I’m Tim Pethick — a chartered accountant, former CEO, and father of three Gen Z daughters who have all, at various points, looked at me blankly when I’ve mentioned things like “pension contributions” or “compound interest”.
Money Sorted started because of them. As each of my daughters finished school and headed off into the world — university, apprenticeships, first jobs, first rented flats — the same questions kept coming up. How do I read my payslip? What’s a student loan repayment threshold? Should I be paying into a pension already? Why is my phone contract costing me more than I thought?
They’d had a good education, but nobody had taught them this stuff. And they’re far from alone — the FCA’s 2024 Financial Literacy Survey found 40% of 18–24 year olds rated their confidence in managing money as “low”.
The day job (and the ones before it)
I started out as a chartered accountant in the traditional sense — auditing, tax, corporate and personal accounting. I made partner at a chartered firm early on, and that grounding in how money actually works has shaped everything I’ve done since.
From there, the career took some turns. I’ve spent over 25 years in senior roles across a range of industries and a good chunk of that in the digital world. I was CEO of LookSmart and then BT LookSmart during the dot-com era, and did a stint at Microsoft. I’ve been Group Chief Marketing Officer and Director of Strategy for both Saga and The AA, and Group CEO of Healthspan, the UK’s largest direct-to-consumer vitamins and supplements business.
Before all of that, I founded nudie in Australia — built from my kitchen into the country’s largest premium juice and smoothie brand, reaching $30 million turnover in four years. I was also Managing Director of Encyclopaedia Britannica for its English language editions. I’ve lived and worked in the US, Australia and the UK, and done business in more than fifteen countries.
I’m a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), with a Bachelor of Commerce, a Master of Economics and an MBA.
Currently, I’m General Manager at an NHS GP practice serving over 38,000 patients — which is a long way from juice bottles, but the through-line is the same: taking complex systems and making them work better for the people who depend on them.
Why financial education?
I’ll be direct about my motivation. Yes, I’d like Money Sorted to be commercially successful. But I’ve committed to this project because I believe it’s needed. Today’s young adults are navigating a financial world that’s harder than the one their parents faced — house prices at eight or nine times average earnings, graduate debt north of £40,000, rents eating a third or more of take-home pay. The cheap housing and gold-plated final salary pension schemes that built wealth for previous generations simply aren’t there any more.
But young people do have one massive advantage: time. And time, when it comes to building wealth, is a genuine superpower. The earlier you start, the less you need to put away — because compound interest does the heavy lifting for you. Getting financially literate now isn’t optional. It’s urgent.
Money Sorted is the resource I wish had existed when my daughters turned eighteen. It’s written by a parent who happens to be a chartered accountant — not a social media influencer with a ring light and a cryptocurrency portfolio.
Get in touch
If you’ve got a question, a suggestion, or you’d like to work together, drop me a line at hello@moneysorted.uk.