"Steady when the situation wasn't" - Interim CFO through reconstruction

Magnus Harryson, CFO Braathens Aviation

A company reconstruction puts the finance function under a kind of pressure that most CFOs never encounter. Every number is scrutinised — by the administrator, by creditors, by the court — and it all has to hold up while the operating business continues to run.

Gustav joined us as interim CFO for that period. He balanced the cash and liquidity planning that we needed to steer week by week, brought stability for the team and organization with genuinely complicated interdependencies, and produced the documentation the process required, on time and without drama. Where questions were cross-border or legally technical, he took them seriously enough to get them right rather than settling for a workable answer.

What stood out was temperament as much as technical skill. He was steady when the situation wasn't, honest with us about what the numbers showed, and entirely discreet throughout. In a process of this kind, that combination is rare and it matters more than anything on a CV.