The year in focus

Traditionally when times are good, business restructuring does less well, but we have bucked the trend. Despite challenging market conditions we have increased revenue by 40 per cent during the past two years.

"We continue to develop our business and have quickly grown our market share," says Head of Business Restructuring Simon Michaels.

Simon adds "We are finding that businesses are continuing to underperform. However, with excess liquidity both financiers and corporates are refinancing or selling their way out of trouble. These developments have resulted in high prices being paid for businesses and financing structures becoming more complex as additional debt is taken on. There is a real risk of a correction if economic conditions worsen."

We have geared up in anticipation of just such a correction. We have also been deepening our sector-based expertise in areas such as Automotive, Manufacturing, Professional Services and Retail. Last year, we appointed six new partners and we now have over 300 people in the team.

During the year we advised a number of fully listed businesses, as well as mid-corporates and several pension funds. We also launched a performance improvement business, which focuses on profit enhancement and working capital management, and have undertaken a number of solvent restructurings for large corporates.

In addition to advisory work we continue to win both market-leading insolvencies, among them Powerhouse, the UK's third largest electrical retailer, and assignments where we are required to challenge valuations and resolve disputes as part of a formal process.

Internationally, with the help of other BDO Member Firms we have taken on assignments involving work in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Looking ahead

Simon is positive about the future. "Our target remains to provide the highest quality, full service to mid and larger corporates," he says. "We are seeing many more opportunities requiring innovative solutions and restructurings with private equity and hedge funds more involved. Our clients tell us they welcome our approach. They're not interested in armies of administrators. They want accesssible senior teams who think commercially and are light on their feet."