The beginning — numbers, not theories
Steve Rooms qualified as an accountant through the ACMA — one of the world's most demanding professional routes into finance. But what shaped his thinking wasn't the exams. It was getting inside real businesses and understanding how money actually moves through them.
From early in his career, Steve gravitated toward the commercial side of finance — not just reporting the numbers, but using them to drive decisions. The question that always drove him wasn't "what does the P&L say?" It was "what does this tell us about what to do next?"
"The numbers tell a story. Most people read the headline. The insight is in the footnotes."
The PLC years — CFO at scale
Steve spent a significant part of his career working as CFO for a UK publicly listed company with operations across five countries: the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, and Morocco. It was here that his understanding of commercial finance reached a different level.
Operating at board level across multiple jurisdictions meant dealing with everything: complex group structures, multi-currency reporting, acquisition integration, cross-border employment, banking relationships, investor presentations, and the commercial pressures of a public market. It's an education you can't get from a textbook.
It also sharpened something else: the ability to cut through complexity and give a board or leadership team what they actually need — clear numbers, honest analysis, and a recommendation they can act on.
ACMA qualification & commercial finance
ACMA qualification, building expertise in financial reporting, business analysis, and commercial decision-making.
CFO — UK PLC with European operations
Board-level finance across UK, France, Germany, Sweden, and Morocco. Multi-currency, multi-entity, public market reporting.
Move into M&A advisory & entrepreneurial ownership
Combining CFO-level financial expertise with active dealmaking — acquiring, improving, and preparing businesses for sale.
Dealwise Advisory & portfolio businesses
Active M&A adviser, acquisition entrepreneur, and founder of Dealwise — the education and advisory platform for people who want to understand deals.
Into M&A — doing deals, not just advising on them
The move into M&A wasn't a pivot — it was a natural progression. Steve had already been involved in acquisitions at CFO level: identifying targets, running financial due diligence, structuring transactions, and integrating acquired businesses. What changed was making it the centre of his work.
What sets Steve apart from many advisers is that he isn't just advising on deals — he's also doing them. He has been involved across multiple sectors including accountancy, automotive, leisure, and advisory services — acquiring businesses, improving them operationally and financially, and preparing them for growth or eventual sale.
That dual perspective — adviser and active acquirer — changes how he thinks. When you're the buyer, due diligence isn't just a process. It's the difference between a good investment and a costly mistake.
"I've sat on both sides of the table. That changes how you advise. You stop theorising and start thinking about what you'd actually do if it was your own deal."
Steve's advisory work spans the full deal lifecycle: pre-acquisition analysis, business valuation, deal structuring and negotiation, due diligence, post-completion integration, and preparing businesses for eventual sale. He brings the same CFO-level rigour to a SME acquisition that he would have applied to a board-level corporate transaction.
Why Dealwise — the gap most advisers leave
Dealwise Advisory was built to close a gap Steve noticed throughout his career: the people who most need quality M&A thinking — business owners, first-time buyers, acquisition entrepreneurs — are exactly the people who historically couldn't access it.
Quality M&A advice was expensive, jargon-heavy, and often delivered by people who advised on deals but rarely did them. Steve saw people overpaying for businesses they didn't fully understand, making structural mistakes that cost them for years, and selling without preparing — leaving significant value on the table.
Dealwise is the answer to that problem. An advisory and education platform built around a single idea: that clarity is the most valuable thing you can give someone in a deal. Clear numbers. Clear analysis. Clear recommendations. No jargon, no hedging, no theoretical frameworks that don't translate to real decisions.
Today — adviser, acquirer, and educator
Steve currently divides his time between active advisory work with clients, running and growing his portfolio businesses, and building the Dealwise education platform for acquisition entrepreneurs and business owners.
He works with a deliberately selective client base — taking on engagements where he can genuinely add value and where the client is serious about getting the deal right, not just getting the deal done. He also delivers webinars, online courses, and community content through Dealwise and M&A Clarity — bringing CFO-level deal thinking to a wider audience.
He is based in the UK and advises clients remotely and in-person across the country.
Areas of expertise
Steve's core advisory capability spans the full spectrum of M&A and commercial finance: