Richard Smith – Founding Partner
Having worked for major PLC’s and SME’s, in senior executive positions and as an ‘Owner Manager.’ Richard is now an experienced Non-Exec with a particular focus on businesses undergoing challenging times, which may be through acquisition or disposal, conflict resolution, restructuring, turnaround, sourcing investment and distress.
WHY NEWPORT LANGLEY?
Do you need to get your answers questioned?
Do you have a goal?
Do you hold yourself to account?
Have a chat with us…
Accept | Define | Develop | Act
Non-Executive
Providing an independent challenge and perspective to the running of the executive board of a business or group. Using that independence to judge and support the business on topics such as strategy, standards of conduct and resources.
Interim
Specialist Senior Management appointment for a time defined, task orientated project or situation. This may be to cover long term absence, a specific project, or to support an existing management team through a period of challenge.
Restructure
A major loss of income, or an acquisition / merger with synergies, will usually mean that a business needs to restructure. This is a necessary factor in the business life cycle and it is often a benefit to have an independent resource to assist with this.
Distress
Providing experienced support to business owners and senior management teams during financially challenging periods. This may be before, during, or after an insolvency process.
Acquisition
Whether a business wishes to grow by acquisition or a management team wishes to buy-out the existing owner this can be a time consuming, distracting and difficult experience, which must be executed while the running of the business continues. We can provide a service to assist a management team during such a process.
Raising Finance
We can offer a number of solutions to generate liquidity and cash into a business, using Asset / Equity based lending / debt finance, as well as providing ‘private & angel’ funding.
Non-Executive
A ‘Non-Executive Director’ (NED) is independent, and doesn’t have any relationship with the company or its employees. They sit on the board but don’t have any part in the day-to-day running of the organisation, nor do they have any managerial responsibility.
The NED is there to make sure that the company is operating to its full potential and that its interests are protected.
As an ‘Owner Manager’ it can be easy to fall into a staid mind set, and there always seems to be good reasons for the missed deadline or objective. However, an NED has an outsider’s perspective and is remote from the day-to-day strife of running a business. Because of this they can offer objectivity and may spot opportunities or flag up problems that the management team hasn’t noticed. An experienced, independent voice can help you to avoid pitfalls and make better, more informed, decisions.
In the capacity of mentor, an NED can offer advice and guidance, helping you to establish procedures and comply with regulations and legal requirements. The experience they bring will offer extra business contacts and connections. They can provide networking opportunities and put you in touch with people who will help your business grow and develop.
Interim Management
Interim Managers can be invaluable for steering companies through periods of change such as a merger, a sale process or restructuring. They also provide an immediate and available management resource to undertake a time defined, specific assignment, which could be an important project such as a Capex or a tender process.
In an ideal world, every organisation would have just the right mix of staff and skills to cope with whatever challenges arise. The reality, however, is somewhat different. Businesses need to be lean enough to compete yet agile enough to respond instantly to changing circumstances. This can be an impossible balancing act unless you take a flexible approach towards staffing. This is where interim management is a valuable resource. It allows you to expand and contract your executive capacity at will, cater for peaks and troughs, solve problems and implement solutions.
Financial Distress
In the business lifecycle of an SME financial distress can be very common. It does not always occur gradually and can present severe risk to the business and all stakeholders. In our experience, and from advising many owner managers, the involvement of an independent advisor has proven extremely useful.
Management throughout this critical period requires careful handling and communications.
Businesses can avoid insolvency by taking action before it is too late.
Here are six warning signs that a firm may be in financial distress and need to implement recovery measures.
1. Cash Flow
The first sign that things are going wrong is a constant lack of cash. All businesses suffer periodic dips where cash is tight. But if cash flow is continually a problem, the business is in trouble. If a business is continually spending more than it earns, unless it is deliberate and well-funded, it will lead to problems.
2. High Interest Payments
This could indicate poor financial health and be a sign that your bank or other lender is suspicious of your viability. If lenders view you as high risk, funding debt will cost more. It is also a bad sign if lenders always seek stronger personal guarantees, or security against any money they lend.
3. Defaulting on Invoices
It is not uncommon to miss a payment or forget a bill, but if the frequency with which it occurs increases, it suggests a business cannot pay its way. This could be that it isn’t chasing debts hard enough or is heading in to liquidation. Defaults on HMRC or on other formal arrangements can be particularly damaging. It can also be bad for your reputation and that of your business.
4. Extended Debtor or Creditor Days
Another sign of possible trouble is a rise in either debtor or creditor days. If your business has to delay payments to creditors, this can force some suppliers to cut off the supply of vital components or ingredients. Likewise, if you are unable to effectively chase payment it may cause future cash flow problems. Either way, sudden changes in these numbers should be investigated to see whether they are signs of something more serious.
5. Falling Margins
Ask any experienced entrepreneur and they will tell you that for long-term survival what matters are profits, not sales, hence the well-known phrase “turnover is vanity, profit is sanity”. Falling margins suggest that costs are too high and prices, or income, are too low. This is not a sustainable position.
6. Unhappiness
It may sound simple, but businesses in distress are rarely happy. Owners and managers undergo the strain and pressures of a financially challenging situation and this frequently transmits through the business. They start cutting at random to make savings, or deploy sudden switches in strategy to try and revive things. Key people may leave over a short period of time.
Have a chat with us…
Accept | Define | Develop | Act
Contact Us
