Zeb Chadfield becomes sole owner of The Finish Line

Zeb Chadfield, the founder of post-production house The Finish Line, has become the sole owner of the business.

The share purchase to establish Chadfield as the sole owner was completed this month. Following it, Chadfield says The Finish Line is now expanding its capabilities. He said the company is “migrating all systems to Apple Silicon, expanding UHD and HDR capacity across its full fleet with QD-OLED reference monitors, and increasing investment in immersive and stereoscopic tools to meet the next generation of content needs”.

Over the coming years, The Finish Line expects to double the size of its team.

The business works differently from a typical post-production house – for many clients, The Finish Line establishes a mini post facility within the client’s office and complete the work from there. Alternatively, it offers remote editorial, finishing and delivery services from its office spaces in Camden and Shoreditch. The company has more than 30 finishing and delivery systems, “dozens” of physical edit suites and a virtualised infrastructure.

“Our growth has always been driven by purpose, not ambition,” says Chadfield. “Post-production is an industry I love deeply. It’s a complicated one, and as a dyslexic, high school dropout and the son of a fisherman, I never would have imagined this world was open to me. But nearly 30 years in, I’m still obsessed with post and feel lucky to be part of it, especially to be working alongside the best of the best in the UK. The Finish Line brings together everything I love about this industry: the people, the technology and the creativity. Acquiring full ownership of the company and expanding our capabilities is exciting, but what really matters is how it helps our team and our clients to deliver their best work.”

The Finish Line was founded by Chadfield in 2011. He says it began as a “bootstrapped operation” before securing investment and becoming incorporated in 2014.

The company is the non-indie Gold Winner for Broadcast’s Best Places to Work in TV for 2023, 2024 and 2025. This recognition shows that the company’s dedication to its people goes beyond lip service, says Chadfield: “It’s important to me that we spend money where it matters. It’s very easy to get drawn into ego and vanity-led projects, but ultimately all that matters is what we deliver. We need to stay focused on stability and investing in what improves our output, which is our people. Everything else is superficial.”

“Running a responsible business means meeting our obligations, investing in our people and contributing positively to the economy, rather than seeking to exploit it.” adds chief operating officer Jonathan Blessley. “Our clients value reliability and consistency, qualities that can only be sustained by looking after our staff and building a business with longevity in mind. We recognise the pressures created by rising costs and tightening budgets, which is why we invest in initiatives that improve efficiency and create more time for creativity, not less. By involving our technical teams early in the quoting process, we work closely with clients to identify intelligent and cost-effective ways to maximise their budgets. In doing so, we support them as a partner rather than simply a supplier, enabling them to succeed in an increasingly challenging commercial environment. The calibre of our clients, the standard of our work and the strength of the relationships we have built over the past 14 years speak for themselves.”

“While this is a big moment for me personally, and for my family who have supported me, it is very much business as usual for The Finish Line. I am incredibly grateful to our team and to all our clients who have backed us over the years,” says Chadfield. “When designing the company, we had to throw out the rule book to improve the process. Taking a different approach to the norm can be daunting for new clients, but their trust and loyalty tells me we’re doing something right. We could not feel more fortunate to work alongside and collaborate with such brilliant people.”