Adam Grundy

Dec 2024- Present          Head of Finance (Consultant)

                                           The Entertainer FZ LLC, Dubai

The Entertainer ME is a leading lifestyle and rewards platform headquartered in Dubai. Established in 2001, the company provides consumers with unbeatable offers and exclusive discounts through its mobile app and digital products across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe.

• Halved the reporting close cycle, accelerating performance insight and decision-making while improving accuracy.
• Delivered the annual budget and three-year strategic plan ahead of schedule, aligning financial targets with long-term growth priorities.
• Led a region wise strategic review, producing a data-backed proposal to exit low-performing regions and optimize shareholder value.
• Strengthened KSA operations by coordinating a robust growth enhancement plan and improving cross-functional execution.
• Resolved complex legacy VAT and intercompany issues, lifting financial integrity and audit readiness.
• Raised finance team engagement and motivation, improving capability and retention.
• Acted as financial steward for the business’s Oracle implementation, ensuring control, data integrity.

Jun 2023 – Dec 2024      Chief Financial Officer 

                                           Ewings LLC & Reach Investments LLC, Dubai

Ewings LLC is a technology operator headquartered in Dubai, UAE. Best known as the owner operator of Mahzooz, the UAE’s first and leading weekly draw. Furthermore, owned companies based in Latin America and Malta connected to digital gaming.

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• Spearheaded performance, governance and growth across multiple business units through strategic, financial, and operational leadership.
• Redesigned reporting and KPI dashboards to enhance visibility and enable faster, data-driven decisions for shareholders.
• Led the shift to an investment strategy targeting new regions, diversifying risk and expanding opportunities.
• Directed the company’s first strategic planning cycle in partnership with owners and the board.
• Contributed to the UAE’s first regulated gaming license tender, combining commercial and regulatory expertise.
• Enhanced Latin America operations with structured reporting, improving control in a digital USDT environment.
• Reduced costs by replacing third-party CRM and digital systems with in-house solutions for the Mahzooz game.
• Introduced performance reviews to ensure business unit profitability and capture group-level efficiencies.

Jun 2022 – Jun 2023         Freelance Finance Professional

Self Employed

Results-driven finance specialist with a strong client focus and a proven commitment to delivering high-quality financial solutions across private family offices, entertainment venues, and F&B enterprises.

• Clients of note include Coca-Cola Arena (subsidiary of Dubai Holdings) and a start-up in Abu Dhabi focused on entertainment and F&B.
• Engagements panned short term interventions and longer term mandates.
• Strengthening controls and improving decision quality.
• Provided management reporting, monthly business reviews, board-level packs and treasury support.
• Continuously developed knowledge and skills to meet evolving client needs.

Jun 2018 – Jun 2022       GroupFinance Director

 Shamal Group Limited and Abdulla Al Masaood & Sons, Abu Dhabi, UAE

A diversified investment firm with roots in the UAE, Shamal specialises in building and managing long-term, high-impact assets and ventures.

• Provided financial leadership to support strategic decision-making through KPI evaluation, financial analysis, and implementation of performance-enhancing systems and processes.
• Improved accounting and transaction processes, ensured reporting accuracy, and managed banking relationships on corporate matters.
• Applied education-sector finance expertise linking enrolment, staffing, and co-curricular spend to P&L, cash flow, and sustainability.
• Delivered project-based accounts and policies compliant with IAS/IFRS and government regulations.
• Built annual and multi-year zero based budgets using forecasting tools to align programme and departmental priorities.
• Established a new entity for premium international schools while managing a private office in Abu Dhabi.
• Secured JVs with Saudi and Asian PE partners, advanced major Chinese PE transactions, and arranged AED 400m project financing aligned to enrolment and fee yield.
• Built partnerships with leading UK/US school brands and negotiated curriculum, KPI, and governance frameworks for GCC operations.
• Developed a multi-site expansion pipeline based on demand modelling and market benchmarking.

May 2015 – Jun 2018    Interim Group Chief Financial Officer/Financial Controller

Al MasaoodGroup, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Founded in 1970 and headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the Al Masaood Group is a diversified family-owned conglomerate operating across multiple sectors and geographies.

• Acted as the Group CFO’s direct replacement for the final four months of tenure, covering full mandate from cheque signatory to bank relations and board meetings. 
• Provided financial and operational support across all Al Masaood Group companies, resolving accounting and reporting-system issues, strengthening controls, and restoring data integrity.
• Facilitated, interpreted, and monitored financial information and cash flows, forecasting trends, analysing variances, and advising management on actions and risks.
• Mitigated financial risk by creating and implementing business plans and financial management mechanisms, strengthening controls, governance, and decision-making.
• Implemented a formalised board reporting framework with integrated KPI dashboards and variance analysis, enhancing strategic visibility and accelerating data-driven actions across the group.

Apr 2013 – May 2015    Group Financial Controller/Head of Finance

Abdulla Al Masaood and Sons, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, AMS Group is a diversified business with operations across automotive, travel & tourism, jewellery, real estate, marine, industrial solutions, and retail.

• Acted as Group CFO’s direct replacement, leading all financial governance, reporting, and stakeholder engagement, working with the board on budgets and forecasts.
• Supported all group companies, resolving accounting and reporting challenges, strengthening controls, and restoring data integrity. With development of the finance team capability.

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE - from 2003 to 2013:

Financial Controller                                                            Abdulla Al Masaood & Sons, Abu Dhabi

Group Financial Controller/Head of Finance                Timpson Limited, Manchester

Financial Accountant (Food Division)                            United Cooperatives Limited,Manchester

Accounts and Audit Senior                                                Beever & Struthers Chartered Accountants, Manchester

Company Accountant                                                         Sika (NZ) Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand.

Qualified Chartered Accountant (FCA)

Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales

BSc (JointHons), Mathematics and Accounting

The University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne