Proven working capital management in action
itsettled engages directly with businesses at any stage of their life cycle who need help. We work with mid-market and larger UK businesses — typically £10m plus, although we’re happy to talk to any business with a ledger in excess of £500k.
A selection of case studies
Overdue debt was reduced from £12m to £4m
Full finance function transformed ahead of £50m refinance
Case Study: Distribution sector
We were instructed directly by the Group CEO of a £160m turnover business where rapid growth had significantly outpaced the development of its finance function.
The £35m sales ledger was managed by just three credit controllers, with £12m of overdue and unresolved debit notes. With no reliable or detailed sales ledger reporting collections were managed solely from customer statements.
The business required urgent support to stabilise cashflow, improve control, and prepare for due diligence ahead of a £50m refinance.
We delivered a structured transformation programme across people, process, and systems. This resulted in a fully stabilised and scalable finance function, with strong credit control processes, improved working capital management, and clear accountability across the business.
Overdue debt was reduced from £1.5m+ to £121k
Invoice finance pre-payment from 80% to 90% in four months
Case Study: FMCG sector
A £45 million turnover, fourth-generation family-owned food manufacturing business had £12m bank debt, including £6 million on an invoice finance facility.
It also had a loss of £13m in its last filed accounts and a survival cash gap of nearly £2m was identified. The business also had £1.5m+ of overdue debt owed it to due to queries, and a lack of chasing, and its percentage on its invoice finance facility had been reduced to 80% from 90% after issues were discovered on the facility.
itsettled took over the collections and created collections policies and procedures to prevent re-occurrence. Alongside the work to transform the ageing profile of the debtor book in a short-time frame, staff changes were implemented including recruiting a new CFO.
DSO was reduced from 100 to 62 days
£1,558,000 debt reduction
Case Study: Recruitment Sector
We were asked by the Bank’s Invoice Finance Division to help a recruitment business and engage directly with the business to get things back on track.
On a £45m turnover for the group they had an £8m ledger and £5.5m funds in use.
The 90-day plus column was over £2.2m and the DSO had drifted up to 100 days.
Following our initial visit and review, the business did not immediate engage with us. The business was under-staffed regarding Credit and Collections, and the resource they did have was poor and underperforming.
After a significant Bad Debt and staff changes (which we had advised were necessary), the business realised they required help and we were engaged to provide that help.
DSO was reduced from 100 to 64 days
99% recovered in 12 weeks
fCase Study: Manufacturing Sector
We were asked by the potential Funder to help the business achieve funding as they had failed 2 new business surveys 6 months apart.
The 90-day-plus column was over £1.2 million, the total overdue debt was over £2 million, and the DSO had drifted up to over 100 days.
Following our initial visit and review the business engaged us to turnaround the ledger profile and get them funding ready.
The business was under-staffed regarding Credit and Collections and the resource they did have was not managed effectively, leaving them demotivated and not achieving the results required.
The business had more than 15,000 outstanding invoices and many queries that needed addressing, some going back several years.
DSO was reduced from 120+ to 68 days
£2,800,000 debt reduction
Case Study: Healthcare Recruitment sector
itsettled was asked by the potential new funder to improve the ledger profile and support Credit Sanctioning of the deal.
Their 120-day-plus column was over £1.5 million, the total overdue debt was over £3.3 million and the DSO had drifted up to over 105 days.
Following our initial visit and review the business engaged us to turnaround the ledger profile and get them ready for their new Funder.
The business was under-staffed regarding Credit and Collections and needed short-term Collections assistance whilst recruitment took place to make us redundant asap.
The business had more than 7,000 outstanding invoices and many queries that needed addressing, some going back several years.
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• Sourcing relevant candidates on LinkedIn.
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• Interviewing candidates.