Aaron Scrupps

Expertise

Aaron is an experienced senior finance leader and Chartered Accountant, specialising in building and operating investor-ready finance functions for technology start-ups and scale-ups.

His embedded model gives early-stage companies access to FD and CFO-level capability without the overhead of a full in-house team, reducing risk and maximising value at every stage of growth, from first fundraise through to exit.

Aaron joined gunnercooke as an Operating Partner to bring an integrated legal and financial offering to founders and management teams navigating complex transactions, regulatory change, or rapid growth. Working across both disciplines from within a single firm gives his clients a level of joined-up advice that is rarely available outside the largest professional services firms.

Aaron Advises

Who

• Crypto and Web3 firms, including stablecoin issuers, staking providers, protocols and DEXs
• Venture-backed technology start-ups and scale-ups
• Founder-led businesses professionalising their finance function ahead of a transaction or fundraise

What

• Building and operating the finance function, from day-to-day accounting and tax compliance, payroll and VAT, through to board reporting
• Budgeting, forecasting and strategic financial advice at board level
• Transaction advisory, financial and tax due diligence, and working capital optimisation
• Share option schemes, S/EIS structuring and R&D tax credit claims
• Finance function advisory for FCA-regulated cryptoasset firms, including prudential requirements, capital adequacy and regulatory reporting infrastructure
• Transfer pricing, group restructuring and cross-border tax advisory

Experience Highlights

• Delivered over £3m in successful R&D tax credit claims across crypto, SaaS and technology businesses, including winning complex appeals directly with HMRC
• Secured £1.5m in corporation tax savings on an IP disposition by applying carry-forward trade loss relief under the Intangible Fixed Assets regime, recharacterising what most advisers would have treated as a capital gain
• Advised on finance and tax in multiple eight-figure exits, increasing deal value through working capital negotiations and pre-sale structuring
• Led the finance function of a $4bn AUM crypto business through a period of significant regulatory and operational change, building reporting infrastructure from the ground up

Career History

Aaron spent five years at Upstreamly Chartered Accountants (2021–2026), progressing to Principal. As Principal, he built and managed a portfolio of around 40 client companies, holding concurrent embedded CFO mandates for three fast-growing businesses, alongside FD-level finance leadership across the wider portfolio.

• Principal, Upstreamly Chartered Accountants
• CFO, Passion Labs
• CFO, Hero Health
• CFO, VC-backed enterprise SaaS company
• FD-level leadership, Oxford University spin-out (part of a $230bn+ revenue global electronics group)
• FD-level leadership, Crypto staking firm (part of a $9bn AUM global crypto asset manager)

 

Memberships

• Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)

 

Education

• University of Bristol, Mathematics BSc (1^st Class)