Adding Value

We are passionate about adding value and wealth to our clients both personally and in their businesses.

Jonathan Wall leads our business consulting and profit improvement services.

We achieve this in many ways.

A selection of our products and services are set out here. We don’t recommend that our clients use all of these at once but as part of a systematic sequence of projects that will not overload your business.

Our fundamental belief is that for a business to grow and develop, the owners must focus on the business itself and not just on its customers, products, and operations. This is something we practice ourselves. It’s only by standing back and fully understanding your own business, that you can hope to one-day exit from it at maximum value.

Meetings

The first area that many companies overlook is the importance of properly structured directors or management meetings. These should happen monthly, quarterly or at the very least six monthly and involve the key personnel working off an agenda covering fundamental points and indicators about a business.

It is worth noting, that these can be one-man meetings – the important thing is to focus on the value of the business, not the detail within in it.

We are happy to attend or even organise and facilitate these meetings on an ongoing basis for a fixed fee. The role we fill is agreed in advance. Some clients wish us to arrange and chair these meetings in order to get them going; others wish us to simply listen in and offer our thoughts; some wish us to advise in detail on specific topics and yet others treat us as a full member of the decision making management team.

The simple fact is that we can make things happen simply due to our presence and meeting skills that sometimes just don’t occur if the meeting is internal only. Things “happen” after meetings in which we are involved, and we ensure that action points arising are followed up to agreed timetables.

We are so convinced that we add value by attending your management meetings, that we offer a money back guarantee should you not feel that we have made a difference.

Projects

We undertake a number of different projects to assist businesses in various ways, such as:

Strategic planning – developing and documenting with business owners a plan for the future of their business. It is surprising the majority of entrepreneurial businesses do not have a documented strategic plan. How do you know how to get somewhere, if you don’t know where you are going?

Succession planning and exit – working out a documented and workable plan in respect of the succession of the business. A recent DTI survey showed that 30% of successful owner-managed businesses close down following the exit of the retiring/selling owner(s). Why would you want to pass on a business without protecting your legacy by maximising the prospects for ongoing success?

Bespoke consultancy projects – if you have a challenge or an issue, we will use our methodology, expertise and experience to help you address it. Why pass on the opportunity of using the service?

Overhead consultancy

The easiest way to increase your profit is to reduce overheads that have no effect on the operations of the business. We have developed processes by which we can identify and implement non-personnel related overhead savings, generally on a category-by-category basis. In many cases, we can obtain savings in excess of 30% of those the company currently pays, with no negative impact on the business whatsoever. We are solely remunerated out of savings we achieve so we believe that these are compelling reasons why you should engage us in this area.

Tax planning

Russell Eisen and our tax team regularly review clients tax situations and continually improve tax positions by legitimately reducing the amount of, and exposure to, tax liability. We are proactive in identifying opportunities that may be of interest to clients and in structuring matters so that tax can be minimised. We are always happy to meet with clients to overview their situation and make recommendations. This advice is often given in conjunction with Cavendish Ware, our financial services consultancy, as so much of tax and financial planning are interlinked. It is a powerful combination.

Money Matters

As you would expect, we have excellent relationships with financial institutions and are adept at finding the right banking arrangements for our clients needs. This can be by way of loans, overdrafts, asset and vehicle financing and factoring, and can help both start-ups and established companies looking to grow. We are able to assist you in maximising interest received on surplus funds, both on a short term and long-term basis. In summary, we are usually able to make your money work harder for you.

Protecting your business

Many people overlook or do not realise the seriousness of issues that would fundamentally affect a company if they crystallised. One of the ways in which we help our clients add value to their businesses, is to limit the downsides. These can include:

Ensuring that clients are meeting the myriad of employment law legislation and are protecting themselves against an exposure to unfair dismissal or other employment claims. Successful claims against a company can now run amount to many tens of thousands of pounds and it is essential that a company does what it can to protect itself. It is almost impossible for a small to medium sized employer to fully comply with all employment requirements and taking specialist advice in this area may just be the best decision a business takes.

Exactly the same applies with Heath and Safety legislation compliance and procedures.

An often forgotten area are the costs of H M Revenue & Customs investigating either individuals or companies. It is the HMRC’s right to enquire into any taxpayer’s affairs and some taxpayers are selected randomly. Professional fees relating to income tax, corporation tax, PAYE or VAT enquiries can run into thousands of pounds. Is a tax payer going to end up with the most robust and thorough defence if he is more worried about the accountant’s cost, than the ultimate tax liability? We take this worry away for all of our clients by offering them insurance cover against the professional costs of enquiries. We would much rather send our invoice to the insurers, rather than you! Like all insurances, they are a total waste of money until you need to make a claim…but once you are in an unfortunate position of having your affairs being enquired into by HMRC, you’ll be very glad you have the cover.

These are some of the ways in which we really can make a difference to your business. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like to discuss any of these in more detail.