happens next. The role drifts from commercial leadership into compliance and box-ticking.
This is particularly common in founder-led businesses where the instinct is to keep financial oversight close. But if you’ve hired a senior finance person and then don’t let them do the job, they’ll find somewhere that will.
The relationship has broken down
Finance people often have to be the sole cynical voice in a room of optimists. That’s part of the job. But it puts them in a difficult position. They have to challenge forecasts, question assumptions and sometimes say no – all while maintaining the trust of the people they’re challenging.
When that dynamic works, it’s incredibly valuable. When it doesn’t, finance leaders can find themselves cast as the permanent naysayer, the person who doesn’t get it, the one who isn’t bought into the vision. Once that perception takes hold, the relationship with the CEO or founder rarely recovers. And once the relationship is gone, so is the finance leader.
What you can do about it
If any of this sounds familiar, here’s what I’d suggest.
First, think about the signals you’re sending. Equity matters to finance leaders, but not always for the reasons you’d expect. Yes, there’s financial upside – but more importantly, offering equity signals that you want them to help build the business, not just keep the books. It says you see them as a partner.
Read more: Better Placed Market Report: Reflecting on 2025 – and what it means for recruitment in 2026
Second, be honest about the role you actually need. If you want a financial controller who’ll manage reporting and compliance, that’s fine. But don’t sell it as a strategic seat at the table and then wonder why they leave after 18 months. Clarity upfront saves everyone time.
Third, keep talking. The finance leaders who stay longest are the ones who feel heard – who are brought into decisions early, who understand why the business is making the choices it’s making, and who feel like their challenge is welcomed rather than tolerated.
One final thought
A founder said something to me recently that stuck: “If you’re thinking about hiring a finance leader, you’re probably six months too late.”
I think there’s truth in that. The Northern agency sector is maturing. Margins matter more than they used to. AI is forcing businesses to rethink their models. The companies that navigate this well will be the ones with commercial leadership that’s genuinely embedded – not bolted on as an afterthought.
If you’ve already got a good finance leader, make sure you’re giving them reasons to stay. And if you’re not sure whether you are, it might be worth asking them.
