How we work

Simple but highly effective

We are engaged by our Clients – we are on one side only – the business or entrepreneur needing help. Our investors or lenders are not our clients. However we do know a number of them extremely well – what they like, what they don’t like, how they refer to work etc – and this can be most useful for our clients in helping to “oil the wheels”.

The First Steps

Please telephone or e-mail a very brief description of the problem together with your contact details. We will contact you by telephone as soon as possible for a brief discussion and to answer any questions that you may have.

We would like to review a draft statement of affairs or a business plan, if available. We are looking for enough information to give us a preliminary feel for the type of business, the background of the people involved and the immediate problems facing the business. A simple Asset and Liability statement is very helpful at this stage.

This subject is complicated and we are very aware that we may be discussing delicate and highly confidential matters. Our discretion is assured, we will probably have heard of worse problems. You can also be reassured of some straight answers.

The First Meeting

If we think we might be able to help, we will arrange a free of charge initial meeting. This first meeting is an important one for us both, since from this we will decide what to do next. Potential clients of the firm need therefore to prepare for this meeting, held at a mutually convenient venue.

We will quiz potential clients on the problems and to formulate a list of options available to our client.

We will discuss costs, fees and timescales. We will then agree any further action or meetings and leave. It is important that you, the client, take time to reflect, or discuss with others, which of the options is best suited.

There is no charge for this first meeting. There is no obligation to engage our services.

The Engagement

If you wish us to help, we will draw up a Draft Engagement Letter which is a simple Terms of Reference document, to be agreed by both parties. Once you have read and understood the draft, we will prepare final copies to sign. We can do nothing else until this has been done. With this is a pro-forma invoice for our engagement fee, and on payment we will send you a VAT invoice.

Where we agree to act, we recognise that troubled companies are unlikely to have substantial cash reserves, and our fees reflect this. There are success fees based on any new capital introduced, and it is likely that we will require share options to reflect our role in rescuing the business.

We will require an initial cleared payment to start the assignment.

The Assignment

We will firstly conduct an initial review of the business, looking particularly at the immediate threats facing the company, shareholders and management. We will then deal with these, urgently, in whatever way is appropriate in the circumstances. This may include one or more of the following :

Negotiating with creditors

We will talk to trade creditors, the bank, the VAT office or whoever to ensure that we have enough breathing space to implement any rescue plans.

Cashflow Management

we will take on the burden of cashflow management to ensure that cash is used wisely and for the best interests of the business. We will happily place ourselves between the owners and their creditors, in order to relieve stress and to allow the Directors to concentrate upon their own responsibilities.

Restructuring the Funding

Often existing funding arrangements are inappropriate to the changing fortunes of the business, and we will use our extensive range of contacts among lenders (which can include existing lenders) to effect any immediate re-financing that is necessary.

Introducing New Capital

Sometimes we can introduce new capital quickly, through our network of private investors. When we feel that the company has been restored to an even keel, we will then, through our relationship with Divitie, seek an investor to bring fresh capital into the business.

Insolvency

To further protect the management and shareholders, it may be necessary for us to recommend an Insolvency procedure, and we will act for the company in making this difficult step as painless as possible but also practical.

Turnaround Consultancy

Sometimes, our client’s problems are directly related to a Management weakness: e.g. a failed strategy, leadership issues, shareholder exit. We are able to suggest and implement corrective strategies following our initial and thorough analysis. We will lead the project, installing our own interim managers if necessary, and hand back the controls at the appropriate time.