Newsletter

Sent by email 24 October 08

Hello

We live in interesting times don’t we? The pace of events in the financial world is staggering.  We have seen banks tottering, and sometimes being destroyed in days. Amongst the turmoil, I am pleased to report that we have kept busy ensuring that our clients survive and prosper. We’ve changed our strapline too. We are now presenting what we do as:

 “The flexible Finance Director service”. This new description comes with 3 benefits:

1. A flexible attitude is essential in difficult times, and it is the cornerstone of the way we work.
2. A flexible service denotes a greater range of services and appeals to more clients. Of course we are still “Part-time Finance Directors” to most of our clients. We can also work full-time at an individual client, in the same way as interims, or even better, we can provide a team of people, of varied skills and seniority, suited to the needs of each business. Our previous strapline did cause some confusion – as individuals, we are not semi-retired and we most certainly do not work part-time! 
3. Where we encounter problems that are not strictly in our domain, we still try to find someone who can help. When a client encountered serious IT problems we introduced a partner who implemented a radical solution, moving them from a server to a fully hosted solution. This was achieved at short notice and to a tight deadline.

And all this is done without any reduction in quality. When conditions are tough it’s essential to have the best people around you and we are rapidly assuming the mantle of being the best FD service around. Consider these:

1. Simon Walters has been shortlisted as Accountancy Age’s FD of the year for his work at AFC Energy, an AIM quoted alternative fuel cell supplier, and FD Solutions has been shortlisted as small firm of the year too.
   
2. Chris Backhouse assisted with a difficult sale of an £8m turnover VC backed technology company.  Faced with an offer that was reduced, as market conditions deteriorated, the Board was split on whether to proceed. Our implementation of cash flow forecasting and subsequent presentation of the resulting data, showed that further investment would be required to fund the business if the offer was rejected. This information, clearly and objectively presented, was a key factor in the decision to proceed.
3. Our systems are such that we can take over from each other seamlessly. Bryan Lawrie was called back to a marketing company which had used him to help in selling the business. The sale process was suspended and a financial controller was appointed who resigned after 6 months. They immediately called Bryan to plug the gap and even though he was unavailable, Nick Price stepped into the breach. The management accounts were presented on time and with the added benefit of an FD’s view.

We may have systems that show us how to work in a similar fashion but we are not exact replicas of one another. We have people with varied skills and we have just augmented them with the recruitment of Ian Black, to provide a part-time Treasurer support to our FDs. Ian was Treasurer of the Kuwait Investment Office and the Commonwealth Development Corporation, before choosing a portfolio career with us. So he is well able to provide the practical hands on support that we are known for, on the more complex loan agreements, currency management issues and pension fund deficits.

The world moves on apace. More momentous news will no doubt be evolving as you read this newsletter. We at FD Solutions will be keeping focused on building our business in London, Bristol and Birmingham by working flexibly to deliver effective solutions to our clients.

Malcolm Durham
Chairman