Accountant hopes to pull SMEs back from the brink

A FORMER insolvency practitioner from Manchester has set up a new consultancy aimed at giving restructuring advice to SMEs before they get into serious financial difficulties.
Robert Wilkinson, who has previously worked at Deloitte, Baker Tilly and Begbies Traynor prior to a two-year spell in Australia, has set up RSW Consulting to provide business support to SMEs in the Greater Manchester area.
“I’d worked for Australia’s leading insolvency practitioner, Ferrier Hodgson, for a year and then taken some time out to travel. When I came back to the UK I thought this is a great time to set up. Any businessman or entrepreneur will say that setting up in a downturn is ideal, because you’re ready to go once the economy bounces back.”
Wilkinson said that that he believed there would be a heightened demand for advice on topics such as cash management and cost reduction.
He added that he had always been interested in turnarounds, but his previous work at insolvency firms had tended  too centre around company closures and ensuring orderly winding-downs than saving them
“I’m keen on getting in before a company is at this final stage and restructure them.”
Wilkinson, 34, said that he eventually intends to open an office in central Manchester but said that for now he will operate from his Didsbury home.
“I can jump in a car and go anywhere. I’ve got my laptop and my experience and that’s all I need for now.”