One business owner had stacked so many loans that his monthly repayments hit £35,000. He was profitable. He was thinking about selling up because the debt had become unbearable. Mark Barrie's team reviewed his position, went to market and consolidated everything into a single facility. Monthly repayments dropped to under £10,000. He took the business off the market. That story sits at the heart of this episode.
In this episode of Fresh Perspectives, Rob Brown talks with Mark Barrie, Head of Debt Advisory at Azets, about what financial headroom actually means in practice, how to tell if yours is reducing and what the first steps look like for a business that wants to get ahead of its funding position before it becomes a problem. Mark brings 20 years of banking experience alongside his work at Azets and has a direct, practical view of where businesses go wrong and what good looks like.
Mark and Rob cover the warning signs that a business should review its funding, why the cash flow forecast is the most important document most businesses are not producing properly, what the risks of leaving refinancing too late actually are and what good financial headroom looks like in the current environment. The Fresh Take lands simply: build a cash flow forecast. It sounds basic. Most businesses still are not doing it properly.
Connect with Mark Barrie on LinkedIn.
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Fresh Perspectives is the business podcast from Azets where advisers, experts and leaders share fresh thinking to help you move forward with confidence.
Each episode explores real-world challenges and opportunities for business owners and entrepreneurs, from finance and growth to leadership and technology.
Formerly Bang The Drum, the show continues Azets’ commitment to sharing practical advice, new ideas and inspiring stories from across the business community.
This podcast has featured at #1 in the Apple Podcast charts for Management podcasts and #19 in the Apple Podcasts charts for Business podcasts.
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Find more about Azets at www.azets.com.
Contact us at podcast@azets.co.uk.
