The Alternative Board launches in Manchester

A NEW peer support and business coaching organisation has launched in Manchester, which aims to give smaller businesses the benefits of board-level advice.

The Alternative Board (TAB) Manchester has been set up by Michael Norris to bring together groups of similar sized or maturity businesses for monthly structured, peer-based board meetings.

All businesses in a group are non-competing and all sign confidentiality agreements so that issues can be discussed openly.

“This is a peer advisory service,” Mr Norris told TheBusinessDesk.

 “I’m there as a facilitator but the key value is those other people sat around the board who are going or have gone through similar issues.”

“Everyone has advisers but a solicitor or accountant are thinking how much they can bill you in the next quarter. A bank manager is thinking about reducing your overdraft because you’ve got a problem, and family members have an emotional attachment.

“It’s hard for business owners to talk to anyone with no agenda.”

Mr Norris has held chief executive and finance director roles with private and quoted companies and has led the flotation of two North West companies on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

He currently owns Rivertime Corporate Finance based in Wigan, which advises small and medium businesses on capital raising and mergers and acquisitions planning.

He said: “All my work has been with SMEs looking to grow, so this is an extension of that. It sits with the corporate finance work I do.

“It’s about helping business owners get back to why they first started in business.”

Mr Norris said the board groups will not be inflexible, but the idea is that members stay within a group and get to know the other board members well. He expects each board grouping to have between eight and 12 members.

“The meetings are very formal, with strict agendas, as I would expect from a PLC board,” he said.

Costs start at £495 a month for membership to the Entrepreneurs Board, which is aimed at start-ups and companies with a turnover of less than £500,000.

There will also be a Strategic Board, for mid-sized companies, and a Chairman’s Board, for larger and listed companies.

“Businesses would ideally start on the entrepreneurs board and end up on the chairmans board,” said Mr Norris.

“We don’t tie people in – they can try it and leave when they want. The concept is new here, but in the US, 80% say they see benefits after six months, and well in excess of 90% stay for the long term.”

TAB has been operating in the US and Canada for more than 20 years. It was launched in the UK in June, with its headquarters in Harrogate.

Mr Norris has bought The Alternative Board’s Greater Manchester franchise, the first in the North West, but he said he expects the concept to take off across the region.

He added that in time he wanted to develop different types of boards, such as one specifically for finance directors, or for regional directors within large national or multinationals.