Sir Alex Ferguson formally announced yesterday that, after nearly 27 years at the helm of Manchester United football club, he is to step down and retire at the end of the 2012/13 UK Premiership football season. The Manchester United club he took over as manager was a privately owned company with ambitions to become a global brand and after the initial flotation in 1991, the business had the impetus to grow via a listing on the London stock exchange. The ground capacity was expanded as were the amenities inside and outside of Old Trafford, and with the advent of the Premiership and television exposure the corporate expansion was exponential with merchandising taking over income from attendances to drive up turnover and profits. Perhaps for supporters and shareholders the biggest negative aspect at the start of the last decade was the takeover by the Glazers and the switch from a cash rich business to one laden with debt. Indeed, the interest payments have made the investment such a burden that the Glazers had to float some of the shares on the New York stock exchange. Indeed after an initial drop of 4.5% in share value they recovered but remained down on the day at close of trading in New York.

With all the turbulence in the financial ownership of the business it took someone like Alex Ferguson to keep the “operational” part of the business stable, winning an impressive 38 trophies and building successful teams for over a quarter of a century. Consistency of high level achievement and continuous improvement is a mantra for well managed businesses, and it remains to be seen how a change will impact the performance on the pitch as well as off it over the next few years.

Apple has struggled since the major change at the helm, albeit enforced……….but what now for Manchester United?

Unlike consultants or temporary staff, where costs tend to drop to the “bottom line”, interims focus on the delivery of benefits to your business. The outlay on the cost of an interim should be matched by a multiple of benefits over time.

Business owners, directors and senior management tend to utilise in-house resource to deliver their strategic and operational objectives, assuming their staff have the requisite knowledge, experience and gravitas to deliver expected results. In many cases there are prolonged increases in work load across the organisation leading to significant pressures on personnel, processes and procedures. The implementation timetables can often be delayed with functional areas “taking their eye off the ball” when it comes to sales, operations, cost, profit and cash flow, and perceived improvements and synergies are often significantly diluted.

If you have an operational or strategic project that requires implementation and you wish to discuss how an interim finance resource can work with the business, contact martin.walby@mwinterimfinance.co.uk at MW Interim Finance or see our website at www.mwinterimfinance.co.uk

As is the case with any budget in recent times there is a mix of good and bad news for both consumer and business and the one delivered last week by the Chancellor was somewhat flat, (a bit like the 1p reduction in beer duty). This will do nothing to radically get the UK out of the economic woes for some years, with projections of better times past the next election. No matter who is in power politics appears to be more important than positive action.

There was good news for the increase in personal allowance for 2013/14 and the £10k allowance for the following year. The non addition of duty on petrol is not actually a saving to consumers who are consistently paying higher prices from the oil companies anyway.

For small businesses, the additional National Insurance relief of £2k on the hiring of new employees is a welcome move however this is not effective until April 2014. The move to a 20% corporation tax rate is good for larger corporate enterprises but does nothing for the rest of business. Other good news was the increase in annual investment relief for plant and machinery to £250k which reverses the decrease from last year and is effective for two years.

If you have a business with a will, but no senior level resource to implement operational improvements, strategic restructuring or if there is a project that requires review and delivery, an independent short-term interim finance director may be a way to make the changes. MW Interim Finance can provide a dedicated commercially focused finance director and business partner in “managing change effectively”. Visit www.mwinterimfinance.co.uk or email info@mwinterimfinance.co.uk.

One month to go before the end of the tax year and the banks and pension investors are inundating us all with the “use your ISA allowances” and “maximise your pension contributions before the changes next tax year”. Interest rates remain pitiful and again the rates are being reduced across the board yet again on all taxable and tax free savings and investments. Even dividend yields are falling, some of which driven by increases in share values. Possibly now may be the time to invest in shares and the FTSE hitting a five year high this week would seem to indicate that investors are coming back into equities.

All the above assumes that consumers, who have been suffering for the past five years with increased food, fuel and transport costs, coupled with little or no wage increases, (for those who have a job), have any spare money to save. For any employees who do not currently belong to any type of pension scheme there is potentially another outflow, (albeit with a longer term benefit), the auto enrolment by companies and their employees into the NEST pension scheme or equivalent.

Many smaller companies do not know;-

• Their company’s auto enrolment date
• How many employees are affected, depending on their annual salary
• What changes are required from a payroll and HR perspective
• Communications and financial controls
• Cash flow implications with employers having to contribute on an increasing sliding scale over the next few years

MW Interim Finance has recently assisted in providing some thought provoking feedback on the above to a business who employs a large number of temporary and part-time workers, as well as a permanent workforce. It was a complicated scenario that required a thorough knowledge of the HMRC rules to ensure the company planned its strategy accordingly.

This is just one aspect of how MW Interim Finance could help your business; from operational issues through to restructuring and managing strategic change effectively.

My goodness it is valentines day and Martin Walby has hit the headlines with BIE Interim in their latest blog  http://biegroupltd.com/blogs/finance-director-on-interim-assignment-gets-sent-to-exotic-island-finds-more-than-he-bargained-for/

Many of the world’s most successful global companies and brands are spawned from a recession. These companies started to make history within a short time from commencing operations, penetrating markets with unique ideas or leveraging technology. There are many companies that have started in the last year, and a number of established large and medium sized companies with cash reserves, who could jump start the UK economy given incentives and having confidence about the future. The Chancellors Autumn statement, plus the willingness of lenders and venture capitalists to invest in business should be the catalyst for growing businesses in 2013.

In terms of senior financial management resource, companies may not have reviewed their requirements to make step changes in growth. An independent interim contract finance professional is one way of utilising a short-term focused resource at Board or senior management level to deliver changes or improvements in business systems and commercial operations.

MW Interim Finance is able to provide interim contract finance support at Finance Director level for short-term full time projects or on going part time resource to companies wanting to leverage opportunities in the coming year and beyond. For more details visit www.mwinterimfinance.co.uk and make history in 2013.

2012 has been a mixed year for the UK with the two major London Olympic events creating a well earned diversion for the country from the unending economic turmoil. Success in both lifted the spirits of all and engendered enthusiasm for our younger generation in sporting competition. Unfortunately, the reality is continued economic uncertainty, low to no growth, austerity, cut backs in benefits, increased food, fuel and utility prices, likely a pattern to be repeated in 2013 for the majority of the population.

Christmas has also been a period in many recent years when excessive consumer credit spending has left a nasty hangover for the early part of the following year when paying off debt and the onerously high interest rates if payments are not cleared. It appears from initial surveys that a significant number of people have again used credit cards and short-term loans to pay for the festive celebrations so another delay in austerity that will eventually come home to roost during 2013. A happy new year ? 

The last two weeks has seen elections the two largest global economies with the USA re-electing Obama for a second term and in China, the once-a-decade major communist congress electing a new prime minister, new senior politicians and implementing the next 10 year plan. What does this mean for Europe? With Obama having to tackle the serious fiscal deficit in the $trillions focusing on the American people, and the Chinese looking to double GDP by 2020 and improve the income of all its population, will either country really be concerned about the trials and tribulations of the Eurozone economies, including the UK? It looks like a long hard struggle for the Europeans and unfortunately for their populations, austerity is set to continue for some time yet, confirmed by the latest quarterly GDP figures showing negative growth.

Remember the days when Manchester United was the most financially successful football club in the world and debt free? Along came the Glazer family in 2005 and had to borrow millions of pounds to take the club from public to private ownership, thus plunging the club into debt from which it has not recovered.

Now it appears that it has become too much for the Glazers who, due to the ever increasingly strict UEFA football fair play finance rules, have now sold some of their shares through the New York stock exchange at approximately £9 per share to reduce overall debt levels.  Those MANU supporters who invested in the club when it was floated on the UK stock exchange in 1991, and for the period until the take over in 2005 will see this as another reason why the Glazers should never have been allowed to take control of the club. These private supporter shareholders were in effect forced to sell their shares for just over £3 per share, after the personal vendettas between some of the major shareholders ended with their selling to the Glazers.

Manchester United was the only flotation, in a raft of others during that period, that was successful, however even if the supporters could get their hands on shares the Glazers will ensure that they maintain preferential voting rights and thus control the club.

Companies need to ensure they control their destiny and where necessary reduce their own debt levels, even when national economies and banks appear to be failing in this regard. Improving cash flow and operational performance to achieve strategic objectives is paramount and MW Interim Finance can provide an independent finance director level resource to assist in implementation of those objectives. For more details visit www.mwinterimfinance.co.uk

The latest revelations and fines for Barclays on their alleged manipulation of interest rates and potential selling of protection against interest rate rises, could lead to another banking crisis. Some commentators have stated this could be the “tip of the iceberg” with possibly all the major UK and some overseas banks being involved in similar schemes.

The RBS and Nat West “meltdown” of their banking update systems has now focused their shortfalls away from their business customers to the many consumers who have been put in cash flow problems for over a week in some cases.

With the European national debts regularly in the news and the banks lurching from one crisis to another, what chance has business and the wider UK economy of getting out of the double dip recession?