My background

 

After completing an MBA, I trained as an accountant and insolvency practitioner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, including secondments overseas and into a UK bank's business support unit, before leaving to go firstly into industry, and then to set up my turnaround and finance practices.

I have almost 20 years experience of Independent Business Reviews (IBRs), turnaround management, and finance. I am accredited by the Institute for Turnaround (IfT) and am proud to have been appointed as the Small Business Champion for IfT’s Banking Initiative, and am also a member of, and ex director of, the Turnaround Management Association (TMA).

I enjoy working with owner managed, family and entrepreneurial businesses in the £1m to £25m range where I can be involved in supporting and helping the business owner through their problems and towards a proper turnaround into success and regrowth.

I believe that turnaround is not just a short sharp matter of restructuring the balance sheet and cutting overhead costs (although these are usually vital), but true turnaround is a longer harder process of restructuring the business so as to deliver improved quality and quantity of profits and business value.

I work normally across the North East, with clients in Newcastle, Northumberland, County Durham, Teesside (Darlington, Stockton and Middlesbrough) and Yorkshire from York down to Leeds, Halifax and Huddersfield on the M62 corridor; the North West, Cumbria, Lancaster, Wigan, Bolton and down to Manchester and Rochdale; as well as in the South and South East based around London where I have worked in Cambridge, Reading, Oxford, Bristol, Gatwick and Eastbourne.   

I am a generalist, having worked across a wide variety of industries including a charter airline, branded goods importer, electronics manufacturer, clothing importer, construction group, business services, professional services,  joinery manufacturer, a diversified manufacturing group, weaving, waste management, specialist contract labour supplier, plastics moulder, food manufacturer, furniture importer, pub & nightclub operator, window manufacturer, hospital equipment manufacturer, furniture retailer, E-based stock broker.

My main fields are therefore manufacturing, construction, trading (import/export) and professional services businesses and I ‘speak the Insolvency Practitioner and Business Support banker’s language’.

Having been involved in training whist at PwC, this has continued to be an area of interest and I am actively involved in the delivery of business training as well as producing self help guides for business owner managers.

What my clients say

Crisis Cash and Stakeholder Management

As a result of Mark’s involvement it became possible to monitor and control cash flow on both a short and a medium-term basis. The short-term monitoring was an important management tool, and gave back confidence and control to the accounts staff and to the project managers. The medium-term forecasting routines underpinned the belief of the shareholders and bankers that the group was viable. – Client FD

Restructuring and refinancing

Mark has a very clear and practical approach while being sensitive to the politics of a business. He quickly picked up on the key issues with our business and together we developed a practical turnaround model. Mark’s experience and understanding of creative finance options and potential pitfalls has been very helpful to our turnaround. – Client MD

Turnaround strategy

Mark has the ability to inspire confidence in colleagues and stakeholders at all levels, and a realistic approach to what the shape of a viable business should be. – Client FD