Episode 126
21st September, 2026
ChatCFO Podcast
The CFO to CEO Shift Nobody Tells You About
Simon Loveridge explores the move from CFO to CEO, the change from being right to being clear and what private equity investors expect from a business leader.
About Simon Loveridge and Rafter Group
Simon Loveridge is CEO of Rafter Group, a private equity-backed operational real estate business with sites across the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. He joined the company as CFO before being asked to step into the chief executive role.
Simon has led the business through rapid expansion, investor relations at private equity pace and a full rebuild of its pricing infrastructure. He also developed a multi-model AI pricing approach using OpenAI, Claude and Gemini, while keeping human judgement at the centre of commercial decisions.
Chat CFO gives you insight and real stories from the people behind the numbers.
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Unity Advisory is a next-generation CFO advisory firm, grounded in experience and built to evolve. The firm supports complex, ambitious mid-market organisations with integrated, AI-enabled solutions across finance operations, tax, transactions, digital and transformation.
Free from audit conflicts and legacy constraints, Unity Advisory helps leadership teams move faster, scale with confidence and deliver sustainable enterprise value.
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