Chat CFO
Chat CFO gives you insight from the people behind the numbers. Finance leaders who’ve had to make tough calls, rethink their role, and learn by doing.
You’ll hear directly from the CFOs, COOs, and CEOs behind some of the most meaningful business decisions in recent years. Listen to honest conversations from leaders about what worked, what didn't, and what it really takes to lead when it matters most.
The Chat CFO podcast will help you to learn:
- How modern CFOs are adapting to AI, regulation, and risk
- Why culture, sustainability, and global growth sit firmly in the finance seat
- The impact of the personal decisions and turning points that shaped lasting careers
If you’re a CFO, a future CEO, or a finance leader who’s thinking bigger, Chat CFO gives you the thinking, the scars, and the clarity to move forward with purpose.
Bold Moves. Big Impact.
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Chat CFO is a STOIX podcast, produced in partnership with Unity Advisory.
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Chat CFO
How to Exit Without A Playbook | Stephen Loftus, CEO of Wattbike
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
If there is no playbook, how confident are you in running the business while preparing to sell it at the same time?
Trade sales are often described as a process. In reality, they are a test of judgement. Leaders are expected to keep performance on track, manage investors, support teams, and make irreversible decisions, all while the business is being prepared for exit, often with imperfect information and no clear right answer.
In this episode of Chat CFO, Neil sits down with Stephen Loftus, CEO at Wattbike, to talk candidly about what it takes to run a private equity-backed business while preparing it for sale. Stephen shares what it really feels like to hold both responsibilities at once, and why personal judgement and relationships impact the outcome far more than any checklist.
We get into:
- How to keep the business performing while preparing for an exit
- Why selling a business rarely follows the process leaders expect
- How judgement and relationships influence outcomes during a trade sale
- Where leaders underestimate the pressure and complexity of doing both jobs
- How AI and mentorship are changing how decisions get made under pressure
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About our guest:
Stephen Loftus is CEO of Wattbike, where he has led the business through a PE-backed transformation, including refinancing, restructuring, new product launches, a return to profitability, and a successful trade sale in July 2025.
Stephen is a commercial CEO with experience across FMCG, health and wellness, and consumer brands. He began his career in strategy consulting and FMCG with Diageo, Red Bull, and Constellation Inc, and later helped scale Brompton as Chief Commercial Officer, growing revenues from £27m to £120m and expanding margins.
You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-loftus-8441291/
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About Chat CFO:
Chat CFO is a podcast featuring honest conversations with CFOs, COOs, and CEOs about the decisions that impact businesses. The focus is on what leadership looks like in practice, including what worked, what didn’t, and what leaders learned along the way.
Produced by STOIX, Chat CFO is proudly supported by Unity Advisory as headline sponsor.
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About our host:
This episode of Chat CFO is hosted by Neil French.
Neil is the Co-Founder of STOIX. Over the last 19+ years, he’s worked closely with leaders across interim and permanent mandates, often in moments of transition: new ownership, new strategy, broken teams, or first-time leadership hires. He works with CFOs, CEOs and investors navigating scale, complexity and change, typically in PE-backed, VC-backed, listed or founder-led environments.
Connect with Neil on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-french/
