An Introduction to Gary McGaghey, Williams Lea Tag Group CFO
As a globally experienced divisional and group CFO , Gary McGaghey has an extensive track record of delivering organic and M&A-driven growth in private equity, listed, and privately owned companies.
He has delivered essential change in companies belonging to several sectors, including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), beverage, pharmacy, and media markets. McGaghey achieves growth transformations by building a nd nurturing world-class finance teams, which have worked under his careful management to transform businesses and business divisions around the world.
Most recently, McGaghey has taken on the role of CFO for the 1.3bn end-to-end marketing production services group Williams Lea Tag. McGaghey began his journey with the company as an interim controller in September 2019 and became the CFO in June 2020. Now, McGaghey is taking a growth-oriented approach to Williams Lea Tag s latest company transformation. Following the initial carve out of Williams Lea Tag from DPDHL, McGaghey is leading the transformation of the Williams Lea business, including cost transformation, business unit carve outs and sales, balance sheet refinancing and preparation for a strong exit.
Williams Lea Tag has evolved in huge strides since the company launched as a London print shop in 1820. Today, the company offers critical support services for financial, legal, and professional service businesses. In 2011, Williams Lea purchased Tag Worldwide, a design and production agency, and integrated Tag s name into the brand. Then, in 2017, the American global firm Advent International acquired Williams Lea Tag to make the most of its operational and strategic potential.
Overall, McGaghey s role is to manage Williams Lea Tag s financial environment, notably by formulating growth plans and helping the financial team come to key decisions. He leads transformation across the company through cost-restructuring programs, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), carve-outs, divestitures, and balance-sheet reconfiguring.
McGaghey brings a wealth of experience from non-executive and statutory executive director roles at listed and privately-owned companies to his role at Williams Lea Tag. For starters, he is also the non-executive director of Fitmedia UK, the award-winning leader of children s fitness analysis and testing.
McGaghey has also held the following roles.
19, McGaghey was the Group CFO of Nelson & Co Ltd, a global consumer healthcare product provider. In this role, McGaghey:
17, McGaghey held several roles with the 53bn global FMCG group Unilever. And, before this, he worked with the Robertsons Foods Group as CFO, which merged with Unilever in 2002. Over the years, McGaghey has acted as Unilever
During his tenure at Pepsi Lipton JV, McGaghey managed all aspects of finance, treasury, investor relations, tax, M&A, governance, risk, and global strategy development. He led to contact with PepsiCo HQ, managed the joint-venture relationship with PepsiCo, and led a five-year strategy that increased profits substantially through delivering profitable double-digit turnover growth. He also led market development projects in Indonesia, China, Brazil, and Australia with PepsiCo bottlers and third parties.
Not only is McGaghey registered on the Public Accountants and Auditors Board as a Chartered Accountant in South Africa, but he also has an:
s degree in Accounting, Auditing, Tax, and Finance from the University of Natal (South Africa)
A Non-Executive Director Diploma from the Financial Times, a formally accredited, level seven , postgraduate qualification.
McGaghey has also presented at several prestigious events and conferences. His presentations include Lessons From Shared Services and Setting up Global Business Services , which he presented to a PricewaterhouseCooper client base in 2014, and Successful Outsourcing and Finance Function Transformation , which he presented to Jaguar Landrover s CFO and finance team in the same year. McGaghey also gave a in 2014. And, in 2017- 18, he was a regular presenter on the London Business School M&A Program, where he discussed The Softer Skills of Successful M&A talk at the Deloitte Shared Services Conference
As an expert in multi-currency financial controlling and step-changing business performance, McGaghey has successfully partnered CEOs of PLC multinationals, private/private equity companies, and joint ventures. He engages private equity, PLC, and family-owner stakeholders with his constructive, supportive style, which he teams with his expertise in corporate governance and risk management to help businesses complete the transformations they need to excel.
Originally published at https://bmmagazine.co.uk on August 2, 2021.
