Steve Hardwick – Principal, South Coast

Steve qualified as an accountant with the ACCA whilst rising through the ranks of Cyanamid, the UK subsidiary of the US multinational pharmaceutical and chemical company. Moving on to BSG as Divisional Controller for the Britax Automotive Components division, Steve quickly realized a career goal by being promoted to FD of the largest subsidiary, Britax Wingard Ltd. A spell with Barclays Bank then provided Steve with some useful project management and systems skills in a, very different, financial services environment. However, returning to manufacturing, it was as Financial Director for Loma Systems, the food inspection equipment group, that Steve really brought together all his skills and strengths and excelled in a number of business challenges, from the usual “bread ‘n’ butter” cash generation and cost reduction initiatives, through a major competitor acquisition/integration, establishing manufacturing facilities in the Czech Republic and China, to the pinnacle of a lucrative sale of a successful group. A recent interim FD assignment with Deloro Stellite, the global provider of wear solutions, to help them through stringent bank covenants and a challenging year-end brought Steve to a position where he is now well placed to help most SME’s in whatever financial challenges they may face.