Situation

Following a successful Mentoring role through the University of Strathclyde Entrepreneurial Partner programme, Craig Alexander Rattray was asked to continue to work with the directors of a business with significant growth potential.

As a provider of services to the offshore wind industry, the company was well placed to utilise its skills in the provision of non-core services to Offshore Wind Farm owners and principal contractors, a significantly growing market.

Task

Founded by a strong operational team 15 months previously, the three directors lacked the experience provided by Craig Alexander Rattray in the areas of Strategy, Management and Finance, and general commercial knowledge.

Action

We worked closely with the directors over a nine-month period to clarify the business strategy, target market and range of services. The operational team excelled in finding new opportunities, and engaging with customers and potential customers, and developing the range of complementary services.

We introduced a management framework encompassing monthly team meetings, weekly conference calls and regular tender / opportunity reviews. We have also introduced strong financial management systems and procedures with monthly accounts and updated forecasts produced typically within two days of month end.

In order to finance future growth, including an exciting new software application, we developed a robust business plan and financial projections and engaged with three interested equity providers.  Following three strong expressions of interest we secured investment valuing the company at c10 times year 1 turnover – an excellent result for a service based company.

We led discussions on two joint ventures and the recruitment of senior management, administration and operational roles.

Our role involved providing ongoing support with specific focus on financial management and strategic direction of the business. A significant part of the role involved commercial and financial input to tenders / project costings and commercial arrangements with customers and suppliers.