Turnaround management and business rescue practitioners
About CRS Turnaround Management
CRS Turnaround Management is the turnaround and business rescue service of Corporate Renewal Solutions, a black economic empowered management consulting firm based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
CRS is a Level One Contributor in terms of the dti's BEE Scorecard. For more information about our B-BBEE credentials, see About Corporate Renewal Solutions.
Our mission
"Our business is turnaround of under-performing companies and business rescue of distressed companies."
As turnaround practitioners, we have since 1999 specialised in improving the results of underperforming companies through turnaround and to save distressed companies through business rescue action.
We work with companies in all stages of corporate decline - from emerging problems, to worsening and acute problems, to potential and actual insolvency.
We also provide access to private equity finance to fund business rescue plans.
Lastly, we support the turnaround and business rescue industries by providing news, events, opinions, links, publications and industry association information.
Our vision
"Strengthening the economy through the restoration of corporate value."
Our vision is to be recognised as a major contributor to strengthening the economy of South Africa through the restoration of corporate value.
Restoration of corporate value enables economic growth, and more specifically, allows distressed companies to continue in the economic mainstream, preserve jobs and pay taxes.
We will achieve our vision by helping to turn around troubled companies in the informal sector, including working with banks and other financiers on workouts.
In addition, we will participate in the business rescue of companies facing liquidation in terms of new business rescue legislation as contained in Chapter 6 of the Companies Bill, 2007.
To find out more about our turnaround management philosophy, see About turnaround management.
View the restoration of corporate value at different levels of company health.
What is happening in the turnaround industry?
Also see the boxes on the right for turnaround events and news.
Expanding turnaround market as the South African economy slows down
Rising interest rates
"Rate hikes start to cool the economy."
After reaching its lowest point in 24 years, the prime interest rate increased 7 times from June 2006 to October 2007 for a total increase of 3,5%.
The focus of the Reserve Bank remains on returning the targeted inflation rate to within the 3 to 6% band.
The view is widely held that interest rate increases take one to two years to take affect, but the impact thereof can already be seen in decreasing business confidence and liquidation figures (see below).
Click on the thumbnails below for enlarged views of graphs.
Decreasing business confidence
The SACOB Business Confidence Index is clearly turning downwards.
The RMB/BER Business Confidence Index has dropped to a three and half year low.
Liquidations rising
For more information, see Liquidations statistics.
As a result of a succession of interest rate increases since June 2006, monthly liquidations have skyrocketed in August and September 2007.
Annual company liquidation statistics dropped significantly in 2004, but is showing a growing trend.
For more information on development in the South African economy and its impact on the turnaround industry, see turnaround market watch.
Corporate Renewal Solutions services
CRS Turnaround management consulting services
Our Turnaround consulting services services are aimed at the last two of the four levels of corporate health and decline:
- Turnaround: Turnaround of severely underperforming companies, facing one or several acute and worsening problems associated with advanced corporate decline, but having the time and resources to find solutions.
- Distressed situation turnaround and business rescue: Business rescue of financially distressed companies that are nearly or already insolvent, but potentially viable.
"Turnaround of under-performing businesses."
"Business rescue of distressed companies."
Our turnaround consulting services include the following:
- Turnaround workshops.
- Turnaround situation assessment services:
- Situation assessment.
- Situation probe.
- Turnaround implementation services:
- Comprehensive turnaround implementation programme.
- Turnaround kick-start service.
- Quick fix and disposal service.
- Emergency management service.
CRS Turnaround management consulting services (continued)
- Informal creditor workouts.
- Interim turnaround management.
- Turnaround coaching services.
- Turnaround mentoring services.
- Small business turnaround services.
Other CRS consulting services
CRS Business Transformation helps healthy companies to proactively transform themselves in response to market-place events and changes in competitive forces (continual corporate renewal).
CRS Business Transformation helps moderately underperforming companies, facing emerging problems and early warning signals of decline, to achieve and surpass industry performance standards.
View the Corporate Renewal Solutions services at different levels of company health.
Corporate Renewal Solutions spreading its turnaround activities into Africa again
Following its first project outside of South Africa in 2006 for a client representing R28bn in assets, Corporate Renewal Solutions has once again embarked on a turnaround project in a neighbouring country - this time for a R400m annual turnover state-owned enterprise that appointed CRS Turnaround as its turnaround partner.
The turnaround project consists of 6 weeks of a diagnostic review of the client's business issues, and 10 weeks of kick-starting turnaround implementation.
The CRS team of 7 lives in rented townhouses during the week and flies home every weekend.
Click on the thumbnails below for enlarged views of photographs.
16 weeks to go on the turnaround!
Anthony Vandoros (financial), Trevor Lowen (operations), Andrew McLachlan (engineering), Terry Spires (project coordinator), Pharney Chrysler-Fox (organisational alignment, leadership and stakeholder management) and Dale Pudney (strategy, sales & marketing) take stock of the blazing Namibian sun at Hosea Kutako International Airport on Day 1 of the turnaround project.
Client briefing session
The client briefing Andrew McLachlan and Trevor Lowen in the client's board room about the latest developments on the day of arrival.
Setting up the turnaround project office
The team connecting their notebook computers to the network in the turnaround project office.
One week down, 15 weeks to go!
Jan van der Walt, Pharney Chrysler-Fox, Anthony Vandoros, Andrew McLachlan, Trevor Lowen and Dale Pudney relaxing at the airport after a hard but exciting first week of establishing the turnaround project.
The CRS team with their client counterparts
A joint effort between CRS and client team members.
Week 5: Burning midnight oil in the townhouse
The CRS team catching up on work after hours in a casual atmosphere.
Is your business in need of a turnaround solution?
1. Act on early warning signals of decline or distress
2. Is your business already underperforming or facing a crisis?
3. Who should talk to us about turnaround solutions?
Act on early warning signals of decline or distress
"It is easier to tread on an acorn than an oak tree."
World-wide, it is an established fact that recognising the need for turnaround action takes place too late and that provisional turnaround measures accomplish too little.
Companies tend to act to late to adverse trends in industry drivers of a political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental nature.
The best time to talk to us about pre-emptive turnaround solutions is when you notice adverse movements in industry drivers, or at least when you notice early signs of decline or distress in your business.
Are your sales, market share, profit margins and working capital starting to decline? Are debt levels and management turnover increasing?
Are you starting to experience a general air of financial stringency, poor communication and housekeeping, low morale, managerial stress and organisational inertia?
Is your business already underperforming or facing a crisis?
"It is not too late for remedial action."
Perhaps your business is already facing a profitability, solvency or cash flow crisis.
Your situation may already be as serious as not being able to meet your financial commitments to creditors, or having breached loan covenants.
Who should talk to us about turnaround solutions?
"Talk to us if you are underperforming or in distress."
If you fall into one or more of the following categories, then you should talk to us about turnaround solutions.
Why you should talk to turnaround practitioners
Know when its time to speak to turnaround professionals.
"Management consultants can help up to a point."
If your business performance is sluggish or below par, there are many good management consulting firms that can help you transform your business, including increasing sales and reducing costs.
You may wish to talk CRS Business Transformation about strategic repositioning, reorganisation and improving the effectiveness of your value chain.
If your business is on a downward trend, however, and particularly if you getting closer to financial difficulty, you need to talk to turnaround consultants. Management consultants don't stabilise businesses.
Only turnaround practitioners can help you with the necessary emergency management actions and changing your leadership effectiveness to see a turnaround through.
"Turnaround practitioners are specialists."
And if you are already in financial distress, then your really need turnaround practitioner involvement.
And not only because they know how to source lending or investment funding for you.
Unlike management consulting firms whose stakeholder management is normally limited to leadership alignment and mobilising the organisation around change, a turnaround consultant will enable you to obtain support from all financial, organisational and commercial stakeholders, including the board, bank, suppliers and customers.
Additionally, a turnaround consultant is able to advise you on formal business rescue, if your company faces liquidation, in terms of new business rescue legislation as contained in Chapter 6 of the Companies Bill, 2007.
Why you should talk to CRS Turnaround Management
Our business is turnaround management.
3. More about CRS Turnaround Management
Turnaround expertise
"We pride ourselves with being at the cutting edge of turnaround methodology."
We utilise turnaround tools and methodologies developed and honed over many years of successful practical application.
We keep up to date with the latest turnaround approaches world-wide, amongst other things by virtue of our membership of the Turnaround Management Association - Southern Africa.
Turnaround experience
"We helped both industry giants and small businesses."
Our past turnaround experience include clients representing a variety of industries in the private sector with annual turnover ranging from as small as R10m to as large as R5bn, as well as the public sector.
More about CRS Turnaround Management
Go to turnaround consulting for more information about our turnaround workshops, and turnaround situation assessment, turnaround implementation, turnaround coaching and turnaround mentoring services.
Our turnaround management principles describe turnaround situations, turnaround stages, turnaround components, turnaround strategy and the turnaround plan.
About CRS Turnaround describes our turnaround experience, turnaround clients and past turnaround projects.
To learn more about our turnaround consulting services, download our CRS Turnaround brochure in the box in the left.
Go to About Corporate Renewal Solutions for our contact particulars and information about our team, associates, resources and networks.
As a result of our turnaround work, shareholder value has been protected and enhanced, creditor recovery rates have been maximised, and thousands of jobs have been saved.
Tell us about your turnaround situation
Online client profile submission
"Describe your situation and needs online."
To enable us to best communicate with you about your needs, preposition us about your company issues by completing a secure online client profile submission form.
Z-Score
"Rapid evaluation of your situation."
Download, complete and email your CRS Turnaround Z-Score Excel spreadsheet 
back to us to enable us to rapidly determine your state of health.
View pictures or a slide show of Corporate Renewal Solutions involved in industry activities
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Needing help, but not requiring turnaround action?
Go to our business transformation and management consulting web site.
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