Case Studies

A potential HR disaster avertedAugust 30th, 2010

The client had been having ongoing problems with a member of staff and when this came to a head, the client promptly sacked him on the spot. When the inevitable letter from the ex-employees solicitor arrived on the door mat, he called Remedy.

Drawing from our local network of specialist partners, an experienced HR expert was called upon to review the existing personnel systems and procedures. Proper contracts of employment were drawn up and a Company Handbook was introduced.

The client was advised on what correspondence was required under the circumstances and what best practice was. The client met with the ex-employee and the issues were resolved, and then, by way of a Confidentiality Agreement, they parted company on good terms. The client avoided a tribunal case, which they would almost certainly have lost, and lessons were learned.

Finally, the client was given some training to develop their skill-set and avoid similar issues in the future. Having learned lessons the client was left in a much better position that would have been the case if they had lost an industrial tribunal case.

Sales improvementAugust 16th, 2010

The client was suffering from cashflow pressures, much the same as many other companies. A meeting with the owner was arranged and a FREE Business Healthcheck was carried out with them. Whilst most areas of the business were running satisfactorily, the sales function was underperforming and the company had no marketing strategy.

A marketing Plan was agreed with the client and put into place and this identified some issues that were contributing to the problem. The website was looking tired and rather old fashioned and the salesman, whilst very keen and knowledgeable, had received no sales training.

Through our network of associates, we sourced a local reliable website development company who brought the site up to date and worked with the client in formulating a plan to drive traffic to it.

A sales trainer, with over 25 years experience, was brought in to give the salesman some training to help him develop his skills and confidence, and very quickly his level of sales quotes that were converted to actual sales improved dramatically.

With these two areas of the business developed, the company’s level of sales began to pick up, and the performance of the salesman improved beyond everyone’s expectations – including his own!!

A company Turnaround PlanApril 4th, 2010

The client was a successful and profitable business, but when one of its major customers was placed into administration, it was left with a large outstanding debt, causing an unavoidable deficit in its cashflow. Existing suppliers and HMRC were demanding payment and the company’s Bank wanted to know if the company was able to recover from this bad debt and continue in business.

An immediate review was undertaken and following a meeting with the business owners, a strategy was agreed and put into place. The first stage was to undertake a review of the cash position and agree how the Company’s cash obligations would be met. Advantage was taken of HMRC’s “Time To Pay” plans to spread the cost of outstanding tax and VAT. Short term extended terms of credit were agreed with key suppliers and expressions of interest were sought from potential investors to inject much needed working capital.

The administrators of the bad debt customer were contacted and a letter confirming the dividend available for distribution to its creditors was nil was obtained. This allowed the client to reclaim the VAT on the bad debt immediately and not have to wait 6 months before benefiting from the VAT credit. Negotiations with the Bank allowed the Company to benefit from a short term overdraft facility, whilst the plan was carried out.

Negotiations progressed with a potential investor and a nonrefundable deposit was secured. The Bank agreed to continue with the overdraft facility while the investor carried out its investment due diligence. A personal guarantee was obtained from the owner thereby preventing the Bank from taking an equity position on the funds lent, which would have significantly increased the bank charges. The nonrefundable deposit from the investor was intended to cover the cost of the disruption to the business during the due diligence process.

The investor’s due diligence and contracts were completed. The Bank remained in place under the original facility and the working capital injection from the investor removed the pressure on cash. The company returned to profitability, and the owner was able to return to running and growing the business.