A covenant or lender conversation approaches
Cash forecasts, recovery assumptions and decision ownership are not yet aligned.
Recovery starts with a position everyone can act on.
We help boards, CEOs and sponsors regain control when liquidity, a critical project or operating performance has moved outside the agreed plan.
When needed
A project misses a critical milestone
Reported progress no longer matches the work left to complete.
A turnaround misses its first committed actions
Local management is stretched and multiple workstreams compete for the same resources.
A ramp-up falls behind plan
Automation, systems and operational dependencies are being managed separately.
Our approach
Four steps take the work from framing the question to executing the agreed changes, with service-specific activities and a decision gate at the end of each step. We agree the scope, evidence requirements and owners for each phase before work starts.
Duration: 1–2 weeks
Step 1: Frame
Establish the immediate cash, delivery or operational position, identify critical decisions and set a joint reporting cadence. Start urgent stabilisation actions immediately.
Gate 1
Sponsor accepts a dated recovery baseline, with uncertainty and unresolved data explicitly marked.
Duration: 8–12 weeks
Step 2: Diagnose
Test scenarios, prioritise actions and agree decision rights and escalation with stakeholders.
Gate 2
Partner challenges fact versus judgement; the accountable sponsor approves a funded plan and stop/go conditions.
Duration: 4–6 weeks
Step 3: Validate
Stress-test the recovery scenarios, confirm funding and operational dependencies, and validate milestones with the accountable leaders.
Gate 3
The sponsor approves the tested recovery plan, funding, owners and stop/go conditions.
Duration: 6–18 months
Step 4: Execute
Work alongside management to implement the recovery plan, resolve blockers and track cash, operational milestones and stabilisation.
Gate 4
Hand-back requires named line owners, stable reporting and evidence against the agreed recovery criteria.
Deliverables
Step 1: Frame
Recovery mandate and immediate-action log
A dated view of the immediate cash, delivery or operational position, with critical deadlines, decision rights and stabilisation actions. Record uncertainties and assign owners to urgent decisions.
Step 2: Diagnose
Cash forecast and recovery scenarios
A rolling 13-week cash forecast and operational or completion model, as relevant. Reconcile the starting position and quantify liquidity headroom, funding needs, cost to complete and the downside of delayed action.
Step 3: Validate
Funded recovery plan and decision pack
A stress-tested plan with prioritised actions, cash requirements, owners and milestones. Validate funding, dependencies and stop/go conditions with the sponsor before committing to the recovery path.
Step 4: Execute
Recovery control book and cash tracker
Track actions, cash actuals versus forecast, operational milestones and recovery costs. Escalate variances and record decisions, with clear evidence and line ownership required for hand-back.
Each phase leaves a working asset with an owner, source references and an update process. Economic estimates distinguish potential value from approved commitments and realised results.
Illustrative example
Recovery schedule and cash forecast
Connect a four-week action schedule to a 13-week cash forecast, with named owners, recovery scenarios and decisions due this week.
Sample data, not a client deliverable. The format is tailored to the engagement.
View full-size example ↗
Team & Duration
You get direct access to partner judgement, a team working inside your business and a shared focus on economic impact. We work through the difficult questions with you and stay close as decisions become action.
A senior team, working with you
- Partner judgement at the problem-solving table
- 1 accountable partner. Works directly on your hardest questions: shaping hypotheses, examining the evidence and developing recommendations with your team. Regular joint working sessions and partner-led decision gates bring senior judgement into the work throughout the engagement.
- Day-to-day momentum, inside your business
- 1 Engagement manager. Works side by side with your people, including from your offices. Connects the analysis to operational reality, resolves blockers and turns decisions into owned actions.
- Analytical depth focused on value
- 2–3 consultants. Combine rigorous analysis with our proprietary AI harness to test opportunities, quantify the economics and build practical working assets with your team. You gain a stronger fact base and tools your people can keep using.
- Expertise that makes recommendations practical
- 1 expert. Brings relevant industry or service experience to test assumptions, challenge feasibility and identify the constraints that matter before you commit resources.
Duration & Fees
- A clear path from question to impact
- Duration of each step: Frame: 1–2 weeks. Diagnose: 8–12 weeks. Validate: 4–6 weeks. Execute: 6–18 months. We agree the scope, owners and decision gates before work starts.
- Continuity from insight to execution
- The partner and engagement manager are planned to stay from Frame through Execute, carrying the context and accountability into implementation. Any change to the core team is discussed and agreed with you.
- Fee certainty upfront. Alignment on results.
- Steps 1–3 (Frame, Diagnose and Validate) are fixed-fee, with scope and deliverables agreed for each step. Execute can include performance-based fees linked to agreed outcomes, baselines and measurement rules.
- You control the next commitment
- At each decision gate, choose to proceed, adjust the scope or take the working assets forward with your own team. Each further commitment follows an explicit decision, with ownership and handover built into the work.
Cases
Selected anonymised engagements. Many span several services; each case shows the relevant areas of work alongside its outcome.
Consumer & Retail · Special & Urgent Situations · Growth & Commercial · Cost Out
Turnaround
European aftermarket business
~EUR 6.2mEBIT improvement
Read case →
Transportation & Logistics · Special & Urgent Situations · Operating Model
Infrastructure turnaround
European postal and logistics operator
~EUR 13mForecast overrun avoided
Read case →
Transportation & Logistics · Special & Urgent Situations · Operating Model
Infrastructure project turnaround
Passenger rail operator
~EUR 11mForecast cost reduction
Read case →Baselines, timeframes and evidence
European aftermarket business
- Starting position
- An aftermarket operation entering turnaround with working capital at approximately 120 days and limited local management capacity.
- Timeframe
- 18-month turnaround, with hand-back to line management at month 18.
- Recorded facts and outcomes
- Working capital fell by approximately 25 days from the approximately 120-day baseline over the turnaround.
- Judgement, targets and limits
- The working-capital movement is the time-bound measure shown here. The case does not isolate the contribution of each intervention.
European postal and logistics operator
- Starting position
- An approximately EUR 89m terminal and automation programme, with ramp-up productivity approximately 30% below plan.
- Timeframe
- Two quarters following the recovery reset.
- Recorded facts and outcomes
- Ramp-up performance was brought back to plan within two quarters after the plan and governance were reset.
- Judgement, targets and limits
- The original plan is the comparison baseline. Forecast overrun avoidance is distinct from audited realised savings and is not presented as such.
Figures are approximate. EUR conversions are documented in the full cases. These engagements illustrate experience, not forecasts for a new assignment.
Other services
There is time to assess the strategic alternatives before intervening
Strategic Decisions →The issue is a contained savings programme with stable liquidity
Cost Out →When to do it yourselves
If management has a reliable baseline, authority to act and enough execution capacity, a focused internal recovery cadence may be sufficient. Legal or formal restructuring decisions remain with the appropriately qualified advisers.