Shaw Gibbs appoints new CFO

Shaw Gibbs has announced the appointment of Campbell Smith as chief financial officer succeeding John Williams who has been with the company since the investment by Apiary Capital in November 2022. 

During Williams’ tenure, the business has seen revenue growth from £10m to over £55m and he has been instrumental in building the finance team to manage reporting during the rapid growth of the business.

Williams will remain an executive director within the business for the coming months until the next stage of the strategic plan is implemented. 

Smith joins at a “pivotal” time as the business prepares for the next stage of its growth. His appointment ensures that the company has a robust long-term management team. 

He qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG in Birmingham before spending 14 years in Vodafone Group undertaking a number of leadership and commercial finance roles. Most recently, he has been a senior leader of the finance team at Kynetec, a £80m turnover market leading private equity backed data and analytics business in the agriculture and animal health industry. 

He has extensive experience of the full private equity life cycle including exits and working with new private equity owners and has also worked on several M&A transactions and integrations.

Regarding his appointment, Smith said: “I am delighted to join Shaw Gibbs at this important stage of its growth. The business is on an exciting journey, building a people-centric, high-quality accountancy and advisory practice and I am looking forward to being a key part of the management team as we continue to build on the existing platform.” 

Peter O’Connell, chief executive officer, said: “Campbell joining the team will help accelerate the business’s growth over the next five years. However, for the past two years since the original investment, John has been an instrumental part of the management team, assisting not only with mergers and acquisitions activity but also in managing the finance team as well as working closely with me on his long-term succession plan.” 

Kevan Leggett, chairman, added: “John has been the consummate professional – he has helped execute our M&A strategy as well as building out a strong central finance team.  He has been clear about his own long-term plans and has worked well with Peter to bring on board his successor.”