Deborah Longbottom

For those who don’t know who she is, Deborah Longbottom is a Fractional CFO and Non-Executive Director for the creative industries, working with agency founders to solve strategic and operational challenges through world-class systems and practices. She is also a member of Agency NXD, supporting SMEs in improving business performance. In her 30-year agency career, she has orchestrated international expansion across continents, led several mergers and acquisitions and shaped accelerator programmes bringing together creative and tech start-ups. All while championing the people within the businesses (and at the same time subjecting them to the musical delights of Take That). Deborah’s passion for nurturing talent led her to become a member of the Design Business Association’s mentoring scheme, and she has consistently led teams to Best Companies, Investors in People and B Corp accreditation. She was also the key driver behind Elmwood achieving ISO140001 certification and carbon neutrality. As a highly regarded mentor and advisor, Deborah has won awards for both her financial and business acumen. In its inaugural year, Deborah was recognised in ‘40 Over Forty’ honouring the talent and experience of over 40s in the marketing industry, and as UK winner of CEO Today’s Businesswomen of the Year Awards, she was honoured as a ‘woman who is the driving force behind their business, whilst also driving the equality agenda within their organisation and beyond’. She is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (FCMA) and winner of Finance Monthly’s CFO Awards.