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Aidan Condie has been involved in improving the performance of
industrial companies since 1973, when he was involved in trouble
shooting work within Dunlop Industrial Group and then Unilever. His
first full turnaround came in 1985, when he managed the finance and
logistics functions of a bulk fluid movement company.
In 1991, Aidan joined the Capetronic group, a $500 million computer
component manufacturer. As director responsible for Europe, Aidan turned
the European operation to profit. In 1993, the company was sold, and
from that time Aidan has worked for Collingwood Management.
Collingwood Management specialises in helping client companies manage
change. Most of Collingwood’s clients fall into two categories:
• Firms with temporary commercial problems and
• Companies experiencing exceptional growth
Because many Collingwood clients are unaware of the scale of their
problem, Collingwood’s initial involvement with a company usually comes
in the form of a "company health check". The health check covers:
• management accounts
• business processes
• strategy
• operational performance and metrics and
• company organisation and decision making
The health check can take anywhere between two and ten working days
depending upon the size and complexity of the client, but usually
amounts to three to five working days for most clients.
The health check ends up with a presentation to management, who will
have a clear understanding of the problems and opportunities available,
and will also as a result of the health check have a clear way forward.
Many firms, often through little fault of their own, find themselves
in temporary financial difficulties. Having "scoped" the problem by way
of the “health check” described above, Collingwood works with management
to improve company performance.
Improving company performance principally involves changes in process
and often also involves changes in strategy and organisation.
Essentially it involves doing more with the same resources, or the same
with less resource. It means working closely with committed staff, and
developing better ways of working.
It is not uncommon for a firm to improve by over 10% profit on
revenue. Recent project examples:
A £8.5m turnover firm had lost £495k over five months in a non-season
business. After three months the company made £30k over the next two
months, with profitability set to increase further.
A £6.5m turnover firm was losing £650k pa, but has subsequently moved to
annualised profits of £300k pa.
This level of improvement normally takes between six and ten months to
achieve.
Owners of high growth companies often have little corporate
experience. So after having correctly judged their product market, find
that the resultant "monster" created requires processes and organisation
beyond their experience. If the processes and organisation do not
change, the company suffers and growth stalls or goes into reverse.
Collingwood has experience working with companies experiencing growth
that doubles turnover every two years or less. This puts exceptional
strains on client companies, strains that can only be dealt with by
changes in the way it operates. The problem is not only the management
of cash resources, but equally importantly the management of staff as
they are asked to perform to higher standards.
Collingwood has worked with a range of clients who as a result have
actually accelerated growth. Several of these have been subsequently
sold, again with Collingwood’s help.
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