Case Studies

Corporate Finance and Funding

Development Refinancing and Business Plan Preparation

We were approached by a private equity fund managed from London to negotiate and arrange the refinancing of its £22m of speculative development facilities and run its finance department on an outsourced basis. After detailed discussions with the banks and advising the client through a full remodeling, re forecasting and bank due diligence process lasting 5 months we successfully refinanced the developments and put in place the reporting and forecasting systems the Bank required. The process involved a full 3 year forecast modeled to the banks and the clients requirement, detailed review and due diligence on the client and the forecast by a major accounting practice, overseeing and advising on the legal process and documentation (keeping the clients legal fees re its banking advice to less than £3k) and liaising and instructing various advisors. All of this undertaken at the same time as a restructuring of the business itself.

Working Capital Refinancing

Early 2008 we undertook the refinancing of £4.8m of combined property and working capital facilities involving a conglomerate of joint ventures and a partnership. This involved producing and submitting a significant amount of information, analysis and forecast to the bank in easy to understand formats to make the decision to support the business easier and more compeling. The negotiations and their implementation were successful and enabled the business to continue to operate.

Management Buy Outs

Our team has been involved in a number of management buy outs. They have been involved both as advisors and members of the MBO team from conception right through the process involving information provision, forecasting, due diligence and presentation to potential equity providers. Our experience with the legal process also enables us to oversee it to ensure that it runs as smoothly and cost efficiently as possible.

Formation of Joint Ventures

We have advised and negotiated the formation of many joint ventures requiring shareholder funding of £0.2m to £10m. This has included all of the elements from agreeing the heads of terms through to negotiation and agreement of the shareholders, management and other agreements required to form a joint venture. For many of these joint ventures we were subsequently appointed to run the outsourced accounting functions.

Business Recovery

We are regularly approached by businesses which have cash flow and funding issues. Using our knowledge gained from working within business and practice at many levels we are able to advise them on a variety of matters covering the whole of their business. This involves cash flow management, tax position, staffing restructuring and cost review. We first focus on getting an understanding of the challenges facing the business and the resources it has available to meet those challenges. Once these are fully understood we advise the management of various options and facilitate discussions until consensus of the best way forward is achieved. This approach has been successful in turning around numerous businesses from loss making to profitability.

Accounting Services

Fully Outsourced Accounting Function

We were approached by a business which was taking control of a joint venture. The company did have its own accounts department but did not have the staffing to manage the function for the new joint venture and was reluctant to take on the staff to do so. Part of the reluctance was due to the management time involved in appointment and training staff (and the associated employment regulations) and part was due to the varied skill set the administration of the joint venture would require.  After reviewing the requirements and discussing them with the owners we agreed all of their requirements and were able to provide all of the accounting and finance services they required with the range of skills to deal with other matters as they arise. This not only benefited the joint venture’s operations, it also enabled them to ensure that they focused their staff on their core business. The appointment includes reporting at monthly board meetings, detailed monthly cash flow reporting and comparison to budgets, monthly bank reporting and liaison with banks regarding facilities, ad hoc reporting to banks as requested, quarterly management accounts, annual accounts and audit and all accounts processing and statutory compliance.

Partially Outsourced Accounting Functions and Book Keeping

We became involved in discussion with a medical consultant who was getting overwhelmed by the administration of his consultancy and finding it more and more difficult to focus his time on providing his patients with the care they required. Part of the challenge was that some of his administration was undertaken abroad. We met with the client to obtain a detailed understanding of his requirements and then prepared a proposal which would give him the benefit he desired, it also identified areas where he was not claiming the full tax deductions he was entitled to hence increasing his income. As a result of our wide variety of skills and services, combined with a flexibility of approach, we were able to implement a partially outsourced accounting system which met his exact needs.

Another business was looking to cut costs and approached us to provide the accounting services on an outsourced basis. After ascertaining their needs we worked with the client to provide a combination of outsourced services and the training of their staff to undertake some of the accounting duties. This enabled the client to significantly reduce its costs whilst providing the services its business required. As a result of the information gained through the provision of the services we were also able to assist the client in obtaining a significant tax rebate.

Budgets, Forecasts and Cash Flows

We have prepared and provided bespoke budgets, forecasts and cash flows to many clients for a variety of purposes from internal business management to investor reporting and bank requirements. Each time we have been appointed we have provided what the business requires on an individual basis tailored to its own systems and information.

Limited Company and LLP Formations

We were approached by a company in relation to the size of a bill it had received for formation of a company. After discussing the status of the business and owners and the clients personal taxation position we ascertained that the incorrect vehicle had been set up for his personal circumstances. We advised the client on the most appropriate vehicle and its set up and he has since negotiated a significant reduction on his previous advisors bill and transferred his business to us.