About Chris Burford

Chris qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC and has an MBA from Bradford University Management Centre. He has been working with and for underperforming companies since the early 1980’s.

Chris’s parents were Pentecostal Missionaries and he spent much of his early years living abroad in Europe, Africa and Asia. He left The Judd School in Tonbridge, Kent at 16 to work as a caretaker and gardener in a maternity home. Returning to Judd to complete ‘A’ Levels, Chris became Head Boy and played Rugby for Kent Schoolboys.

Chris graduated from Durham University with a Psychology degree, playing rugby for his college and flying with the University Air Squadron. He joined PwC in London and qualified as a Chartered Accountant after having moved to the Leeds office. Even in those early years with PwC he was involved in restructuring assignments, including the privatisation of British Airways where he was responsible for reviewing the engineering and travel operations. Chris also was involved in due diligence work on a major manufacturing group’s Canadian operations.

Chris left PwC in 1983 to work as an FD in industry including a PLC involved in clothing manufacture and retail and an SME involved in construction, civil engineering and house building. Returning to PwC Leeds in 1986 to join the newly formed Corporate Recovery department, Chris worked through the recession of the late 80’s early 90’s on restructurings and receiverships of all sizes, Chris was seconded to three PLC’s, two operating at Board level, to assist in major restructuring. Chris was seconded to the role of FD to help restructure the “crashed” MTM Plc group.

Chris left PwC in 1996 to became a partner in HLB Kidsons, working equally on Corporate Finance and Business Recovery assignments, including lead advisory and due diligence work. During this time Chris was also involved in the operational reviews of four train operating companies. Chris was involved in National strategic committees and was Finance and Property Partner for the Leeds office.    

Chris established Pathfinder in 2003 following the Kidsons merger with Baker Tilly in 2002. With Pathfinder Chris has been involved in a wide range of interesting and often complex situations, which have further developed his skills. One example was the role of supporting the Worldwide CFO in the financial restructuring of a group with manufacturing operations throughout Europe; turnover €1bn and debt €1.5bn. This assignment involved detailed daily management of the group’s treasury functions to ensure that each subsidiary had enough cash and that insolvency legislation in each territory was being complied with.    

As his technical skills have developed so too has the realisation that in the final analysis, “its all about the people”; for a Turnaround to be successful the right people need to be involved who, amongst other things, need to be able to provide vision, leadership and foster high performance.    

Chris’s interest in the “people side” of Turnaround has led him to postgraduate studies in Psychotherapy. Having completed an MA in Psychotherapy and Counselling Psychology and an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy both at Regent’s University, London, he is now a fully qualified member of UKCP working as a psychotherapist in private practice one day a week..

Chris is currently Non Executive Vice Chair of St George’s Crypt Limited in Leeds and was for six years, until recently, also Non Executive Chair of St Martin in-the-Fields Limited in London. Both these organisations are associated with caring for the homeless and Chris’s dissertation for his MA studies involved research on an aspect of homelessness.

Chris has been actively involved in the development of the UK Turnaround sector. He was a longstanding member of and practicing certificate holder with the IfT (Institute for Turnaround) where he was been involved in organizing annual conferences and setting up the protocols for the IfT Practicing Certificate. He was also a longstanding member and past President of TMA UK (Turnaround Management Association).