1813 Club and Premier Members


1813 Club and Premier Members


Greater Birmingham’s leading companies


A newly established consultancy is aiming to help businesses stay in business – and not founder in the wake of a change of ownership. The consultancy - Prescient Business Consulting Ltd


– is hoping to help businesses avoid the many pitfalls which can happen when corporate transactions take place, such as management buyouts. Prescient is based at Chamber House in


Edgbaston. The business has been founded by David Thomson, former managing director of European sales and distribution for gas meters at Elster, the largest supplier of meters to utility companies in the world. He is being partnered by former colleague


Jonathan Watt, a supply chain specialist at Elster, a company which has itself undergone several changes of private equity ownership in recent years. David said that the aim of Prescient was simple


and said: “My interest is in helping owners of businesses to achieve their objectives, whether they are looking to grow revenue or cash, or just that their investment is safe - and understanding what a business needs to achieve that.” He added that one of the problems faced by


businesses going through a corporate transaction, was the fact that all of the advisers involved disappeared once the deal had been struck, leaving the new owners to fend for themselves. He said: “At these key moments of change, management teams are often required to face challenges they have never faced before, and are not equipped to deal with.” A key cause of failure for ‘new’ businesses, he


added, was often a lack of understanding of the three key elements of running a business - sales, strategy, and supply chain - and making sure each of these processes was joined up. David said that businesses also needed to apply a


‘stress test’ at the outset of a new regime, in order to find out what might happen when the business was put under pressure, such as losing key customers. He said that this was part of the continuity planning that a business undergoing a change of ownership should consider – but he added: “People don’t take continuity planning seriously. They don’t do due diligence well enough. “When someone has completed a management


buy-out, they feel they have done the hard work and wait for the cash to roll in. “But have you really thought about what can go


wrong? There are people who don’t realise they need help - and that’s where we come in. “Ideally, I look to be involved when business is at


the due diligence phase, so I can point out these things. I know what to look at – I know the real pain points to concentrate on.” As for David’s own business, he has started with a


blank sheet of paper but is expecting to create a company with a £5m turnover within three years, which will be achieved by organic growth and acquisitions. He added that he had chosen Birmingham as his


base because of its “very exciting business climate” and added: “There’s a lot of business being done here. I’ve done quite a bit of business in this area, and it is great place to have a base.”


Save UK workers with more financial education


The UK is facing a savings crisis – and employers must shoulder some of the blame for not helping to educate their staff about financial matters. That’s the view of Close Brothers,


a major asset management business which has an office in Meriden. A survey by the firm has revealed


that one in five UK employees is saving nothing at all, and a third are saving less than £50 a month. And although 65 per cent of


Jeanette Makings:


Savings crisis is looming


28 CHAMBERLINK February 2018


employers recognise that they have a key role to play in their employees’ financial wellbeing, a massive 75 per cent of the workforce says that their employers have not provided them with any financial education. Jeanette Makings, head of


financial education at Close Brothers,


said: “There is a looming savings crisis. Not only are people failing to save, but many simply don’t understand the different savings choices available or how to evaluate which ones are best for them.” The savings problem has been


highlighted in Close Brothers latest Lifetime Savings Challenge Report, published in conjunction with the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA). The report is aimed at finding out


how employees are saving, where they need help, and the level of support available, and it has revealed that there is a serious challenge that needs to be addressed. The report found that only 40 per


cent of employees surveyed were confident in their ability to choose


the right financial product to help them achieve their savings ambitions. Ms Makings said that this


underlined the need to improve the quality and scope of financial education – she added that more than a third of employees who had received this said it had been useful in guiding their saving decisions. She said: “Employers have a key


role to play in solving this lifetime savings challenge, but far too few are adequately addressing the issue amongst their employees. “A huge part of the challenge is


to encourage the provision of good financial education in the workplace that looks the different options available. Employers are hugely


trusted and perfectly placed to close this knowledge gap.”


Premier Membership


Contact: Howard Blow T: 0121 607 1841


Steering clear of business pitfalls


Avoiding the pitfalls: David Thomson


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