Monika Grala, finance architect.

I've spent 20 years building and fixing finance functions, from FTSE 100 group finance at Intertek to transforming a seven-country software group's close from three weeks to three days.

I grew up in a family transport business in Poland, where paperwork, budgets and making the numbers work were part of everyday life. I chose to work across different industries and countries on purpose, to see how companies really operate. Software groups taught me that constant change is normal, in finance too.

Today I work hands-on with investor-backed and owner-led companies across the UK and Europe. For larger projects I bring in a vetted team of specialists in controllership, AP, payroll and transfer pricing, some of whom I've worked with for more than six years.

I hold a master's degree and two bachelor's degrees. I'm based in London and work across Poland, Czechia and the Netherlands, where I lived for over three years. My work has also covered Spain, Denmark, Finland and the US.