The concept of interim leadership is becoming ever more important in the world of business, as the benefits of recruiting for specific expertise to deliver large-scale transformation or bolster capabilities to reach strategic objectives at crunch points becomes increasingly apparent.

In particular, interim leaders offer a unique solution to mid-cap, founder-led companies that find themselves grappling with the challenge of making themselves as attractive as possible to potential investors. They can help achieve this, while  maintaining the stability that underscores an organisation’s inherent market value.

‘Interims’ can drive rapid transformations and process improvements, bringing much needed experience and energy to make a company fully ‘deal ready’.

Considering this, Andrew McIntee, Director at people advisory firm New Street Consulting Group examines the crucial role interim leaders play in helping high potential businesses attract and secure the best possible investment deal.

Getting the Dynamics Right

Getting leadership dynamics right is one of the most delicate aspects of preparing for an important funding round. While a change in the leadership team just before a sale might hint at instability, the addition of the right kind of leadership skills and experience in the run up to going to market can significantly enhance a business’s appeal. This is where the strategic incorporation of interim professionals can provide the perfect balance.

These seasoned experts bring a level of flexibility and specialised skill often pivotal in maximising the value of a business and getting the best funding partner onboard. From a stability point of view, they do this without the permanence that could cause friction with existing leadership team members or signal unsteadiness to future investors.

Enhancing Value with Interim Experience

Indeed, the interim role is much more than simply acting as a stopgap; interims are experienced specialists who know what investors are looking for and can drive substantial, sustainable improvements and efficiencies that make a business more attractive to private equity firms. This includes everything from streamlining operations to ensuring the company is future-proofed and set for continued growth.

In addition, the flexibility of interim professionals allows them to undertake significant transformation projects – be it cost reduction, operational efficiencies, regulatory compliance, or even spearheading ESG initiatives – without burdening any potential new investors with long-term resource commitments.

When investors come on board, interim specialists can seamlessly move on, allowing new funders to work with the businesses’ permanent leadership on building on longer-term growth plans from a solid foundation.

Making a Business ‘Easy to Buy’

Of course, a key aspect of preparing for investment is making a business ‘easy to buy.’  Often, this involves a range of specialist issues that entrepreneurial leadership teams aren’t always versed in – for example, dealing with regulatory issues, optimising processes, and preparing rigorous deal rooms.

Interim talent is often ideal for helping permanent leadership teams deal with these requirements. While a situation may be completely new to your board, specialist Interims have seen it all before and know exactly what needs to be done and why.

The Commonality of Interim CFO

Given the value that Interims can bring in getting financial processes and reporting in a strong place for scrutiny by potential investors, it isn’t surprising that the CFO role stands out as the most commonly utilised of all interim leaders.

Specialist interim CFOs – typically highly experienced in helping businesses prepare for investment – act as trusted but temporary advisors, guiding the financial strategy to align with the expectations of potential investors. Not only does this help a business be as ‘deal room ready’ as possible, the fact that an experienced interim CFO is on board acts as a positive signal to potential investors in its own right.

That’s because investors will know they’ll be inheriting a well organised financial situation which has been guided by an experienced hand (and, of course, one who will also be perfectly placed to provide a smooth handover to their permanent replacement).

Interim Leadership and Cultural Integration

The smooth assimilation of operations and cultures between investor and investee is essential for the sustained success of the newly funded business. And another area where interim leaders excel is in facilitating post-investment synergies between company and backer.

Interim leaders, with their experience and strategic insight, are experts in helping existing teams identify and smoothly navigate potential culture clashes and operational roadblocks that might otherwise hinder the post-investment integration process.

Interims: A Wise Investment

For founder-led mid-cap businesses eyeing investment, the deployment of interim talent can be a game-changer. They not only bring the expertise necessary to enhance a company’s value and attractiveness to investors, but also offer a level of flexibility and strategic insight that can be difficult to replicate with permanent staff alone.

As businesses navigate the complexities of pre-buyout preparation, the decision to engage interim expertise could very well be the difference between a good investment and a great one.

New Street Consulting Group is the UK’s number one interim service provider[1] , and has recently invested in a new Academy to tackle the shortage of Interim Management specialists in recruitment. For more information contact its team of consultants here.

 

Notes to editors
NSCG is a people advisory business that helps organisations find, assess, build, and accelerate teams and leaders who are as good in practice as they are on paper.

The business does this through services which can be accessed individually or as an integrated service, from interim management and executive search through to talent intelligence, leadership assessment and development.

NSCG can tailor solutions to any c-suite challenge with solutions such as finding great leaders, developing strong talent pipelines and building high-performing, flexible teams with all the right skills.

 

[1] https://iim.org.uk/service-providers/