Engagements

Business foundations for capital raising

Agricultural equipment provider

12 employees

Early stage start-up

This family-owned start-up was born out of a genuine innovation with strong technical backing. However, to support capital raising, it needed the skills to corporatise the business. This meant building a broader business foundation. Key strategies and achievements included:

Developing and implementing corporate systems and processes including in new product development, marketing and business development, health and safety, legal and risk management, and human resources
Introducing a lean manufacturing model, supported by a new contract manufacturing agreement
Engaging with key agricultural industry stakeholders and developing business partnerships to grow the business domestically and internationally
Setting up a strong framework for the Series A capital raising process.

Market reform mandate

Human Services provider

$350m turnover across 15 revenue streams

2,800 clients, 3,000 employees

6 operating entities, 300 sites

Man teaching to a disabled man using a w

Our client is a critical human services provider and a respected brand and reputation this organisation required significant transformation to remain financially sustainable. Key achievements and impacts included:

Transformed business processes and mindset to operate in a competitive regime, led a profitability review moving all services and to be financially sustainable. Initiatives included revenue growth, margin and efficiency maximization and overhead cost reduction.
Tackled issues that historically were in the ‘too hard basket’, including leading the simplification of the operating model by rationalising the corporate structure from six legal entities to two.
Developed an $8m Three Year Technology Roadmap covering digital transformation for both mobile and cloud-based applications, business systems rationalisation and integration, cyber security uplift. Rationalised the number of data centres saving $1m pa. Reviewed telecommunications providers saving of $600k pa.
Introduced data warehouse and analytics to support factual decisions.

Major restructure program

Mining and resources services provider

250 employees

$90m turnover

5 operating companies

Our client’s group of companies was debt laden due to unsuccessful acquisitions and a broader declining sector. Although backed by private equity funding, the only answer was a major financial restructure and divestment program. The assignment was to lead the business through this change. Key strategies and achievements included:

Analysing and repositioning the group’s operating businesses for restructure and divestment
Developing a restructure toolkit (eg information memorandums, due diligence materials etc) to ensure a rigorous process
Negotiating sale agreements and refinancing residual debt
Outsourcing information technology infrastructure and support services using a cloud model
Saving $400,000 annually by decentralising the group’s finance support functions
Reducing debt by $9m and saving $2m in overhead costs.

Business transformation

Outdoor power equipment manufacturer and wholesaler

40 employees

$15m turnover

At the point of being engaged to lead a whole-of-business transformation, this Australian icon was entering its 50th anniversary. However, it had lost its market-leading position and profitability due to generational change, competitor activity and other external factors. Key strategies and achievements included:

Resetting culture, strategy, systems, processes, resources and structure for new market share growth
Introducing lean and just-in-time manufacturing philosophies
Implementing a raw material tendering process that resulted in price reductions of 7-33% without comprising service or quality
Refreshing the brand, introducing new products, developing digital marketing strategies and restructuring the in-field sales team
Relocating the business, saving 60% in annual operating costs

Improving liquidity by focusing on working capital management, securing new finance facilities and attracting new investors.

Business repositioning for sale

Health sector software developer

20 employees

$5m turnover

An injection of venture capital equity had not produced the desired outcomes for this business. As a result, it needed to be repositioned for divestment. Key strategies and achievements included:

Leading a customer re-engagement program focused on rebuilding lost customer relationships
Restructuring the business and resetting its cost base to a cash positive position
Renegotiating all supplier/services arrangements, including a new property lease, reducing costs by 20-40%
Leading a range of M&A due diligence projects
Renegotiating interim financing facilities and co-leading a fresh capital raising process
Enabling the business to strategically pursue buyers, ultimately leading to a successful trade sale.

Despite having a rich history, our client was in a declining sector with reduced profitability. Long-term sustainability was in jeopardy, with no silver bullet. The task was to identify and prioritise actions and lead the initial execution phase. Key strategies and achievements included:

Rebranding the business to present a total capability by merging sales resources and better leveraging complementary services
Introducing salesforce effectiveness training to improve the productivity and effectiveness of front-end sales activities
Improving workshop efficiencies by implementing an estimating, scheduling and job costing enterprise resource planning system
Implementing group-wide quality and health and safety management systems
Launching the service offering in new niche markets
Increasing revenue by 25%, with improved margins, resulting in a 75% increase in profitability.

Company-wide turnaround program

Mining and resources services provider

150 employees

$35m turnover

2 operating companies

Business strategy step-change

Automotive parts manufacturer and wholesaler

250 employees

$100m turnover

Our client needed to reshape its operations to meet the demands of a far more aggressive and competitive market – and ensure long-term sustainability. This included reassessing its fundamental business strategy in light of growing import competition. Key strategies and achievements included:

Spearheading a new marketing strategy focused on extracting value from the equity in the group’s flagship brands
Designing new market opportunities and implementing a new pricing strategy
Developing key sales metrics reporting and benchmarking while rejuvenating the neglected national call centre operation
Delivering significant cost savings through an organisational restructure
Refocusing the whole team on the business’ major improvement strategies
Returning the business to long-term profitability.