Changing Management

Few deny that the quality and track record of management teams is one of the most important components of successful investment decision making. Indeed there are equity investors who invariably change management as a feature of their investment strategy and utilise interim executives as a core feature of driving rapid change in new investments.

Our experience shows that the failure of management in the course of an investment’s life cycle can easily be due to insufficient pre-deal due diligence on or assessment of existing management, or insufficient testing of the business plan as it is to the personal failings of individuals.

Whatever the circumstances, however, and irrespective of the stage in the cycle that change is required, the utilisation of immediately available interim executive talent is the core of our market offering in all sectors, functions and throughout Europe.

Interim executives present a very low risk solution to management change issues:

• They are usually sensibly over-qualified for the role; this ensures little or no learning curve.
• They are pre-qualified – references will have been thoroughly checked, they will have been selected and interviewed with the specific role in view.
• They have usually successfully completed similar assignments enabling them to integrate quickly and rapidly understand the key business issues – indeed their experience will often identify new areas for urgent strategic and operational change within days of starting.
• As often as not they will have previously worked successfully in private equity backed businesses.
• And most important of all, their costs are invariably less than the ultimate costs inherent in no action being taken.