I'm not sure when I decided to become an accountant,  maybe it was always inevitable, maybe it was when I realised I wouldn't ever make it as a professional footballer. My dad was one (accountant, not pro footballer) and I was always good with numbers, so when it came time to start thinking about a career in my final year at Leeds, it seemed like the natural option, with a plan to build on the business knowledge gained in the Economics part of my degree, and maybe find a way to continue to use the language skills from the German side.
 

Accountancy Training

Having put myself through the rigours of the milkround without much success, I eventually landed a training contract with a small firm called Shelley, Simmons, Pinnock & Co (now KBSP) in Central London, a member of the HAT consortium. It soon became apparent that the Big firm rejections had been a blessing in disguise. With SSP/HAT I got the training and support of a big firm but the range of experience that only a small firm can give you, from the brown-paper bag jobs of taxi drivers, ice cream men and other sole traders, through a range of SMEs in varying industries and all the way up to an AIM-listed advertising business and the audit of London's biggest cab firm. You see all the ins and outs at that level, and quickly learn what makes (and sometimes doesn't make) a successful profitable business. I remember thinking to myself after only a year there, that my aim once qualified was to find a friend with a great business idea and help them run it, which I eventually would a few years later, via an encounter with everyone's favourite Greek-Cypriot entrepreneur.
 

All things Orange

Having achieved my ACA qualification in the summer of 2000, I began looking for some industry experience to boost the CV and the longer-term plan, and ended up joining the world of Orange that is the easyGroup of companies. Initially joining the easyValue shopping comparison start-up, I later moved into a group role, getting involved in all of the 'easy' Brands of the time from the Camden hub (with the exception of the most famous one of them all), including the Buses, InternetCafes, Pizzas, Cinemas & even Cruise line to name just a few. There was a great team spirit there, and working with Stelios definitely taught me a lot about attention to detail and using the numbers to make your point. After 4 years there and as the focus both of the group and of the finance function began to shift, it was time to find a role where I could have more influence.

Firebrand Training

It's strange to think looking back over 20 years later now, that I initially rejected the job spec for the Financial Controller role at a company called The Training Camp (which would become Firebrand Training a couple of years later). It felt like it was the role I would go for in a few years time, but I was persuaded to take a phone interview, and the rest, as they say is history. I didn't realise it straight away after interviews with the owners Rob & Stef, including drinks in the pub with the whole team (an interview stage you don't really see these days), but I had found the friends with the great business idea that I could help run, only I'd found the business first.

The next 20 years have been everything I could have wanted. An exciting business that changes lives and so is easy to get behind, working with so many great people. Getting to be a leader of not just the finance team but the whole business, through good times of growth and bad times - recession, relocations, everything COVID19 threw at us. Using my German, and picking up a few words of Dutch and Danish as we expanded further into Europe and beyond, and a few memorable trips researching alternative markets. Learning more about HR than I thought there was to learn. And then being part of the team driving the process that ultimately led to Firebrand's acquisition by the BPP Education Group in 2022, which in a twist of fate was where I had spent the very first day of my professional career back on 1st Sept 1997, getting my first induction to the world of double-entry bookkeeping and T accounts. 

The Future/Now & why Balanced Fractional Solutions?

It was during the pandemic that I first began to think about what I would do long-term. I realised that what I enjoyed most about being an accountant/Finance Director/HR manager was helping people. Working for a business like Firebrand that's all about training and supporting people to develop their careers has no doubt played a part in that.

As Firebrand has become more integrated with BPP over the last couple of years, the opportunity has opened up to move to a part-time model in my Finance Director role there, and to start up this venture. Essentially I'm looking for more great organisations that I can help, but now with a fair bit more experience than I had when I boldly told myself one year into my training contract that I knew enough to run a business. And to be a friend to the owners of those organisations, but a critical one where necessary, to help them achieve their goals.

The name Balanced Fractional Solutions came about for a few reasons. Firstly, keeping my role at Firebrand/BPP, allowing me to be part of a bigger organisation whilst getting back to my roots working with smaller businesses, gives me balance in my life/career. Secondly, one of the things I've prided myself on my approach to my roles, is being balanced in my response to situations, which is often vital when working with entrepreneurs who know their business inside-out but need that counter-balance point of view on the financial side to make sure the strategy is both affordable and the right one. And then finally because these types of businesses often have owner-managers who are busy wearing multiple hats, and need a fractional support role to help keep them balanced as well as their business.

Thanks for reading, if you think there's a fractional role I can help you out with, please get in touch. And if you want the full CV-style career breakdown, link to linked-in profile is below.

Gordon MacLeod

May 2025