T-IM

Facts

• Oil and gas industry contractor
• Hit by collapse in order book
• Operating on 3 continents
• Lacked up to date management information and forecasts
• So was running blind

Background
In better times the company had been highly profitable (£1 million+ pa) but had experienced sales drop by over half. Costs could not be cut quick enough and the company was fast running out of cash. Rapid expansion abroad in recent years had left the financial management stretched and the need to fire fight short term cash flow issues. The last full management accounts were six months old and new financial forecasts were work in progress.

The problem
The company was talking to a number of possible funders/investors to plug a gap in cash flow thought to be £1 million but no one was sure. Just when the company needed reliable MI and forecasts most it was least able to produce them because of having to fire fight creditor pressure. The company had a large highly profitable contract in Indonesia that was about to start that and after a couple of months would fund group operations for the next six months but it had to make the next couple of months payrolls first.

The solution
We introduced a Turnaround Interim Manager from our T-IM network to produce a rolling 12 week forecast and take the creditor pressure off the group FD who could then focus on bringing the MI up to date and complete the 12 month forecasts. This short term focus on cash flow identified the ability to bring forward contractual payments from the American subsidiaries that helped meet payrolls across the Group. With up to date MI and forecasts a major bank agreed to fund the first couple of months of the Indonesian contract and disaster was averted.

Turnaround interim management difference
McTear Williams & Wood’s focus on business rescue and its ready made T-IM network enabled us to see exactly what was required and deliver the additional resources in double quick time. A lot of IP firms would not have believed that a rescue was possible and would have jumped to the conclusion that this was an easy administration with substantial fees. We always exhaust the business rescue options before considering insolvency putting the clients’ interests before our own.