Grant funding win for construction client

Aug 26 2020

Business Issue:

The company had been growing steadily over the last few years, however it had an issue with a large contractor.

This caused its revenues to shrink and so a revised plan was needed to help the company expand.

Background:

The company is a highly successful business in the construction industry, concentrating on providing MEP services for several large contractors.

During the previous year, they had a dispute with a major customer over the variations on a contract. This dispute forced the company to reassess their relationship with this customer and they decided to pull out of all the other contracts with that contractor, thereby losing substantial revenues. With negligible other orders in the pipeline, the company faced significant cashflow challenges.

Challenge:

The drop in its revenues and squeezing of liquidity forced the company to assess its overheads and a series of cost cutting initiatives were implemented to re-size the company for the current level of business activity. As well as cutting unnecessary running costs, the company reduced its employee base back to basics and retained enough to keep the company going.

The team also started looking at their opportunity base, began establishing new relationships with other companies in the same sector and subsequently started getting new orders in.

The other major challenge that the company had was a lack of financial expertise in the company. Their day to day financial compliance was being done, but they lacked having someone who could prepare business plans and help guide the company and its board of directors.

Solutions:

The company realised that to be able to overcome the shortfall in revenues, not only did it have to seek new customers to work with, it will also need to explore offering other services and hence grow its services portfolio.
It also recognised that it needed to get someone with more financial expertise to help create management information for the Board of Directors.

Our approach:

Initially, EFM were brought into help the company finalise their year-end accounts, prepare a business plan & cashflow forecast, and help navigate the various supports available for surviving through the Covid-19 pandemic. The Managing Director came across a grant being offered by Hertfordshire County around business expansion and business development as part of a £3.28m package of business support measures to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

This appeared ideal as the emphasis was on companies growing and expanding into new sectors.

The first thing the directors did was to contact the department that was handling the grant applications locally and go through the business ideas on the phone. This was done so that we could ascertain our chances of getting this grant and the department were very enthusiastic. The Managing Director was encouraged to submit an application, together with a business plan.

EFM helped create the business plan to support the application. Projections were done for the next 3 years, including a detailed 3-year profit and loss account, together with a cashflow. The company had already done quite a lot of the research as to what it would require in terms of plant, vans, and staff. This plan was submitted together with the application form to the department handing the grant in record time.

How the client felt:

The directors felt pleased with the speed with which the business plan was constructed and even more pleased when they were awarded with a six figure grant towards the business expansion. Plans are now underway to develop the other revenue streams. Furthermore, with EFM’s help, the company now have a strategic business plan and effective cashflow forecasts which will help with the reporting and monitoring of actual results.

Case Study: Hitesh Purohit

More Case Studies

Preparing a High-Growth Finance Firm for Additional Funding and a Clear Path to Profitability- Timeline Case Study

The company was no stranger to VC investment, having successfully secured seed funding from 2018, and Series A funding in 2022, but Series B would require a more rigorous process.

Flexible Finance Expertise when the pressure is on- Paint Manufacturer

With extensive experience across all aspects of accounting, financial management, financial analysis, controllership, and regulatory compliance – and a track record of turning financial losses around – Mark is no stranger to complexity or urgency, and this project certainly required him to hit the ground running.

Bridging the finance gap to take a thriving business forward

The well established, multi-site business operates early-years nursery care in the Midlands, with a small Finance team that had performed well under the leadership of an experienced FD. However, when that FD decided to move on, the company needed to take responsible measures to ensure its Finance function would continue to benefit from an experienced FD until a permanent replacement could be found. For this, they turned to EFM Associate Simon Finbery, whose extensive background in both financial services and SME accountancy proved an excellent fit for the role. The position involved not only managing the Finance affairs of the business itself but bringing in-house the financial management of a charitable organisation that the business supported, using the business’s own systems and processes. To this end, Simon oversaw substantial rework and realignment of the charity’s existing accounting procedures and data, working closely with its management team, in addition to his “day job” of performing the business’s FD role.

A higher degree of flexible finance helps London uni thrive

When Richmond American University in London approached EFM Associate Jonathan Wheeler towards the end of 2021 to strengthen their Finance function as interim CFO, they knew his skills would deliver results. He had previously headed up a major project in 2019 that had seen the University secure further funding to enable it to continue its growth.

Profiting from Financial Discipline from Day One Recruitment Start-Up

With a wide-ranging Finance background across multiple sectors, but also specific experience of resolving the Finance challenges facing start-ups, EFM Associate Mark Brown was brought in as consultant Finance Director (FD) by London-based digital recruitment agency?Futureheads Recruitment. His role: to put in place, on a part-time basis, the systems, processes, and financial discipline to underpin the business’s embryonic but innovative offering – and lay solid foundations for growth.

Optimising Credit Control to Ready a Business for Further Funding

A forward-thinking UK Fintech business punching well beyond its weight in both the domestic and international markets was entering the next exciting funding phase to support its continuing rapid growth. To ensure the business’s financials were fit for it to succeed in the next funding round – and with only a small UK team to look after both Finance and more strategic customer relationship and business development responsibilities – it needed the flexibility and accessibility of an outsourced CFO who could prepare the business for a funding round, including robust finance processes and maximising balance sheet strength. For this reason, the business turned to Richard.

Make an enquiry today

I have read EFM Privacy Policy and am happy to be contacted