Colorado's contact member

Philip Varley is a Chief Financial Officer with 25 years of international experience and a track record of “making the numbers happen.” He has an extensive background in financial and operational leadership roles perfected in over 20 countries on six continents.

He graduated with a BS in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London, and then qualified as a Chartered Accountant in London, being awarded the Howitt Prize for Management Accounting, before moving to Denver in 1985, where he earned an MBA at the University of Denver and his CPA license with Ernst and Whinney.

After leaving public accounting, his first look at a turnaround was as International Controller for a software company, where his creation of an intercompany transfer pricing methodology succeeded at “competent authority” to save $4 million. He also restructured European operations which netted over $3 million in tax savings.

He was then hired as part of a new management team at Standard and Poor’s Compustat where his implementation of sound financial practices increased the division’s profits by more than $10 million. Between 1996 and 2002, Mr. Varley served as the Chief Financial Officer for three start-up companies, raising over $50 million of equity.

But his real love is turnarounds, and since 2002 he has managed eight of them. He has found that there are certain common traits inherent in underperforming companies, and after one of his Private Equity Group clients pointed out to him that he 'seemed to have his own 12-step plan', he decided to write a book about these commonalities. The book is entitled 'Failure Is Not An Option – The 12-Step Plan To Successful Turnarounds'.

He has developed a course from this book, which he has taught as Monfort Visiting Executive Professor at the University of Northern Colorado.