Board Adviser · Fractional CFO · Exit Preparation

Not the adviser you call.
The one already there

Most businesses reach a point where the decisions get harder. How you grow, how you're structured, what you sign — each one shows up in what the business is finally worth. As a former CEO and CFO I work alongside owners and boards over years rather than months: a sounding board for the calls you'd otherwise make alone, a CFO's grip on the numbers, and enough transactions behind me to make sure every decision is made with the end in mind.

How I Can Help Start a Conversation
Nicky Cowans · Founder

Services

The right experience,
at the right time

Board advisory &
exit readiness

The businesses that achieve the best outcomes don't suddenly "prepare for sale" — they are built, governed, and grown well. Board-level decisions made long before a transaction determine value, resilience, and options.

Having personally led multiple acquisitions as CEO and CFO, I know exactly what buyers scrutinise and where value is created or lost. That perspective is most useful not at the point of transaction, but in the years of decisions that lead up to it.

Discuss Your Situation
Stage 1

Ongoing business understanding

A deep, evolving understanding of the business — financials, operations, team, governance, and commercial position — built over time, not under transaction pressure.

Stage 2

Shaping decisions and closing gaps

Identifying where decisions, structures, or capabilities are limiting value, and addressing them on your timetable, not under external pressure.

Stage 3

Strengthening the story the business tells

Ensuring the business has a clear, credible narrative, built into how it operates and grows, long before that story is ever tested externally.

Stage 4

Continuity when a transaction arises

Providing continuity and experienced judgement if and when a transaction occurs, working alongside the advisers and lawyers you appoint, when familiarity with the business and its context matters most.

M&A & transactions

Whether you're acquiring or disposing, the process is complex and the stakes are high. It pays to have someone who has run these processes, across multiple jurisdictions, and knows where they go wrong.

Restructuring & turnarounds

When the numbers aren't working — whether it's the cost base, the structure, or the commercial model — the most important thing is a clear-eyed view of the problem and a practical path forward. Not a report. A plan you can act on.

Fractional & interim

Sometimes you need senior experience without a full-time hire — whether that's a board adviser on an ongoing basis, cover during a gap, or strategic oversight while something bigger is resolved. The engagement is shaped around what the situation actually requires.

Engagements range from ongoing board advisory relationships through to discrete project work. The time commitment can be as little as a day or two a month, so the cost scales to what the business needs.

Approach

Senior counsel without
the overhead

Someone who has sat in your chair

Having run businesses, managed boards, and made the decisions that kept people up at night, the advice comes from that place, not from a framework or a methodology. You get someone who understands what it actually feels like to be accountable for the outcome.

Your outcome is the only measure

There are no conflicting mandates here, and no incentive to extend an engagement beyond what's needed. The advice you get is the advice that's right for your situation, not shaped by what's easiest to sell or most profitable to deliver.

A relationship, not a transaction

The best outcomes come from an adviser who understands your business over time, not one parachuted in at the point of crisis. Whether the engagement is a discrete project or an ongoing advisory relationship, the goal is to work as an extension of your thinking, not deliver a report and move on.

Nicky Cowans — Capriem Consulting

About

The person behind
the consultancy

I'm a PwC-trained Chartered Accountant who has worked in PE-backed turnarounds and went on to lead Thomas Miller's Professional Services division as CEO.

In that time I led a £30m turnover business, sat on the Group Executive Committee of a £200m+ organisation, executed multiple acquisitions from initial target through to post-merger integration, turned loss-making businesses profitable, and held regulated roles with the SRA and FCA. The deals I've led range from sub-£1m acquisitions through to £10m+ transactions in the UK and USA — as the principal, not the adviser. I know what it feels like to be the one signing the deal.

I set up Capriem in 2025 to work directly with owners and boards at the moments that matter most. I focus on owner-managed businesses and SMEs, typically in professional services, financial services, or regulated environments, where the right senior counsel can make a material difference to the outcome.

Testimonials

In their own words

Nicky is among the most capable professionals I have ever met. The growth and success of the business over recent years would not have taken place without his leadership.
Senior PartnerInternational Forensic Investigators
Nicky is one of those rare people — equally comfortable at the strategic level, whilst continuing to command the detail when required. His decision making is excellent.
Managing DirectorUK-wide Wealth Manager
He had excellent foresight on how the company can progress. I would thoroughly recommend his services.
Chief ExecutiveLondon Market TPA
Nicky's commercial acumen and the rigour he brought to our sale process was exceptional — exactly what you need when the stakes are high.
Former Managing DirectorMid-market European Private Equity
Nicky is the person I'd want in the room when the stakes are high and the situation is complex, he's delivered every time.
Former Chief ExecutiveProfessional Services Group
A rare combination of operational expertise, buy side and sell side experience. Taken alongside an experienced pragmatic approach and breadth of vision, these make Nicky a compelling proposition.
Former Chief ExecutiveFinancial Services Holding Group

Contact

Let's talk about
your situation

The first conversation is always informal. Just a chance to understand where you are, where you want to get to, and whether I'm the right person to help. No obligation, no pitch.

Based in the UK · Experience across UK, USA & Australia

You can also find me on LinkedIn.