CFO Jon Mahood joined Laundryheap in 2022 and has played a key role in its rapid growth. In that time, the company has doubled revenue, completed seven acquisitions and expanded into new global markets. He now divides his time between the UK and Dubai as the business continues to scale.
The business remains strongest in the UK, where customers have embraced its modern approach to laundry and dry cleaning. Laundryheap recently launched its new overnight express service in London, offering the fastest turnaround in the country, with pickup by 10 pm and delivery by 8 am the next morning. It is one of several innovations helping the company grow while staying focused on customer experience.
Here, Mahood shares the qualities a great CFO needs, the realities of scaling a global service brand and the mindset that keeps him grounded beyond the balance sheet.
How did you become a CFO?
I started my career at Telefonica O2 in the UK, working in commercial finance and supporting the digital team on new ideas and revenue opportunities. I also became involved in O2’s startup accelerator, which helped me understand how scale-ups operate.
That experience led me into advisory work with early-stage founders. Through those relationships, an angel investor introduced me to Laundryheap. I spent eighteen months advising the CEO during Covid-19, and when the time was right, he asked me to join as CFO.
What skills or traits does a good finance leader need?
Data is essential, but instinct matters too. I often say knowledge leads to wisdom. A good finance leader knows how to ask the right questions, use intuition to guide thinking and then validate decisions with data. It is a constant cycle of gathering information, making decisions, measuring the outcome and refining the next step. I also try not to speak in numbers too much. Finance leaders need to translate complex information into something anyone can understand.
What excites you most about your current role?
In a startup or scaleup, the CFO is not just the person looking at the numbers. I see myself as the co-pilot to the CEO. We are scaling globally, which means I’m involved in conversations across the business, from pricing and new verticals to marketing, acquisitions and product ideas. I am fortunate to work with a CEO who values my involvement and uses me as a sounding board. The most exciting part is being able to influence the future direction of the business in real time.
What is the biggest challenge facing your sector at the moment?
Inflation impacts every part of our ecosystem. Our processing partners are dealing with rising energy, rent and lease costs, which push them to increase prices. At the same time, customers are facing pressure on disposable income.
For some, laundry services can feel like a luxury, so we need to think carefully about how to maintain margins while still offering value. Another challenge is behaviour change. Almost every home has a washing machine, so we want customers to think about laundry in a new way and choose us more regularly, not just when they have an emergency.
What single thing would make your job easier?
Cash. In a scaleup environment, it is always the most important thing. You go through periods where you raise money, and everything feels comfortable, and then periods where you need to be more cautious. Aside from cash, better data would also make things easier. We depend on good data to make decisions, but bringing everything together in one clear place is not always easy for a business of our size.
What is the best bit of business advice you have ever received?
Two sayings have stayed with me from my time at O2: ‘Is the juice worth the squeeze?’ and ‘is it worth it?’ A finance leader once told me to never to stop asking why until I am satisfied with the answer. It is the only way to truly understand what is going on.
What has been your proudest achievement in your current role?
Being able to help the business pivot quickly, depending on our cash position. When we have funding, we focus on growth and investing in the right places. When we need to be more cautious, we shift toward profitability and sustainability. We have also completed several acquisitions, including one in France that took us into a new language and market.
Finally, I’m proud of how the CEO has trusted me to help shape the leadership team and structure the organisation for long-term success.
If you were not a CFO, what would you like to do?
Earlier in my career, I wanted to combine my passion for sport with my finance background in a commercial role, but the opportunity didn’t materialise. I think I could have been a good product manager. I’m not technical, but I think a lot about customer experience and the flow of how people interact with a service.
CFO Jon Mahood joined Laundryheap in 2022 and has played a key role in its rapid growth. In that time, the company has doubled revenue, completed seven acquisitions and expanded into new global markets. He now divides his time between the UK and Dubai as the business continues to scale.
The business remains strongest in the UK, where customers have embraced its modern approach to laundry and dry cleaning. Laundryheap recently launched its new overnight express service in London, offering the fastest turnaround in the country, with pickup by 10 pm and delivery by 8 am the next morning. It is one of several innovations helping the company grow while staying focused on customer experience.
Here, Mahood shares the qualities a great CFO needs, the realities of scaling a global service brand and the mindset that keeps him grounded beyond the balance sheet.
