Description
Our paper about michelle mone obe, the entrepreneur behind multi million pound lingerie company.
Ultimo ambition
www.lcbsg.co.uk
What’s inside
Changing times
The changing face of the UK
insolvency industry
Alternative ?nance solutions
Round up of the latest funds
available to UK SMEs
Death of the High Street?
Is it all doom and gloom for the UK
High Street?
Lifecycle
Con?dent about the future Issue 2 : Spring 2012
Exclusive interview with Michelle Mone OBE,
the entrepreneur behind multi-million pound
lingerie company, MJM International
www.lcbsg.co.uk 02 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Foreword
We were thrilled with the
positive feedback we received
following the launch of our all-
new Lifecycle magazine last
year. Following the success of
our ?rst issue, we now bring you
the second edition, ?lled with
even more insightful articles and
topical features, covering a broad
range of business, ?nance and
economic issues.
In January I was delighted to interview Michelle
Mone OBE, creator of the international lingerie
brand, Ultimo and one of the UK’s most
successful female entrepreneurs.
Michelle has built her success on determination,
self-belief and hard work – universal and essential
qualities needed to succeed in business. Her
story is truly inspirational and sets a striking
example to women and men in business today.
Check out our exclusive interview on
pages 12-15.
Last year marked the opening of two new of?ces
in Bristol and Preston and a number of key
appointments including four new directors in
London (see our special London article on
pages 26-27), as well as a number of prestigious
award wins (you can read about our latest
achievements in the news section on pages
22-25). This year we are excited about the
opening of our new of?ce in Leeds. There are
more exciting developments ahead and I
look forward to reporting on them in future
editions of Lifecycle. As it says on the front cover,
we at Leonard Curtis Business Solutions
Group are ‘Con?dent about the future’. 2011
was a very successful year for the group and
we are committed to building on this success
throughout 2012.
I hope you enjoy reading this issue. If you have
any feedback or questions about any of the
featured articles, please don’t hesitate to get
in touch.
Paul Reeves,
Business Development Director
Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Tel: 0161 831 9999
Email: [email protected]
03 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Contents
Our story in a nutshell: who we are and what we do
Overview of the Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group.
Plan Bee
Introducing a new product for the asset-based lending industry.
Changing times
Daniel Booth, Head of Corporate Strategies, reviews the changing
face of the UK insolvency industry.
Alternative ?nance solutions
Corporate Strategies’ Ed Preedy outlines the latest funds available
to UK SMEs.
Death of the High Street?
LCBSG Director Neil Bennett comments on the state of the
UK High Street.
Finance? Time to think in 3D
How the days of running businesses on loans and overdrafts
are long gone.
Always look on the bright side of life
What does 2012 hold in store for the eurozone debt crisis?
The bookshelf & Kindle
TM
competition
Overview of the latest additions to Lifecycle’s bookshelf and
your chance to win a Kindle
TM
.
Latest LCBSG news
Group news, awards, events and
fundraising achievements.
4
5
6-7
8-9
10-11
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-25
12-15 Cover Story
Ultimo ambition:
LCBSG Business Development
Director, Paul Reeves interviews
Michelle Mone – creator of
international lingerie brand
Ultimo and founder/co-owner
of multi million pound lingerie
company MJM International.
26-27
Capital investment:
Focus on London
Director Andrew Duncan gives his take on the
London market.
Competition
Win a Kindle
TM
See page 21
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group...
our story in a nutshell
04 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group is one
of the largest independent providers of corporate
recovery, business restructuring and funding advice
to the UK SME market.
We have come a very long way since the
original Leonard Curtis, an insolvency
practice, was founded in London in 1947.
Our service lines have signi?cantly expanded
and continue to evolve to meet the changing
needs of UK SMEs. These services help
directors of businesses experiencing
?nancial distress, retain control and
continue trading.
Our focus is on positive outcomes. We provide
alternative solutions and the right advice at the
right time to achieve the best possible results for
funders and company directors. Insolvency is,
and always should be, the very last resort.
Our expansion resulted in the formation of the
Leonard Curtis Business Solution Group, which
includes the following specialist divisions:
For more information, please visit
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Targeted expertise and an independent
hands-on approach for UK SMEs
Leonard Curtis Business Rescue & Recovery
provide insolvency expertise and a complete
range of quality assured insolvency products.
We work with directors of struggling businesses
to help them to maintain control of their business,
as well as creditors and professionals involved with
those dealing with debt and ?nancial problems.
Proactive short-term help for businesses
under stress
Our business turnaround experts provide debt
restructuring and re?nancing services to both
growing and stressed businesses. We specialise
in helping businesses overcome short term stress
caused by issues such as pressure from HMRC,
communication breakdown with a funder, slow
paying customers and loss of turnover.
Free impartial advice from the nation’s
leading team
The Factoring Advisory Service is the UK’s central
resource for factoring and invoice discounting advice.
The independent advice we provide has been
sought by thousands of UK companies and our
advice has helped those businesses to ?nd the right
facility and save money on their factoring charges.
Survey, Audit and Client Management Services
to the Asset Based Lenders
The youngest member of the LCBSG Group, Visibility
was formed in 2009 as a joint venture with former
Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance Senior Client
Manager and Underwriter, Richard Turvey. Our unique
and innovative approach to surveys and audits,
based on our experience as lenders and relationship
managers, is helping a growing number of invoice
?nance companies to grow their portfolios pro?tably.
Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group is
now offering free exit strategy reports to the
asset-based lending (ABL) sector with Plan Bee.
Working with you to protect your investment,
Plan Bee is designed to offer sales and credit
functions of UK based ABLs with a general
understanding of the most appropriate exit
strategies from a potentially distressed situation.
Our experienced team will provide you with an
overview analysis of your prospective or existing
customers, covering:
• Sector issues
• Risk areas
• Exit options
05 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
To ?nd out more, contact:
North: Andrew Poxon
0161 767 1250
Midlands: Paul Masters
0121 200 2111
South: Michael Healy
020 7535 7000
It pays to have
a Plan Bee
Free exit strategy reports
for asset-based lenders
www.lcbsg.co.uk
I think it safe to say that in recent years
the insolvency profession in the UK has
undergone something of a transformation.
Insolvency Practitioners are often portrayed
in the media as a bunch of corporate
undertakers but with an ever-changing
economic landscape and, more importantly,
changing attitudes, the general consensus is
that insolvency is, and always should be, the
last resort for any business.
Changing times
As Corporate Strategies
celebrates its 10th anniversary,
Daniel Booth looks at the changing
face of the insolvency industry.
06 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
It was once the role of the Insolvency Practitioner
(IP) to use his or her professional skill and
judgement to clean up struggling businesses
and personal ?nancial dif?culties, with the
occasional boost of rescuing a business as a
going concern. Generally, the idea was to act
quickly and minimise the pain for all concerned.
Now, most ?rms believe that ‘turnaround and
recovery’ is the order of the day. This more
accommodating stance is reaping rewards for
business as the emphasis shifts from ‘pathology’
to ‘prevention’.
Many enlightened ?rms have practised this
approach for a long time. The Corporate
Strategies division of Leonard Curtis Business
Solutions Group, now in its eleventh year,
has been party to a wide range of turnaround
situations that have achieved positive and
rewarding outcomes. In a nutshell, turnaround
and recovery amounts to taking a more
constructive and imaginative look at how stressed
or distressed businesses can be sold, salvaged,
restructured, divided, downsized or otherwise
reorganised to ?t changing circumstances.
‘Save the good bits, sell the assets if necessary
but stay on your feet and save jobs’ has become
standard practice. Winding-up the organisation
has become the last, as opposed to the ?rst,
resort because generally you create more value
by being out of insolvency.
Managing change
If the new age of Insolvency Practitioners can
turnaround and rescue businesses that have
gone so far down the track that they are on the
verge of ceasing to be viable, the question is
what might they then be able to achieve with
businesses that are simply showing modest
signs of stress?
The answer? A great deal. If company directors
who see threats on the horizon have the courage
to instruct an experienced turnaround and
recovery professional to examine their options
while their company is still operational, they may
be able to tap into a fertile ‘crisis’ mindset before
the crisis actually materialises.
The objective must not be simply to build ?nancial
barricades to shelter the shareholders from the
perceived approaching storm but to make a
critical analysis of strengths and weaknesses,
opportunities and threats that the business
will encounter. It is then possible to devise and
implement a strategy that takes the business out
of the path of the approaching storm altogether.
Drawing on experience, he or she might even
have a few fresh thoughts about the best way to
get there.
07 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Whereas Insolvency Practitioners were once seen
as the public funeral directors who organised
the tidy burial of dead businesses and bankrupt
souls, they have increasingly come to be seen as
someone to whom you might turn to for advice
about maximising a businesses health.
The earlier IPs are in contact with a business, the
greater impact they can have. Typically, almost
without exception, it is the custodians of sick
businesses who are most reluctant to seek advice.
Fashionable?
To the astonishment of some of the more
conservative members of the insolvency
profession, we are now increasingly regarded in
some quarters as part of a glamorous, creative,
even fashionable calling, in which some of those
with the most commercial outlooks and deftest of
touches in the business community undertake the
delicate art of ‘managing change.’
Managing change has become a critical
discipline that embraces a range of skills across
the whole spectrum of modern management.
In fact, even in favourable conditions, those
with responsibility for revitalising businesses
are now likely to require an understanding of
internet communications, marketing, global
market forces, human resources management,
outsourcing and law.
Who better to undertake this task than the
professionals who’ve earned their stripes
effecting such changes in the most inclement
business climate imaginable - insolvency?
Managing change has become a critical new
discipline that embraces a range of skills across
the whole spectrum of modern management.
”
“
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Alternative ?nance solutions
It is hard to run - let alone expand - a business
without access to ?nance. For most of Britain’s small
and medium-sized businesses, the credit crunch is
still in full effect. Ed Preedy of Corporate Strategies
highlights some of the alternative sources of funding
that his clients are increasingly turning to.
08 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Business angels offer a way of gaining external investment
for limited loss of control. They frequently bring business
experience and insights that can take the business into new
markets and offer new horizons.
”
“
SMEs’ con?dence in the banks’ appetite to lend
is weakening. According to the bank-funded
Business Monitor published in October 2011,
just 40% of small ?rms plan to renew or secure
new ?nance in the next 12 months, down 70%
from the previous year.
Many are not applying for loans due to the
fear of being rejected or the frustration with
the process. There are glimmers of hope,
however, with new and innovative ways of
?nancing emerging that focus on the needs of
entrepreneurs.
Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG)
EFG was launched in January 2009 to help
viable SMEs to obtain the working capital
essential for growth. Under EFG, the government
underwrites 75% of a loan reducing the risks to
banks and encouraging them to lend.
09 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Peter Ibbetson, chairman of business banking
for NatWest and RBS, said: “We fully embraced
EFG as it provided us with another opportunity
to lend to our customers. We’ve consistently led
the ?eld in EFG lending and actually requested
additional funding in 2010 after fully utilising our
initial £166m allocation.”
Angel Finance
An ‘angel investor’ is an af?uent individual
who provides capital for a business start-up.
Business angels offer a way of gaining external
investment for limited loss of control. They
frequently bring business experience and
insights that can take the business into new
markets and offer new horizons.
Business angels will accept lower rates of return
than venture capital and private equity providers
but many expect involvement in management of
the company.
Investment Angel and non-exec director at the
South West Angel Investment (SWAIN), John
Caines OBE, said: “Business angels are a
source of funding that has remained remarkably
resilient during recent times. Most are very willing
to contribute their knowledge, their experience
and their contacts to support the entrepreneur.
“The right connection between entrepreneur
and business angel can be highly rewarding
for both parties. Increasingly, angels invest via
organised networks or syndicates so accessing
the right person is now much more organised
than in previous times.”
Online lending and investment services
Online money exchange services connect
people with money to lend and those who wish
to borrow.
The process is sometimes referred to as ‘peer-
to-peer lending’ and provides the platform or
‘matching database’ that brings together a
borrower and a lender.
Companies that provide this kind of service,
including Zopa, Thincats and Funding, are
becoming increasingly popular with lenders and
borrowers looking for an innovative alternative
funding solution or investment opportunity.
Community Development Finance
Institutions (CFIs)
Community Development Finance Institutions
(CFIs) are not-for-pro?t organisations that obtain
funds from Local Authorities and charitable trusts,
enabling them to provide loans of up to £50,000.
Paul Kalinauckas, Chief Executive of the
Black Country Reinvestment Society (BCRS),
which he founded ten years ago, predicts a
growth in non-bank lending. The Chancellor
seems to agree with him, having announced
£1bn of credit easing funds in his 2011
Autumn Statement to invest in SMEs through
non-bank lenders
BCRS provides loans to small businesses
unable to access all their ?nancial
requirements from traditional sources such
as the commercial banking sector. They
have seen an 80% increase in business over
the last two years, directly attributable to
market failure.
Without adequate funding many
businesses cannot grow and, if they
do, their progress may be slow and
risky. Cash?ow problems are an issue
our Corporate Strategies division is
being increasingly instructed to assist
businesses with. But in addition to these
alternative ?nance options, there is also
a myriad of Government grants and local
investment initiatives that are available.
2012 is likely to see further interesting
developments in this area, which is good
news for business.
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Death of the High Street?
10 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Retailers need to adapt to the changing needs
of the customer, embracing new technologies
and multi-channel distribution. But, as Portas
highlights in her report, most importantly they
must offer visitors to the high street something
that isn’t available online, an experience that’s not
available elsewhere.
Smaller retailers in particular, must think both
creatively and practically if they’re to navigate their
way through an increasingly changing landscape.
One survival tactic for smaller retail businesses
and independent traders is reduced business
rates. The government encouraged local
authorities to use their discretionary powers to
give business rate concessions to new local
businesses. However, these are not enough to
stem the rising tide of retail insolvencies.
Landlord stress
A spike in insolvencies is not good news for
landlords either.
Numerous retail businesses are expected to go
to the wall in the early months of 2012. Many
retailers anticipating tough trading conditions
were seeking protection from their landlords and
creditors prior to the so-called quarter day at the
end of December when three months’ rent is due.
Leonard Curtis
Business Solutions
Group Director,
Neil Bennett,
comments on the
state of the UK
High Street.
The release of disappointing retail sales
?gures just ahead of 2011’s last quarter date,
showed like-for-like sales were down 1.6%
on the previous year. Commentators were
quick to blame on-going employment
uncertainty, squeezed household incomes
and even the mild weather.
However, according to the government –
commissioned Portas Review, which was
published in December 2011 and focused on the
country’s ailing high streets, the current problems
affecting the high street are much deeper than
unemployment and lower disposable income, and
have been for some time.
Much of the Portas Review examines what can be
done in the future to improve trading conditions,
and whilst there has been criticism from the larger
retailers, claiming that they were not fully engaged
in the process, clearly they have far less to fear
than the smaller high street retailers.
Historically, negotiations between landlords and
tenants have reached an uneasy truce, with fears
that failing to compromise on the part of the
landlord may force the tenant into insolvency.
Requests from tenants for payment holidays and
limited concessions to pay rents monthly are often
seen as the precursor to administration, where
landlords ?nd themselves facing double jeopardy:
no rental income and empty rates, which can be
considerable on certain high streets.
Many landlords feel that they have been roughly
treated by Company Voluntary Arrangements
(CVAs), which have been proposed recently,
some of which have been rejected and
administration has shortly followed. Some of the
more high pro?le CVAs have prompted landlords
to group together to reject CVA proposals that
provide limited recoveries in situations where
shops are closed and vacated.
Ghost towns
One in seven UK shops has closed and over the
past two years, there has been a tendency for
directors of ailing retail businesses to open fewer
new stores and of?oad more loss-making stores
than in previous years. Restructuring of this kind
re?ects a growing lack of con?dence amongst
these retail chains, which could subsequently
lead to weak performances from nearby stores,
and, ultimately, the surrounding area.
11 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Retailers survived Christmas, but then faced the traditional dip
in new year retail sales, when consumers tighten their purse strings
after overspending during Christmas.
”
“
Retailers survived Christmas, but then faced
the traditional dip in new year retail sales, when
consumers tighten their purse strings after
overspending during Christmas. A belated cold
snap won’t help either.
Much of the high street has been decimated
by Insolvencies in recent years, and the latest
research shows that thousands of shops are
under serious threat of closure.
Even more worrying are the warnings that some
high streets will never recover or return to their
pre-recession days.
It may be premature to call it the death of the
high street but it is surely the death of the high
street as we know it.
www.lcbsg.co.uk 12 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Ultimo ambition
Paul Reeves, Business Development Director of Leonard Curtis
Business Solutions Group, interviews Michelle Mone OBE,
one of the UK’s top three female entrepreneurs.
13 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Reeves: Many of the world’s most successful
entrepreneurs started at a very young
age and it’s been documented that you
started your ?rst business at the age of
10, delivering newspapers to Glasgow’s
East End, and that you had 17 teenagers
working for you by the time you were 11.
What motivated you in those early years?
Was it always your ambition to become a
successful entrepreneur?
Mone: I suppose I was born with the
entrepreneurial spirit. I watched too much
Dynasty and Dallas and wanted the fast
cars and the big house with the sweeping
staircase. At 10 I decided I was old enough
to start earning money. From the paper
round I went to working in a fruit shop when I
was 12 and then a sweet shop when I was 15
and it just went on from there.
All my family were working class from the hard
east end of Glasgow. My dad had two jobs and
my grandad had three jobs but there was no
entrepreneurial business history in the family as
far as I know.
I was the wee boss, the wee business brain, and
a lot of my friends thought I was a bit weird – they
still do! They used to follow me around and I’d tell
them how to make money.
Reeves: Which entrepreneurs inspired you
when you were growing up and who in
business do you admire most today?
Mone: When I was growing up my big
inspiration was Richard Branson. Back
then, there weren’t that many role models,
unlike today where we have Dragons Den,
so he was really the only person to look up
to. These days I admire anyone who has
built and grown a business from scratch,
especially those who have initially failed and
then come back with a bang.
In the USA you get applauded for that but over
here people don’t seem to pick up the phone to
you once failure has occurred. It takes incredible
strength and determination to come back when
you’ve been kicked down.
Reeves: Yes I agree, in the States there
is de?nitely a feeling that you can
succeed through failure. I think that’s less
acceptable here in the UK where failure
is frowned upon. So has there been a
“Eureka” moment in your business life?
Mone: My Eureka moment for Ultimo came
one night when I attended a dinner dance
in a very uncomfortable bra and I thought
‘why should women go through all this pain
for very little gain?!’
I decided there and then that I was going
to invent a bra and take on the world with it.
(At this time I didn’t have any experience or
knowledge of textiles!) Even though my parents
were working class they always told me ‘Think
big! Never ever think small – you can do
it. It doesn’t matter what your background is – if
you dream it, it will come true!’ And I’ve always
stood by that philosophy.
I left school at 15 to start full time work when
my dad lost his job due to illness, starting off
as a fashion model and then going on to work
for Labatts Brewery as a junior member of staff,
eventually working my way up the company to
become Director of the Scotland Division at the
age of 22.
In addition to her role
as founder and CEO of
MJM International and
creator of Ultimo, the
UK’s leading designer
lingerie brand, Michelle
Mone is a mother of three
and a committed charity
supporter, fundraiser and
volunteer. Add to that a
soaring media pro?le and
it’s no surprise that she’s
a busy lady. Paul managed
to pin her down for an hour
to discuss her business
life and what really makes
her tick.
It doesn’t matter what your
background is - if you
dream it, it will come true!’
”
“
www.lcbsg.co.uk 14 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
We believe that our retail
and end customers are
king and I listen to them.
Our end customers
will tell me via Twitter
what they think of a
product even before our
customer services team
hear it so I can react
there and then.
“
”
15 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Reeves: Ultimo ?rst shot to prominence in
2000 when Hollywood actress Julia Roberts
wore an Ultimo gel-bra in the ?lm Erin
Brockovich. Since then you and your
products have been regularly in the press
with various celebrities pictured modelling
Ultimo bras. And you have developed a
public persona for yourself too, regularly
appearing in newspapers and magazines.
Would you say you have a nose for publicity?
Mone: (laughing) I’m known to the press as
The PR Queen! I work with them and they
work with me – we need each other. I know
that I’m not always going to have it good and
I’ve had my ups and downs with them but
here we still are – we both have something
that the other party wants!
The drawback comes when a personal trauma
occurs – such as the one I had at Christmas time
regarding my divorce. Then you wish that you
weren’t such a high pro?le ?gure. But you just
have to take it on the chin and get on with it.
On the plus side, the newspaper publicity that the
company has received over the years has been
amazing – a business is like a big jigsaw and
everything needs to ?t – media and PR is just one
of the pieces but it is extremely important. We’ve
had some high pro?le names acting as ‘the
face and body of…’ including Penny Lancaster,
Rachel Hunter, Kelly Brook and Sarah Harding.
These names have been fantastic for us but I’m
always re-inventing – you can never stick to the
same formula – you have to keep changing.
I get bored easily – one of my weaknesses
maybe! As soon as I’ve launched an invention
I’ve already got the next one in mind. In the
next couple of months we’re launching Ultimo
perfume, body care and tanning products.
We’ve also got a line of ‘red carpet’ dresses in
Debenhams. I’m always up for a challenge but
sometimes wish that I wasn’t quite so ambitious
because it can back?re. At times I would like to
be more ‘normal’ and be able to relax a bit more.
But it’s just not in me. I turned 40 a few months
ago and I’m running 8 miles a day, 7 days a week
and I’m ?tter now than I was at 18 and I relish that
sort of challenge.
Reeves: Talking of challenges Michelle, I
wondered what your thoughts are about
the change taking place in the UK high
street. What advice would you offer to other
manufacturers looking to survive and grow
in the current climate?
Mone: It’s all about working harder and
smarter to truly understand your consumers
and what they need and want. Innovation is
key and if you’re the same as everyone else
out there it will come down to pennies in the
end and you’ll become a commodity. You
need to engineer a differentiation and have
to make your product and services the most
wanted out there. At the same time, you’ve
got to deliver superb customer service.
We believe that our retail and end customers are
king and I listen to them. Our end customers will
tell me via Twitter what they think of a product
even before our customer services team hear it
so I can react there and then.
Reeves: And what about those businesses
that are struggling? You’ve had hard times in
the past, what advice can you give?
Mone: If I was to offer advice to a director of
a struggling business it would be ‘don’t be
scared to ask for help’.
I think you should always have your close allies
around you and if you’ve just started a business
don’t be afraid to contact organisations who can
offer help and advice.
A business mentor is invaluable when it comes to
bouncing ideas around. Being an entrepreneur
and a CEO at the same time is probably one
of the loneliest jobs on the planet because
everybody thinks you know everything! It can be
more dif?cult for a woman in business compared
with men, who can discuss business over a game
of golf for instance! Mixing social occasions with
business doesn’t seem to be quite so common
for business women.
The trick is to gather as many good people
around you as possible because you never know
when you may need their help. I would also say
that you need to put in 100 per cent. Do one
thing and do it properly – you can’t have your
?nger in every pie!
Reeves: In Lifecycle, we like to recommend
our favourite business and ?nance books. I
wondered whether you had any tips?
Mone: (laughing) I’ll let you into a secret
Paul, I’ve never read a book in my life. I get
bored too easily and there’s too many other
things I want to do.
“
The trick is to gather as many good people around
you as possible because you never know when you
may need their help.
”
www.lcbsg.co.uk 16 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
David Thomson,
CEO of leading
SME ?nance
specialist Close
Invoice Finance,
talks to Lifecycle
about how the
days of running a business on a
loan and an overdraft are gone.
It’s time ?nancially, he says, to
think in 3D.
There might be widespread debate
throughout the business community as to
the extent to which the banks are open for
business, but one thing everyone seems
agreed on is that the lending environment
has changed beyond recognition in the last
couple of years.
While the Bank of England’s base rate has been
at a record low of 0.5 per cent since March
2010, bank lending rates have been edging
steadily upwards. Faced with weakened demand,
tightening credit policies and a need themselves
to re-capitalise, banks are increasing arrangement
fees thereby making it more expensive for
businesses to renew their existing facilities.
Over-dependence on bank loans
Companies are also being squeezed by issues
such as sky-rocketing fuel costs and the rise in
VAT, things that are having an impact on the entire
supply chain. Company bosses and ?nancial
directors ought therefore to be thinking more
carefully and creatively than ever about how they
raise ?nance and sensibly manage the day-to-day
running of their business.
Yet the reality is, that despite the soaring costs
and a more careful approach to bank lending, the
overdraft remains the primary source of funding
for small and medium-sized businesses. There is
widespread ignorance in the marketplace as to
alternative, viable sources of ?nance.
For instance, our most recent quarterly Business
Barometer – a survey designed to gauge SME
owner sentiment on a range of ?nancial issues –
reveals that two thirds of companies polled across
the UK have never heard of invoice ?nance.
Education process required on funding options
Invoice ?nance is actually outperforming all
other types of business lending according to
recent statistics from the Asset Based Finance
Association. Figures show that total advances
from members have grown 9% year on year while
bank lending has contracted by 2.5% in the same
period. Between 2000 and 2010, the sector grew
by a staggering 175%, from £77bn to £212bn* in
total client sales.
In the last year alone, it has grown by 11%,
proving the commitment of invoice ?nance
providers to businesses across the UK –
approximately 45,000 of them - amidst a turbulent
economic climate.
A report published in late 2010 by the Department
for Business Innovation and Skills, identi?ed invoice
?nance as playing a “crucial role in securing access to
working capital” in a new business landscape.
Finance?
Time to think in 3D!
”
“
17 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
A report published in late 2010 by the
Department for Business Innovation and
Skills
**
, identi?ed invoice ?nance as playing
a “crucial role in securing access to working
capital” in a new business landscape.
How can it ful?ll such a role?
Diversi?cation of corporate funding is key
Most SMEs are two-dimensional borrowers,
but bank loans and overdrafts aren’t the only
solution. I would encourage businesses to
think ?nancially in 3D, considering a blend of
options including invoice ?nance, asset ?nance
and leasing in addition to traditional borrowing.
Overdrafts and loans can be in?exible and
unavailable in many cases whilst asset-based
lending allows the business to utilise the value of
its assets and invoices rather than just leveraging
its historic ?nancial performance.
The overriding challenge is to ensure that, as the
economy picks up and as demand increases, the
supply of ?nance supports rather than constrains
the recovery.
*
Statistics from the Asset Based Finance Association
**
Financing a Private Sector Recovery, published in July 2010 by
the Department for Business Innovation and Skills
www.lcbsg.co.uk
2012 - Always look on the
bright side of life
18 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Often in 2011 it felt like Groundhog Day and
we wonder whether 2012 will be the same.
19 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
And then there’s Greece. Even with a 50%
haircut, it still can’t pay its bills. It needs €14.4
bn on 20 March and then more billions in the
following months and years.
So where is the money going to come from?
Maybe Germany, the ECB and the IMF will step
up to the plate but it probably won’t be enough.
Greece has too much debt and by most
reckonings about €100bn of it will have to be
written off or it will never be solvent.
The banks know this and the knock on effect
is that they are all trying to raise and preserve
capital and liquidity, thus causing a squeeze
on credit. Another credit crunch could be on
the cards.
Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who
faces her own domestic political issues, is
beginning to waiver. She now says that keeping
the euro together is ambitious but achievable. In
the past, a break up was apparently unthinkable.
Italy could be the trigger. Its banks are facing
a surge in withdrawals by retail depositors and
are struggling to raise funds in the wholesale
markets. Eventually the situation could
become unsustainable.
It’s fair to say that the break up of the eurozone
will be a catastrophe for Britain, after all, it is our
largest trading partner and will probably knock
the global economy into a recession.
We’ll probably have to have a whip round for
the IMF, UK PLC will suffer and our banks may
take another pounding if we ?nd they’re on
the hook for eurozone sovereign debt.
Add to this the fact that UK public sector net
debt has breached the £1tn mark and you can
see why everyone is looking so gloomy.
But it’s necessary when sentiment and
con?dence is low to try and look on the bright
side of life.
A cheaper euro means the pound will go further
this summer so those holidays to Greece,
France and Spain won’t be quite as expensive
as they have been of late.
And there will probably be some bargains to be
had here at home as retailers continue to slash
prices to shift unwanted stock.
We could even see a boost to the housing
market as all those wealthy Greeks and Italians
look for a safe home for their cash – a small
Pied-a-terre in London might ?t the bill and we
may all bene?t from the ripple effect.
Finally, don’t forget that the cost of booze always
comes down when we have big national events,
and this year we have three – the Diamond
Jubilee, Euro 2012 and the Olympics. So there’s
a good chance we may be able to meander
through the summer in an alcoholic stupor.
And anyway, what have the Romans ever done
for us?
The year started with
Merkel and Sarkozy
trotting out their latest
united front on how
they’ve solved Europe’s
debt problems only for
it to be shot to pieces in
days by the markets.
Italian bond yields are edging back up.
S&P has downgraded nine eurozone
countries’ debt including France, and even
the European Financial Stability Facility has
felt the heat as it too lost its triple-A rating
meaning it will ?nd it harder to borrow
bailout funding.
A cheaper euro means the pound will go further
this summer so those holidays to Greece, France
and Spain won’t be quite as expensive as they
have been of late.
”
“
www.lcbsg.co.uk
The Bookshelf
20 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Since the last issue we have been busy reviewing
some of the latest reads in the world of business,
?nance and economics. Here is a round up of the
newest additions to the Lifecycle bookshelf:
Available in Hardback, Paperback and eBook editions.
The book also has its own website,
www.pooreconomics.com.
Winner of the 2011 Financial Times and Goldman
Sachs Best Business Book of the Year Award,
Poor Economics champions radical new ways of
tackling global poverty and offers some lessons
for the business world too.
Based on 15 years of empirical research, the book looks at some of the
most surprising facets of poverty, including why the poor need to
borrow in order to save, why they miss out on free life-saving immunisations
but pay for drugs that they do not need, why they start many businesses but
do not grow any of them, and many other puzzling facts about living on less
than a pound a day.
Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the
Way to Fight Global Poverty
Author: Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Du?o
Published: June 2011
Publisher: Perseus Books
Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times
and chair of judges, said:
I was blown away by the thoroughness
of the empirical research. This is going
to be a real basis for innovation in policy,
innovation in government, and a guide to
intellectual debate. This is a business book
in the broadest sense.
”
“
Winner of the 2011 Financial Times
and Goldman Sachs Best Business
Book of the Year Award
Available in Hardback.
In Boomerang, storyteller Lewis gives a
satirical account of the global ?nancial crisis.
He argues that the cheap credit that rolled across
the planet between 2002 and 2008 was more
than a simple ?nancial phenomenon: it was
temptation, offering entire societies the chance to
reveal aspects of their characters they could not
normally afford to indulge.
“Icelanders wanted to stop ?shing and become
investment bankers. The Greeks wanted to turn
their country into a pinata stuffed with cash and
allow as many citizens as possible to take a
whack. The Irish wanted to stop being Irish. The
Germans wanted to be even more German.”
Lewis also turns a merciless eye on America: on
California, the epicentre of world consumption,
where we see that a ?nal reckoning awaits the
most “avaricious” of nations too.
21 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
What is Michelle Mone’s
favourite book?
Competition
Available in Hardback, Paperback and eBook
editions.
FT and Goldman Sachs Best Business
Book of the Year 2011 runner up, this is
the long-awaited magnum opus from
‘strategy’s strategist’.
Even though everyone is talking about it, there
is no concept in business today more muddled
than ‘strategy’. Richard Rumelt, described as
‘a giant in the ?eld of strategy’ and ‘strategy’s
strategist’, tackles this problem head-on in a
jargon-free explanation of how to develop and
take action on strategy, in business, politics and
beyond.
Rumelt dispels popular misconceptions about
strategy - such as confusing it with ambitions,
visions or ?nancial goals - by very practically
showing that a good strategy focuses on the
challenges a business faces, and providing an
insightful new approach for overcoming them.
Available in Hardcover, Paperback, eBook and
audio editions.
In October, the world lost one of the
greatest visionaries and creative geniuses
of our generation.
Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography is the
landmark biography of Apple co-founder Steve
Jobs. Written by bestselling author Walter
Isaacson, this book provides an extraordinary
account of Jobs’ professional and personal life.
Drawn from three years of exclusive and
unprecedented interviews Isaacson has
conducted with Jobs, as well as extensive
interviews with Jobs’ family members, key
colleagues from Apple and its competitors, Steve
Jobs: The Exclusive Biography is the de?nitive
portrait of the greatest innovator of his generation.
Win a
Kindle
TM
Boomerang:
The Meltdown Tour
Author: Michael Lewis
Published: October 2011
Publisher: Allen Lane
Good Strategy/Bad Strategy
Author: Richard Rumelt
Published: June 2011
Publisher: Pro?le Books Ltd
Steve Jobs: The Exclusive
Biography
Author: Walter Isaacson
Published: October 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown
Book Group
Email your answer to [email protected]
by Monday 2 April 2012 to be entered into our free prize draw.
Congratulations to Andrew Jackson of Egan Roberts, winner of
last issue’s competition to win a personalised signed copy of
Fixing Britain: The Business of Reshaping our Nation, the debut
book of Lord Digby Jones, who was also featured in the last issue.
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Latest news
22 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
triumphed at the Insolvency & Rescue
Awards last October, scooping the award for
Corporate Recovery Firm of the Year
(midsized ?rm) for the second time.
The Group was presented with the award at a
ceremony held at London’s Lancaster Hotel in
October. We ?rst took the prize in 2008, when
the annual awards event, which honours the
industry’s highest achievers, was launched.
The judges said Leonard Curtis Business
Solutions Group stood out signi?cantly from
its competitors and commended the business
for consistently delivering excellence and client
satisfaction, as well as demonstrating strategic
vision, good management practices and strong
?nancial growth.
The Insolvency & Rescue Awards recognise the
best of the best in UK insolvency and corporate
rescue and is widely regarded as the most
prestigious awards event within the industry.
LCBSG wins Corporate Recovery Firm of the Year 2011 Award
Director named in
Power 100 list
23 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Leonard Curtis Business
Solutions Group
Director, Neil Bennett,
has been named in the
2011 ‘Power 100’, a list
recognising the
industry’s outstanding
practitioners.
Sponsored by Insolvency Today in partnership
with Willis, the Power 100 list “recognises
practitioner talent, skill and innovation and
commends the industry’s outstanding rescue
professionals for creating an environment where
entrepreneurial ?air can blossom, ensuring jobs
are protected even in the event of failures.”
Neil, who heads up the Group’s London
of?ce, was ranked alongside other industry
professionals in the areas of practical
contribution, in?uence, industry reputation
enhancement, record of industry lobbying,
regulatory leadership and peer assessment.
Neil said: “I was delighted to receive the award
and it is an honour to be ranked alongside some
of the industry’s most talented professionals.
The award is a credit to the innovative and
professional standard of the Group as a
whole and we plan to continue providing an
exceptional service to our clients in 2012.”
Celebrating 10 years of
Corporate Strategies
Since Corporate Strategies was formed in
2002 it has continued to grow and evolve to
meet changing market needs.
Corporate Strategies was an early pioneer of
non-insolvency solutions for UK businesses
experiencing ?nancial distress and remains at the
forefront of this sector, providing tailored advice
and innovative solutions to help directors retain
control of their business.
“Corporate Strategies has always viewed
insolvency as a last resort and over the past
Ce l ebrat i ng 10 Ye ar s i n Bus i ne s s
decade our activities have been ?rmly targeted
at ?nding positive alternative solutions.
Only recently have we started to see other
established insolvency practitioners follow
suit,” says Daniel Booth, National Head of
Corporate Strategies.
“We are extremely proud of the part Corporate
Strategies has played in transforming the face
of the UK insolvency industry and look forward
to many more years of success to come.”
Since Corporate Strategies was launched in 2002
it has continued to grow and evolve to meet changing
market needs.
www.lcbsg.co.uk
LCBSG opens new of?ce in Preston
24 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
We have expanded our
operations in the North West with
the opening of a new Lancashire
of?ce, located at South Rings
Business Park in Preston.
This was the second new of?ce to open
within 12 months, following the launch of
our Bristol branch less than a year earlier.
Mark Delaney, Director for Lancashire,
comments: “The new Lancashire of?ce is in a
convenient and central location and makes our
services much more accessible to companies
based not only in Lancashire, but in Merseyside
and Cumbria too.”
We celebrated the opening with a launch
party on the 3 November 2011. Staff were
joined by professionals from across the region’s
business community. The evening included
entertainment from a David Brent / Ricky Gervais
lookalike and a magician.
25 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Rugby World Cup Competition
On Sunday 23 October 2011 a capacity
crowd at Eden Park, Auckland witnessed
the host nation, New Zealand, triumph over
France by 8 points to 7 in the Rugby World
Cup Final. There was equal excitement and
tension as the Leonard Curtis 2011 Rugby
World Cup prediction competition drew to
a close.
Hundreds of entries were received for the
competition, which asked participants to predict
answers to a number of questions based on the
events of the tournament.
The overall national winner was Kris Milovsorov
of Manchester accountancy ?rm, Allens, who
amassed 105 points.
There were also regional LCBSG of?ce winners
who were Graham Handy, winner of our
Birmingham of?ce competition, Paul Matthews,
who won the London competition and Simon
Bamford who won the Bristol competition.
Thank you to everyone who participated and
congratulations to all winners. Look out for more
competitions in 2012!
LCBSG opens a new
Yorkshire of?ce
We continue our national expansion in 2012 with
the opening of a new of?ce in Leeds.
The February opening of the new city centre premises in
City Square brings our total number of of?ces to ten.
Paul Reeves, Business Development Director, said: “We have
established and growing relationships with many companies and
funders in Yorkshire so it was natural progression to open a Yorkshire
base and better service the local SME market. Leeds is a thriving
?nancial and commercial centre and, as one of the largest cities in
the UK, we are very excited to be growing our business there.”
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Capital investment : focus on London
26 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
In Summer 2011
our London of?ce
welcomed four
new Directors –
Alex Cadwallader,
Andrew Duncan,
Matt Evans and
Rob Horton - to
the team as we
continued to
expand our
operations in
the South East.
Bringing with them
decades of experience
to help drive growth
across the Group, they
have already worked
on some high pro?le
cases and used their
expertise to achieve
excellent outcomes for our clients.
Monique Shaw, our Head of Marketing, caught
up with Andrew Duncan to ?nd out about his
take on the London market.
What are the big issues for the London /
SE market right now?
London is a key part of the global economy so
you have to look at the global economic
situation.
You have the IMF running around trying to raise
half a trillion dollars for a general bailout fund
and most economic commentators saying
there are huge downside economic risks as a
result of on-going issues in the eurozone. The
interconnectedness of banks and Government
debts cannot be ignored and there have been
no political solutions – nothing is addressing the
systemic problems in the ?nancial sector.
27 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
What issues face the Financial
Services industries?
Professional services ?rms are under pressure
themselves (look at what happened to Vantis
and the recent RSM Tenon announcements).
Pressure on fees is touted as a reason for
failures but the reality is there just isn’t enough
work out there.
Firms who are ?nancially conservative, have
good management practices and who
maintain very strong client relationships are
more likely to be able to ride out the storm.
London’s calendar is ?lled with major
events this year including the Mayoral
Elections; the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee;
the 2012 Olympics – what impact will
this have on business and businesses in
London/SE?
Of course there will be a short term positive
impact and there will be the “feel good
factor”. We’ll see a signi?cant boost to
some corners of the Leisure sector - pubs
and restaurants will boom but theatres may
suffer. It won’t be sustainable though – it will
be a short term ?llip rather than a long term
boost to the economy.
We’re still borrowing and living beyond our
means and we can’t avoid the elephant in the
room anymore, a drop in living standards
is inevitable.
What will the London of?ce be focusing
on in 2012?
We’ll continue to expand our service offering
nationally and there will be a real focus on
growing Corporate Strategies, our specialist
turnaround division, in London and the
South East.
We’ll continue to expand our service offering
nationally and there will be a real focus on growing
Corporate Strategies,our specialist turnaround division,
in London and the South East.
“
”
In the UK we have had just seen a quarter of
negative growth, we’re looking to the next
quarter now – if that’s negative we’re in a much
feared double dip recession.
Uncertainty is preventing people from investing,
employing, lending and borrowing and this is
impacting on the dynamic of the economy.
What are the key differences for SMEs
in the North and South?
You are going to get huge regional variations in
the UK – frankly London is its own economy so
the south has fared better than the north. Many
areas in the north are more heavily reliant on
manufacturing and the public sector and have
really suffered from austerity, public sector cuts
and a weakened pound.
What is the outlook for 2012?
Uncertain. The only certainty is uncertainty.
What are the implications of the “recent”
announcement that Britain has over a trillion
pounds in debt?
In reality it’s a lot more than a trillion because of
the off balance sheet liabilities – funds used to
bail out banks; public sector pensions liability;
amounts due under private ?nance initiatives.
Bury
Hollins Lane
Bury
Lancashire
BL9 8DG
t: 0161 767 1250
f: 0161 767 1240
Leeds
1 City Square
Leeds
LS1 2ES
t: 0113 366 3116
f: 0113 366 3117
London
One Great Cumberland Place
London
W1H 7LW
t: 020 7535 7000
f: 020 7723 6059
Birmingham
85-89 Colmore Row
Birmingham
B3 2BB
t: 0121 200 2111
f: 0121 200 2122
Blackburn
24 Wellington Street
St Johns
Blackburn
BB1 8AF
t: 01254 699799
f: 01254 699130
Bristol
2nd Floor
30 Queen Square
Bristol
BS1 4ND
t: 0117 929 4900
f: 0117 927 0000
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Contact us
Manchester
1 North Parade
Parsonage Gardens
Manchester
M3 2NH
t: 0161 831 9999
f: 0161 831 9090
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Rotterdam House
116 Quayside
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 3DY
t: 0191 206 4018
f: 0191 206 4175
Preston
20 Roundhouse Court
South Rings Of?ce Village
Bamber Bridge, Preston
PR5 6DA
t: 01772 646180
f: 01772 646181
Wolverhampton
Regent House
Bath Avenue
Wolverhampton
WV1 4EG
t: 01902 810102
f: 01902 810103
doc_193641959.pdf
Our paper about michelle mone obe, the entrepreneur behind multi million pound lingerie company.
Ultimo ambition
www.lcbsg.co.uk
What’s inside
Changing times
The changing face of the UK
insolvency industry
Alternative ?nance solutions
Round up of the latest funds
available to UK SMEs
Death of the High Street?
Is it all doom and gloom for the UK
High Street?
Lifecycle
Con?dent about the future Issue 2 : Spring 2012
Exclusive interview with Michelle Mone OBE,
the entrepreneur behind multi-million pound
lingerie company, MJM International
www.lcbsg.co.uk 02 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Foreword
We were thrilled with the
positive feedback we received
following the launch of our all-
new Lifecycle magazine last
year. Following the success of
our ?rst issue, we now bring you
the second edition, ?lled with
even more insightful articles and
topical features, covering a broad
range of business, ?nance and
economic issues.
In January I was delighted to interview Michelle
Mone OBE, creator of the international lingerie
brand, Ultimo and one of the UK’s most
successful female entrepreneurs.
Michelle has built her success on determination,
self-belief and hard work – universal and essential
qualities needed to succeed in business. Her
story is truly inspirational and sets a striking
example to women and men in business today.
Check out our exclusive interview on
pages 12-15.
Last year marked the opening of two new of?ces
in Bristol and Preston and a number of key
appointments including four new directors in
London (see our special London article on
pages 26-27), as well as a number of prestigious
award wins (you can read about our latest
achievements in the news section on pages
22-25). This year we are excited about the
opening of our new of?ce in Leeds. There are
more exciting developments ahead and I
look forward to reporting on them in future
editions of Lifecycle. As it says on the front cover,
we at Leonard Curtis Business Solutions
Group are ‘Con?dent about the future’. 2011
was a very successful year for the group and
we are committed to building on this success
throughout 2012.
I hope you enjoy reading this issue. If you have
any feedback or questions about any of the
featured articles, please don’t hesitate to get
in touch.
Paul Reeves,
Business Development Director
Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Tel: 0161 831 9999
Email: [email protected]
03 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Contents
Our story in a nutshell: who we are and what we do
Overview of the Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group.
Plan Bee
Introducing a new product for the asset-based lending industry.
Changing times
Daniel Booth, Head of Corporate Strategies, reviews the changing
face of the UK insolvency industry.
Alternative ?nance solutions
Corporate Strategies’ Ed Preedy outlines the latest funds available
to UK SMEs.
Death of the High Street?
LCBSG Director Neil Bennett comments on the state of the
UK High Street.
Finance? Time to think in 3D
How the days of running businesses on loans and overdrafts
are long gone.
Always look on the bright side of life
What does 2012 hold in store for the eurozone debt crisis?
The bookshelf & Kindle
TM
competition
Overview of the latest additions to Lifecycle’s bookshelf and
your chance to win a Kindle
TM
.
Latest LCBSG news
Group news, awards, events and
fundraising achievements.
4
5
6-7
8-9
10-11
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-25
12-15 Cover Story
Ultimo ambition:
LCBSG Business Development
Director, Paul Reeves interviews
Michelle Mone – creator of
international lingerie brand
Ultimo and founder/co-owner
of multi million pound lingerie
company MJM International.
26-27
Capital investment:
Focus on London
Director Andrew Duncan gives his take on the
London market.
Competition
Win a Kindle
TM
See page 21
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group...
our story in a nutshell
04 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group is one
of the largest independent providers of corporate
recovery, business restructuring and funding advice
to the UK SME market.
We have come a very long way since the
original Leonard Curtis, an insolvency
practice, was founded in London in 1947.
Our service lines have signi?cantly expanded
and continue to evolve to meet the changing
needs of UK SMEs. These services help
directors of businesses experiencing
?nancial distress, retain control and
continue trading.
Our focus is on positive outcomes. We provide
alternative solutions and the right advice at the
right time to achieve the best possible results for
funders and company directors. Insolvency is,
and always should be, the very last resort.
Our expansion resulted in the formation of the
Leonard Curtis Business Solution Group, which
includes the following specialist divisions:
For more information, please visit
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Targeted expertise and an independent
hands-on approach for UK SMEs
Leonard Curtis Business Rescue & Recovery
provide insolvency expertise and a complete
range of quality assured insolvency products.
We work with directors of struggling businesses
to help them to maintain control of their business,
as well as creditors and professionals involved with
those dealing with debt and ?nancial problems.
Proactive short-term help for businesses
under stress
Our business turnaround experts provide debt
restructuring and re?nancing services to both
growing and stressed businesses. We specialise
in helping businesses overcome short term stress
caused by issues such as pressure from HMRC,
communication breakdown with a funder, slow
paying customers and loss of turnover.
Free impartial advice from the nation’s
leading team
The Factoring Advisory Service is the UK’s central
resource for factoring and invoice discounting advice.
The independent advice we provide has been
sought by thousands of UK companies and our
advice has helped those businesses to ?nd the right
facility and save money on their factoring charges.
Survey, Audit and Client Management Services
to the Asset Based Lenders
The youngest member of the LCBSG Group, Visibility
was formed in 2009 as a joint venture with former
Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance Senior Client
Manager and Underwriter, Richard Turvey. Our unique
and innovative approach to surveys and audits,
based on our experience as lenders and relationship
managers, is helping a growing number of invoice
?nance companies to grow their portfolios pro?tably.
Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group is
now offering free exit strategy reports to the
asset-based lending (ABL) sector with Plan Bee.
Working with you to protect your investment,
Plan Bee is designed to offer sales and credit
functions of UK based ABLs with a general
understanding of the most appropriate exit
strategies from a potentially distressed situation.
Our experienced team will provide you with an
overview analysis of your prospective or existing
customers, covering:
• Sector issues
• Risk areas
• Exit options
05 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
To ?nd out more, contact:
North: Andrew Poxon
0161 767 1250
Midlands: Paul Masters
0121 200 2111
South: Michael Healy
020 7535 7000
It pays to have
a Plan Bee
Free exit strategy reports
for asset-based lenders
www.lcbsg.co.uk
I think it safe to say that in recent years
the insolvency profession in the UK has
undergone something of a transformation.
Insolvency Practitioners are often portrayed
in the media as a bunch of corporate
undertakers but with an ever-changing
economic landscape and, more importantly,
changing attitudes, the general consensus is
that insolvency is, and always should be, the
last resort for any business.
Changing times
As Corporate Strategies
celebrates its 10th anniversary,
Daniel Booth looks at the changing
face of the insolvency industry.
06 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
It was once the role of the Insolvency Practitioner
(IP) to use his or her professional skill and
judgement to clean up struggling businesses
and personal ?nancial dif?culties, with the
occasional boost of rescuing a business as a
going concern. Generally, the idea was to act
quickly and minimise the pain for all concerned.
Now, most ?rms believe that ‘turnaround and
recovery’ is the order of the day. This more
accommodating stance is reaping rewards for
business as the emphasis shifts from ‘pathology’
to ‘prevention’.
Many enlightened ?rms have practised this
approach for a long time. The Corporate
Strategies division of Leonard Curtis Business
Solutions Group, now in its eleventh year,
has been party to a wide range of turnaround
situations that have achieved positive and
rewarding outcomes. In a nutshell, turnaround
and recovery amounts to taking a more
constructive and imaginative look at how stressed
or distressed businesses can be sold, salvaged,
restructured, divided, downsized or otherwise
reorganised to ?t changing circumstances.
‘Save the good bits, sell the assets if necessary
but stay on your feet and save jobs’ has become
standard practice. Winding-up the organisation
has become the last, as opposed to the ?rst,
resort because generally you create more value
by being out of insolvency.
Managing change
If the new age of Insolvency Practitioners can
turnaround and rescue businesses that have
gone so far down the track that they are on the
verge of ceasing to be viable, the question is
what might they then be able to achieve with
businesses that are simply showing modest
signs of stress?
The answer? A great deal. If company directors
who see threats on the horizon have the courage
to instruct an experienced turnaround and
recovery professional to examine their options
while their company is still operational, they may
be able to tap into a fertile ‘crisis’ mindset before
the crisis actually materialises.
The objective must not be simply to build ?nancial
barricades to shelter the shareholders from the
perceived approaching storm but to make a
critical analysis of strengths and weaknesses,
opportunities and threats that the business
will encounter. It is then possible to devise and
implement a strategy that takes the business out
of the path of the approaching storm altogether.
Drawing on experience, he or she might even
have a few fresh thoughts about the best way to
get there.
07 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Whereas Insolvency Practitioners were once seen
as the public funeral directors who organised
the tidy burial of dead businesses and bankrupt
souls, they have increasingly come to be seen as
someone to whom you might turn to for advice
about maximising a businesses health.
The earlier IPs are in contact with a business, the
greater impact they can have. Typically, almost
without exception, it is the custodians of sick
businesses who are most reluctant to seek advice.
Fashionable?
To the astonishment of some of the more
conservative members of the insolvency
profession, we are now increasingly regarded in
some quarters as part of a glamorous, creative,
even fashionable calling, in which some of those
with the most commercial outlooks and deftest of
touches in the business community undertake the
delicate art of ‘managing change.’
Managing change has become a critical
discipline that embraces a range of skills across
the whole spectrum of modern management.
In fact, even in favourable conditions, those
with responsibility for revitalising businesses
are now likely to require an understanding of
internet communications, marketing, global
market forces, human resources management,
outsourcing and law.
Who better to undertake this task than the
professionals who’ve earned their stripes
effecting such changes in the most inclement
business climate imaginable - insolvency?
Managing change has become a critical new
discipline that embraces a range of skills across
the whole spectrum of modern management.
”
“
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Alternative ?nance solutions
It is hard to run - let alone expand - a business
without access to ?nance. For most of Britain’s small
and medium-sized businesses, the credit crunch is
still in full effect. Ed Preedy of Corporate Strategies
highlights some of the alternative sources of funding
that his clients are increasingly turning to.
08 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Business angels offer a way of gaining external investment
for limited loss of control. They frequently bring business
experience and insights that can take the business into new
markets and offer new horizons.
”
“
SMEs’ con?dence in the banks’ appetite to lend
is weakening. According to the bank-funded
Business Monitor published in October 2011,
just 40% of small ?rms plan to renew or secure
new ?nance in the next 12 months, down 70%
from the previous year.
Many are not applying for loans due to the
fear of being rejected or the frustration with
the process. There are glimmers of hope,
however, with new and innovative ways of
?nancing emerging that focus on the needs of
entrepreneurs.
Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG)
EFG was launched in January 2009 to help
viable SMEs to obtain the working capital
essential for growth. Under EFG, the government
underwrites 75% of a loan reducing the risks to
banks and encouraging them to lend.
09 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Peter Ibbetson, chairman of business banking
for NatWest and RBS, said: “We fully embraced
EFG as it provided us with another opportunity
to lend to our customers. We’ve consistently led
the ?eld in EFG lending and actually requested
additional funding in 2010 after fully utilising our
initial £166m allocation.”
Angel Finance
An ‘angel investor’ is an af?uent individual
who provides capital for a business start-up.
Business angels offer a way of gaining external
investment for limited loss of control. They
frequently bring business experience and
insights that can take the business into new
markets and offer new horizons.
Business angels will accept lower rates of return
than venture capital and private equity providers
but many expect involvement in management of
the company.
Investment Angel and non-exec director at the
South West Angel Investment (SWAIN), John
Caines OBE, said: “Business angels are a
source of funding that has remained remarkably
resilient during recent times. Most are very willing
to contribute their knowledge, their experience
and their contacts to support the entrepreneur.
“The right connection between entrepreneur
and business angel can be highly rewarding
for both parties. Increasingly, angels invest via
organised networks or syndicates so accessing
the right person is now much more organised
than in previous times.”
Online lending and investment services
Online money exchange services connect
people with money to lend and those who wish
to borrow.
The process is sometimes referred to as ‘peer-
to-peer lending’ and provides the platform or
‘matching database’ that brings together a
borrower and a lender.
Companies that provide this kind of service,
including Zopa, Thincats and Funding, are
becoming increasingly popular with lenders and
borrowers looking for an innovative alternative
funding solution or investment opportunity.
Community Development Finance
Institutions (CFIs)
Community Development Finance Institutions
(CFIs) are not-for-pro?t organisations that obtain
funds from Local Authorities and charitable trusts,
enabling them to provide loans of up to £50,000.
Paul Kalinauckas, Chief Executive of the
Black Country Reinvestment Society (BCRS),
which he founded ten years ago, predicts a
growth in non-bank lending. The Chancellor
seems to agree with him, having announced
£1bn of credit easing funds in his 2011
Autumn Statement to invest in SMEs through
non-bank lenders
BCRS provides loans to small businesses
unable to access all their ?nancial
requirements from traditional sources such
as the commercial banking sector. They
have seen an 80% increase in business over
the last two years, directly attributable to
market failure.
Without adequate funding many
businesses cannot grow and, if they
do, their progress may be slow and
risky. Cash?ow problems are an issue
our Corporate Strategies division is
being increasingly instructed to assist
businesses with. But in addition to these
alternative ?nance options, there is also
a myriad of Government grants and local
investment initiatives that are available.
2012 is likely to see further interesting
developments in this area, which is good
news for business.
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Death of the High Street?
10 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Retailers need to adapt to the changing needs
of the customer, embracing new technologies
and multi-channel distribution. But, as Portas
highlights in her report, most importantly they
must offer visitors to the high street something
that isn’t available online, an experience that’s not
available elsewhere.
Smaller retailers in particular, must think both
creatively and practically if they’re to navigate their
way through an increasingly changing landscape.
One survival tactic for smaller retail businesses
and independent traders is reduced business
rates. The government encouraged local
authorities to use their discretionary powers to
give business rate concessions to new local
businesses. However, these are not enough to
stem the rising tide of retail insolvencies.
Landlord stress
A spike in insolvencies is not good news for
landlords either.
Numerous retail businesses are expected to go
to the wall in the early months of 2012. Many
retailers anticipating tough trading conditions
were seeking protection from their landlords and
creditors prior to the so-called quarter day at the
end of December when three months’ rent is due.
Leonard Curtis
Business Solutions
Group Director,
Neil Bennett,
comments on the
state of the UK
High Street.
The release of disappointing retail sales
?gures just ahead of 2011’s last quarter date,
showed like-for-like sales were down 1.6%
on the previous year. Commentators were
quick to blame on-going employment
uncertainty, squeezed household incomes
and even the mild weather.
However, according to the government –
commissioned Portas Review, which was
published in December 2011 and focused on the
country’s ailing high streets, the current problems
affecting the high street are much deeper than
unemployment and lower disposable income, and
have been for some time.
Much of the Portas Review examines what can be
done in the future to improve trading conditions,
and whilst there has been criticism from the larger
retailers, claiming that they were not fully engaged
in the process, clearly they have far less to fear
than the smaller high street retailers.
Historically, negotiations between landlords and
tenants have reached an uneasy truce, with fears
that failing to compromise on the part of the
landlord may force the tenant into insolvency.
Requests from tenants for payment holidays and
limited concessions to pay rents monthly are often
seen as the precursor to administration, where
landlords ?nd themselves facing double jeopardy:
no rental income and empty rates, which can be
considerable on certain high streets.
Many landlords feel that they have been roughly
treated by Company Voluntary Arrangements
(CVAs), which have been proposed recently,
some of which have been rejected and
administration has shortly followed. Some of the
more high pro?le CVAs have prompted landlords
to group together to reject CVA proposals that
provide limited recoveries in situations where
shops are closed and vacated.
Ghost towns
One in seven UK shops has closed and over the
past two years, there has been a tendency for
directors of ailing retail businesses to open fewer
new stores and of?oad more loss-making stores
than in previous years. Restructuring of this kind
re?ects a growing lack of con?dence amongst
these retail chains, which could subsequently
lead to weak performances from nearby stores,
and, ultimately, the surrounding area.
11 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Retailers survived Christmas, but then faced the traditional dip
in new year retail sales, when consumers tighten their purse strings
after overspending during Christmas.
”
“
Retailers survived Christmas, but then faced
the traditional dip in new year retail sales, when
consumers tighten their purse strings after
overspending during Christmas. A belated cold
snap won’t help either.
Much of the high street has been decimated
by Insolvencies in recent years, and the latest
research shows that thousands of shops are
under serious threat of closure.
Even more worrying are the warnings that some
high streets will never recover or return to their
pre-recession days.
It may be premature to call it the death of the
high street but it is surely the death of the high
street as we know it.
www.lcbsg.co.uk 12 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Ultimo ambition
Paul Reeves, Business Development Director of Leonard Curtis
Business Solutions Group, interviews Michelle Mone OBE,
one of the UK’s top three female entrepreneurs.
13 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Reeves: Many of the world’s most successful
entrepreneurs started at a very young
age and it’s been documented that you
started your ?rst business at the age of
10, delivering newspapers to Glasgow’s
East End, and that you had 17 teenagers
working for you by the time you were 11.
What motivated you in those early years?
Was it always your ambition to become a
successful entrepreneur?
Mone: I suppose I was born with the
entrepreneurial spirit. I watched too much
Dynasty and Dallas and wanted the fast
cars and the big house with the sweeping
staircase. At 10 I decided I was old enough
to start earning money. From the paper
round I went to working in a fruit shop when I
was 12 and then a sweet shop when I was 15
and it just went on from there.
All my family were working class from the hard
east end of Glasgow. My dad had two jobs and
my grandad had three jobs but there was no
entrepreneurial business history in the family as
far as I know.
I was the wee boss, the wee business brain, and
a lot of my friends thought I was a bit weird – they
still do! They used to follow me around and I’d tell
them how to make money.
Reeves: Which entrepreneurs inspired you
when you were growing up and who in
business do you admire most today?
Mone: When I was growing up my big
inspiration was Richard Branson. Back
then, there weren’t that many role models,
unlike today where we have Dragons Den,
so he was really the only person to look up
to. These days I admire anyone who has
built and grown a business from scratch,
especially those who have initially failed and
then come back with a bang.
In the USA you get applauded for that but over
here people don’t seem to pick up the phone to
you once failure has occurred. It takes incredible
strength and determination to come back when
you’ve been kicked down.
Reeves: Yes I agree, in the States there
is de?nitely a feeling that you can
succeed through failure. I think that’s less
acceptable here in the UK where failure
is frowned upon. So has there been a
“Eureka” moment in your business life?
Mone: My Eureka moment for Ultimo came
one night when I attended a dinner dance
in a very uncomfortable bra and I thought
‘why should women go through all this pain
for very little gain?!’
I decided there and then that I was going
to invent a bra and take on the world with it.
(At this time I didn’t have any experience or
knowledge of textiles!) Even though my parents
were working class they always told me ‘Think
big! Never ever think small – you can do
it. It doesn’t matter what your background is – if
you dream it, it will come true!’ And I’ve always
stood by that philosophy.
I left school at 15 to start full time work when
my dad lost his job due to illness, starting off
as a fashion model and then going on to work
for Labatts Brewery as a junior member of staff,
eventually working my way up the company to
become Director of the Scotland Division at the
age of 22.
In addition to her role
as founder and CEO of
MJM International and
creator of Ultimo, the
UK’s leading designer
lingerie brand, Michelle
Mone is a mother of three
and a committed charity
supporter, fundraiser and
volunteer. Add to that a
soaring media pro?le and
it’s no surprise that she’s
a busy lady. Paul managed
to pin her down for an hour
to discuss her business
life and what really makes
her tick.
It doesn’t matter what your
background is - if you
dream it, it will come true!’
”
“
www.lcbsg.co.uk 14 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
We believe that our retail
and end customers are
king and I listen to them.
Our end customers
will tell me via Twitter
what they think of a
product even before our
customer services team
hear it so I can react
there and then.
“
”
15 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Reeves: Ultimo ?rst shot to prominence in
2000 when Hollywood actress Julia Roberts
wore an Ultimo gel-bra in the ?lm Erin
Brockovich. Since then you and your
products have been regularly in the press
with various celebrities pictured modelling
Ultimo bras. And you have developed a
public persona for yourself too, regularly
appearing in newspapers and magazines.
Would you say you have a nose for publicity?
Mone: (laughing) I’m known to the press as
The PR Queen! I work with them and they
work with me – we need each other. I know
that I’m not always going to have it good and
I’ve had my ups and downs with them but
here we still are – we both have something
that the other party wants!
The drawback comes when a personal trauma
occurs – such as the one I had at Christmas time
regarding my divorce. Then you wish that you
weren’t such a high pro?le ?gure. But you just
have to take it on the chin and get on with it.
On the plus side, the newspaper publicity that the
company has received over the years has been
amazing – a business is like a big jigsaw and
everything needs to ?t – media and PR is just one
of the pieces but it is extremely important. We’ve
had some high pro?le names acting as ‘the
face and body of…’ including Penny Lancaster,
Rachel Hunter, Kelly Brook and Sarah Harding.
These names have been fantastic for us but I’m
always re-inventing – you can never stick to the
same formula – you have to keep changing.
I get bored easily – one of my weaknesses
maybe! As soon as I’ve launched an invention
I’ve already got the next one in mind. In the
next couple of months we’re launching Ultimo
perfume, body care and tanning products.
We’ve also got a line of ‘red carpet’ dresses in
Debenhams. I’m always up for a challenge but
sometimes wish that I wasn’t quite so ambitious
because it can back?re. At times I would like to
be more ‘normal’ and be able to relax a bit more.
But it’s just not in me. I turned 40 a few months
ago and I’m running 8 miles a day, 7 days a week
and I’m ?tter now than I was at 18 and I relish that
sort of challenge.
Reeves: Talking of challenges Michelle, I
wondered what your thoughts are about
the change taking place in the UK high
street. What advice would you offer to other
manufacturers looking to survive and grow
in the current climate?
Mone: It’s all about working harder and
smarter to truly understand your consumers
and what they need and want. Innovation is
key and if you’re the same as everyone else
out there it will come down to pennies in the
end and you’ll become a commodity. You
need to engineer a differentiation and have
to make your product and services the most
wanted out there. At the same time, you’ve
got to deliver superb customer service.
We believe that our retail and end customers are
king and I listen to them. Our end customers will
tell me via Twitter what they think of a product
even before our customer services team hear it
so I can react there and then.
Reeves: And what about those businesses
that are struggling? You’ve had hard times in
the past, what advice can you give?
Mone: If I was to offer advice to a director of
a struggling business it would be ‘don’t be
scared to ask for help’.
I think you should always have your close allies
around you and if you’ve just started a business
don’t be afraid to contact organisations who can
offer help and advice.
A business mentor is invaluable when it comes to
bouncing ideas around. Being an entrepreneur
and a CEO at the same time is probably one
of the loneliest jobs on the planet because
everybody thinks you know everything! It can be
more dif?cult for a woman in business compared
with men, who can discuss business over a game
of golf for instance! Mixing social occasions with
business doesn’t seem to be quite so common
for business women.
The trick is to gather as many good people
around you as possible because you never know
when you may need their help. I would also say
that you need to put in 100 per cent. Do one
thing and do it properly – you can’t have your
?nger in every pie!
Reeves: In Lifecycle, we like to recommend
our favourite business and ?nance books. I
wondered whether you had any tips?
Mone: (laughing) I’ll let you into a secret
Paul, I’ve never read a book in my life. I get
bored too easily and there’s too many other
things I want to do.
“
The trick is to gather as many good people around
you as possible because you never know when you
may need their help.
”
www.lcbsg.co.uk 16 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
David Thomson,
CEO of leading
SME ?nance
specialist Close
Invoice Finance,
talks to Lifecycle
about how the
days of running a business on a
loan and an overdraft are gone.
It’s time ?nancially, he says, to
think in 3D.
There might be widespread debate
throughout the business community as to
the extent to which the banks are open for
business, but one thing everyone seems
agreed on is that the lending environment
has changed beyond recognition in the last
couple of years.
While the Bank of England’s base rate has been
at a record low of 0.5 per cent since March
2010, bank lending rates have been edging
steadily upwards. Faced with weakened demand,
tightening credit policies and a need themselves
to re-capitalise, banks are increasing arrangement
fees thereby making it more expensive for
businesses to renew their existing facilities.
Over-dependence on bank loans
Companies are also being squeezed by issues
such as sky-rocketing fuel costs and the rise in
VAT, things that are having an impact on the entire
supply chain. Company bosses and ?nancial
directors ought therefore to be thinking more
carefully and creatively than ever about how they
raise ?nance and sensibly manage the day-to-day
running of their business.
Yet the reality is, that despite the soaring costs
and a more careful approach to bank lending, the
overdraft remains the primary source of funding
for small and medium-sized businesses. There is
widespread ignorance in the marketplace as to
alternative, viable sources of ?nance.
For instance, our most recent quarterly Business
Barometer – a survey designed to gauge SME
owner sentiment on a range of ?nancial issues –
reveals that two thirds of companies polled across
the UK have never heard of invoice ?nance.
Education process required on funding options
Invoice ?nance is actually outperforming all
other types of business lending according to
recent statistics from the Asset Based Finance
Association. Figures show that total advances
from members have grown 9% year on year while
bank lending has contracted by 2.5% in the same
period. Between 2000 and 2010, the sector grew
by a staggering 175%, from £77bn to £212bn* in
total client sales.
In the last year alone, it has grown by 11%,
proving the commitment of invoice ?nance
providers to businesses across the UK –
approximately 45,000 of them - amidst a turbulent
economic climate.
A report published in late 2010 by the Department
for Business Innovation and Skills, identi?ed invoice
?nance as playing a “crucial role in securing access to
working capital” in a new business landscape.
Finance?
Time to think in 3D!
”
“
17 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
A report published in late 2010 by the
Department for Business Innovation and
Skills
**
, identi?ed invoice ?nance as playing
a “crucial role in securing access to working
capital” in a new business landscape.
How can it ful?ll such a role?
Diversi?cation of corporate funding is key
Most SMEs are two-dimensional borrowers,
but bank loans and overdrafts aren’t the only
solution. I would encourage businesses to
think ?nancially in 3D, considering a blend of
options including invoice ?nance, asset ?nance
and leasing in addition to traditional borrowing.
Overdrafts and loans can be in?exible and
unavailable in many cases whilst asset-based
lending allows the business to utilise the value of
its assets and invoices rather than just leveraging
its historic ?nancial performance.
The overriding challenge is to ensure that, as the
economy picks up and as demand increases, the
supply of ?nance supports rather than constrains
the recovery.
*
Statistics from the Asset Based Finance Association
**
Financing a Private Sector Recovery, published in July 2010 by
the Department for Business Innovation and Skills
www.lcbsg.co.uk
2012 - Always look on the
bright side of life
18 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Often in 2011 it felt like Groundhog Day and
we wonder whether 2012 will be the same.
19 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
And then there’s Greece. Even with a 50%
haircut, it still can’t pay its bills. It needs €14.4
bn on 20 March and then more billions in the
following months and years.
So where is the money going to come from?
Maybe Germany, the ECB and the IMF will step
up to the plate but it probably won’t be enough.
Greece has too much debt and by most
reckonings about €100bn of it will have to be
written off or it will never be solvent.
The banks know this and the knock on effect
is that they are all trying to raise and preserve
capital and liquidity, thus causing a squeeze
on credit. Another credit crunch could be on
the cards.
Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who
faces her own domestic political issues, is
beginning to waiver. She now says that keeping
the euro together is ambitious but achievable. In
the past, a break up was apparently unthinkable.
Italy could be the trigger. Its banks are facing
a surge in withdrawals by retail depositors and
are struggling to raise funds in the wholesale
markets. Eventually the situation could
become unsustainable.
It’s fair to say that the break up of the eurozone
will be a catastrophe for Britain, after all, it is our
largest trading partner and will probably knock
the global economy into a recession.
We’ll probably have to have a whip round for
the IMF, UK PLC will suffer and our banks may
take another pounding if we ?nd they’re on
the hook for eurozone sovereign debt.
Add to this the fact that UK public sector net
debt has breached the £1tn mark and you can
see why everyone is looking so gloomy.
But it’s necessary when sentiment and
con?dence is low to try and look on the bright
side of life.
A cheaper euro means the pound will go further
this summer so those holidays to Greece,
France and Spain won’t be quite as expensive
as they have been of late.
And there will probably be some bargains to be
had here at home as retailers continue to slash
prices to shift unwanted stock.
We could even see a boost to the housing
market as all those wealthy Greeks and Italians
look for a safe home for their cash – a small
Pied-a-terre in London might ?t the bill and we
may all bene?t from the ripple effect.
Finally, don’t forget that the cost of booze always
comes down when we have big national events,
and this year we have three – the Diamond
Jubilee, Euro 2012 and the Olympics. So there’s
a good chance we may be able to meander
through the summer in an alcoholic stupor.
And anyway, what have the Romans ever done
for us?
The year started with
Merkel and Sarkozy
trotting out their latest
united front on how
they’ve solved Europe’s
debt problems only for
it to be shot to pieces in
days by the markets.
Italian bond yields are edging back up.
S&P has downgraded nine eurozone
countries’ debt including France, and even
the European Financial Stability Facility has
felt the heat as it too lost its triple-A rating
meaning it will ?nd it harder to borrow
bailout funding.
A cheaper euro means the pound will go further
this summer so those holidays to Greece, France
and Spain won’t be quite as expensive as they
have been of late.
”
“
www.lcbsg.co.uk
The Bookshelf
20 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Since the last issue we have been busy reviewing
some of the latest reads in the world of business,
?nance and economics. Here is a round up of the
newest additions to the Lifecycle bookshelf:
Available in Hardback, Paperback and eBook editions.
The book also has its own website,
www.pooreconomics.com.
Winner of the 2011 Financial Times and Goldman
Sachs Best Business Book of the Year Award,
Poor Economics champions radical new ways of
tackling global poverty and offers some lessons
for the business world too.
Based on 15 years of empirical research, the book looks at some of the
most surprising facets of poverty, including why the poor need to
borrow in order to save, why they miss out on free life-saving immunisations
but pay for drugs that they do not need, why they start many businesses but
do not grow any of them, and many other puzzling facts about living on less
than a pound a day.
Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the
Way to Fight Global Poverty
Author: Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Du?o
Published: June 2011
Publisher: Perseus Books
Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times
and chair of judges, said:
I was blown away by the thoroughness
of the empirical research. This is going
to be a real basis for innovation in policy,
innovation in government, and a guide to
intellectual debate. This is a business book
in the broadest sense.
”
“
Winner of the 2011 Financial Times
and Goldman Sachs Best Business
Book of the Year Award
Available in Hardback.
In Boomerang, storyteller Lewis gives a
satirical account of the global ?nancial crisis.
He argues that the cheap credit that rolled across
the planet between 2002 and 2008 was more
than a simple ?nancial phenomenon: it was
temptation, offering entire societies the chance to
reveal aspects of their characters they could not
normally afford to indulge.
“Icelanders wanted to stop ?shing and become
investment bankers. The Greeks wanted to turn
their country into a pinata stuffed with cash and
allow as many citizens as possible to take a
whack. The Irish wanted to stop being Irish. The
Germans wanted to be even more German.”
Lewis also turns a merciless eye on America: on
California, the epicentre of world consumption,
where we see that a ?nal reckoning awaits the
most “avaricious” of nations too.
21 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
What is Michelle Mone’s
favourite book?
Competition
Available in Hardback, Paperback and eBook
editions.
FT and Goldman Sachs Best Business
Book of the Year 2011 runner up, this is
the long-awaited magnum opus from
‘strategy’s strategist’.
Even though everyone is talking about it, there
is no concept in business today more muddled
than ‘strategy’. Richard Rumelt, described as
‘a giant in the ?eld of strategy’ and ‘strategy’s
strategist’, tackles this problem head-on in a
jargon-free explanation of how to develop and
take action on strategy, in business, politics and
beyond.
Rumelt dispels popular misconceptions about
strategy - such as confusing it with ambitions,
visions or ?nancial goals - by very practically
showing that a good strategy focuses on the
challenges a business faces, and providing an
insightful new approach for overcoming them.
Available in Hardcover, Paperback, eBook and
audio editions.
In October, the world lost one of the
greatest visionaries and creative geniuses
of our generation.
Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography is the
landmark biography of Apple co-founder Steve
Jobs. Written by bestselling author Walter
Isaacson, this book provides an extraordinary
account of Jobs’ professional and personal life.
Drawn from three years of exclusive and
unprecedented interviews Isaacson has
conducted with Jobs, as well as extensive
interviews with Jobs’ family members, key
colleagues from Apple and its competitors, Steve
Jobs: The Exclusive Biography is the de?nitive
portrait of the greatest innovator of his generation.
Win a
Kindle
TM
Boomerang:
The Meltdown Tour
Author: Michael Lewis
Published: October 2011
Publisher: Allen Lane
Good Strategy/Bad Strategy
Author: Richard Rumelt
Published: June 2011
Publisher: Pro?le Books Ltd
Steve Jobs: The Exclusive
Biography
Author: Walter Isaacson
Published: October 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown
Book Group
Email your answer to [email protected]
by Monday 2 April 2012 to be entered into our free prize draw.
Congratulations to Andrew Jackson of Egan Roberts, winner of
last issue’s competition to win a personalised signed copy of
Fixing Britain: The Business of Reshaping our Nation, the debut
book of Lord Digby Jones, who was also featured in the last issue.
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Latest news
22 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
triumphed at the Insolvency & Rescue
Awards last October, scooping the award for
Corporate Recovery Firm of the Year
(midsized ?rm) for the second time.
The Group was presented with the award at a
ceremony held at London’s Lancaster Hotel in
October. We ?rst took the prize in 2008, when
the annual awards event, which honours the
industry’s highest achievers, was launched.
The judges said Leonard Curtis Business
Solutions Group stood out signi?cantly from
its competitors and commended the business
for consistently delivering excellence and client
satisfaction, as well as demonstrating strategic
vision, good management practices and strong
?nancial growth.
The Insolvency & Rescue Awards recognise the
best of the best in UK insolvency and corporate
rescue and is widely regarded as the most
prestigious awards event within the industry.
LCBSG wins Corporate Recovery Firm of the Year 2011 Award
Director named in
Power 100 list
23 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Leonard Curtis Business
Solutions Group
Director, Neil Bennett,
has been named in the
2011 ‘Power 100’, a list
recognising the
industry’s outstanding
practitioners.
Sponsored by Insolvency Today in partnership
with Willis, the Power 100 list “recognises
practitioner talent, skill and innovation and
commends the industry’s outstanding rescue
professionals for creating an environment where
entrepreneurial ?air can blossom, ensuring jobs
are protected even in the event of failures.”
Neil, who heads up the Group’s London
of?ce, was ranked alongside other industry
professionals in the areas of practical
contribution, in?uence, industry reputation
enhancement, record of industry lobbying,
regulatory leadership and peer assessment.
Neil said: “I was delighted to receive the award
and it is an honour to be ranked alongside some
of the industry’s most talented professionals.
The award is a credit to the innovative and
professional standard of the Group as a
whole and we plan to continue providing an
exceptional service to our clients in 2012.”
Celebrating 10 years of
Corporate Strategies
Since Corporate Strategies was formed in
2002 it has continued to grow and evolve to
meet changing market needs.
Corporate Strategies was an early pioneer of
non-insolvency solutions for UK businesses
experiencing ?nancial distress and remains at the
forefront of this sector, providing tailored advice
and innovative solutions to help directors retain
control of their business.
“Corporate Strategies has always viewed
insolvency as a last resort and over the past
Ce l ebrat i ng 10 Ye ar s i n Bus i ne s s
decade our activities have been ?rmly targeted
at ?nding positive alternative solutions.
Only recently have we started to see other
established insolvency practitioners follow
suit,” says Daniel Booth, National Head of
Corporate Strategies.
“We are extremely proud of the part Corporate
Strategies has played in transforming the face
of the UK insolvency industry and look forward
to many more years of success to come.”
Since Corporate Strategies was launched in 2002
it has continued to grow and evolve to meet changing
market needs.
www.lcbsg.co.uk
LCBSG opens new of?ce in Preston
24 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
We have expanded our
operations in the North West with
the opening of a new Lancashire
of?ce, located at South Rings
Business Park in Preston.
This was the second new of?ce to open
within 12 months, following the launch of
our Bristol branch less than a year earlier.
Mark Delaney, Director for Lancashire,
comments: “The new Lancashire of?ce is in a
convenient and central location and makes our
services much more accessible to companies
based not only in Lancashire, but in Merseyside
and Cumbria too.”
We celebrated the opening with a launch
party on the 3 November 2011. Staff were
joined by professionals from across the region’s
business community. The evening included
entertainment from a David Brent / Ricky Gervais
lookalike and a magician.
25 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
Rugby World Cup Competition
On Sunday 23 October 2011 a capacity
crowd at Eden Park, Auckland witnessed
the host nation, New Zealand, triumph over
France by 8 points to 7 in the Rugby World
Cup Final. There was equal excitement and
tension as the Leonard Curtis 2011 Rugby
World Cup prediction competition drew to
a close.
Hundreds of entries were received for the
competition, which asked participants to predict
answers to a number of questions based on the
events of the tournament.
The overall national winner was Kris Milovsorov
of Manchester accountancy ?rm, Allens, who
amassed 105 points.
There were also regional LCBSG of?ce winners
who were Graham Handy, winner of our
Birmingham of?ce competition, Paul Matthews,
who won the London competition and Simon
Bamford who won the Bristol competition.
Thank you to everyone who participated and
congratulations to all winners. Look out for more
competitions in 2012!
LCBSG opens a new
Yorkshire of?ce
We continue our national expansion in 2012 with
the opening of a new of?ce in Leeds.
The February opening of the new city centre premises in
City Square brings our total number of of?ces to ten.
Paul Reeves, Business Development Director, said: “We have
established and growing relationships with many companies and
funders in Yorkshire so it was natural progression to open a Yorkshire
base and better service the local SME market. Leeds is a thriving
?nancial and commercial centre and, as one of the largest cities in
the UK, we are very excited to be growing our business there.”
www.lcbsg.co.uk
Capital investment : focus on London
26 | Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group
In Summer 2011
our London of?ce
welcomed four
new Directors –
Alex Cadwallader,
Andrew Duncan,
Matt Evans and
Rob Horton - to
the team as we
continued to
expand our
operations in
the South East.
Bringing with them
decades of experience
to help drive growth
across the Group, they
have already worked
on some high pro?le
cases and used their
expertise to achieve
excellent outcomes for our clients.
Monique Shaw, our Head of Marketing, caught
up with Andrew Duncan to ?nd out about his
take on the London market.
What are the big issues for the London /
SE market right now?
London is a key part of the global economy so
you have to look at the global economic
situation.
You have the IMF running around trying to raise
half a trillion dollars for a general bailout fund
and most economic commentators saying
there are huge downside economic risks as a
result of on-going issues in the eurozone. The
interconnectedness of banks and Government
debts cannot be ignored and there have been
no political solutions – nothing is addressing the
systemic problems in the ?nancial sector.
27 Lifecycle | Con?dent about the future
What issues face the Financial
Services industries?
Professional services ?rms are under pressure
themselves (look at what happened to Vantis
and the recent RSM Tenon announcements).
Pressure on fees is touted as a reason for
failures but the reality is there just isn’t enough
work out there.
Firms who are ?nancially conservative, have
good management practices and who
maintain very strong client relationships are
more likely to be able to ride out the storm.
London’s calendar is ?lled with major
events this year including the Mayoral
Elections; the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee;
the 2012 Olympics – what impact will
this have on business and businesses in
London/SE?
Of course there will be a short term positive
impact and there will be the “feel good
factor”. We’ll see a signi?cant boost to
some corners of the Leisure sector - pubs
and restaurants will boom but theatres may
suffer. It won’t be sustainable though – it will
be a short term ?llip rather than a long term
boost to the economy.
We’re still borrowing and living beyond our
means and we can’t avoid the elephant in the
room anymore, a drop in living standards
is inevitable.
What will the London of?ce be focusing
on in 2012?
We’ll continue to expand our service offering
nationally and there will be a real focus on
growing Corporate Strategies, our specialist
turnaround division, in London and the
South East.
We’ll continue to expand our service offering
nationally and there will be a real focus on growing
Corporate Strategies,our specialist turnaround division,
in London and the South East.
“
”
In the UK we have had just seen a quarter of
negative growth, we’re looking to the next
quarter now – if that’s negative we’re in a much
feared double dip recession.
Uncertainty is preventing people from investing,
employing, lending and borrowing and this is
impacting on the dynamic of the economy.
What are the key differences for SMEs
in the North and South?
You are going to get huge regional variations in
the UK – frankly London is its own economy so
the south has fared better than the north. Many
areas in the north are more heavily reliant on
manufacturing and the public sector and have
really suffered from austerity, public sector cuts
and a weakened pound.
What is the outlook for 2012?
Uncertain. The only certainty is uncertainty.
What are the implications of the “recent”
announcement that Britain has over a trillion
pounds in debt?
In reality it’s a lot more than a trillion because of
the off balance sheet liabilities – funds used to
bail out banks; public sector pensions liability;
amounts due under private ?nance initiatives.
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Leeds
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www.lcbsg.co.uk
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t: 01772 646180
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