Private-equity owned, trust broken, careers frozen - Anonymous employee Finova Employee Review

Since the private-equity acquisition, working arrangements were unilaterally changed to mandatory three days a week in the office, regardless of previous agreements or personal circumstances. Large numbers of experienced staff have been forced out, including people who had worked here for over a decade. Management has effectively declared all existing products obsolete, while hiring a separate new team to build a replacement product. This has completely stalled career progression for existing employees and removed any meaningful long-term role for the current engineering teams. There is no credible future for people working on the current product set. You are simply maintaining something leadership has already decided to replace. The company openly plans to sell again in 2029. If you join now, expect exactly the same disruption and treatment in roughly three years’ time. Bonuses have not been paid as promised for the last three years. Each year there is a new excuse. The most recent explanation was that the payment date would move six months into the future, and that has now happened twice in a row. The Bristol office was closed and employees were forced to commute to Cheltenham, justified by management on the basis that the CEO has a longer commute, therefore everyone else should tolerate it. Communication from leadership is consistently reactive, opaque and changes after the fact. Commitments are made and quietly walked back. Trust in senior management has been badly damaged and has not been rebuilt.