WINTER 10
Not just grey suits
Right: Andy Foster of Lloyds Banking Group
worked. “You have to ask yourself whether the restructuring has delivered what it was supposed to,” he says. There is also the question of whether banks like being long-term owners of businesses in this way. Forshaw and Jenkins both say they don’t. “The banks just aren’t set up to manage businesses that are underperforming,” says Forshaw. “We have 20 people at Endless who are here to do that day in, day out. We can afford to put people into business full time. The banks aren’t set up to do that.” However John Swarbrick at LDC in Leeds is less sure. Banks may have been unwilling owners in the past, he says, but they are getting around to it now. “Running a business requires a different mindset,” he says, “but it is one the banks are determined to show they can adopt.” One factor that could have a big influence is the result of the 2010 general election. After all, that £1bn in potential tax payments the HMRC has set aside amounts to £1bn lost to the exchequer. An incoming government, of whatever colour, might choose to show it is serious about reducing public debt by reverting to the normal tough line on tax, and that might send more businesses into the arms of turnaround people. “I would say it would be good if some businesses were allowed to fail,” says Jones. “That would allow new opportunities to set in.” New opportunities for new funds, too. For while in recent years Endless has had the turnaround market in the north pretty much to itself, two new funds – Eternitas and NorthEdge capital – have now sprung up offering something similar. The latter is run by, among others, two former LDC directors. Battle lines look set to be drawn next year.
INTERVIEW
For the first six months after the Lehman Brothers collapse, the banks were under-resourced and incapable of doing anything
Below: Martin Jenkins, corporate finance partner at Deloitte
41
Endless may be losing its uniqueness as a turnaround fund as the idea catches on, but in one respect it certainly stands out from the usually grey-suited world of private equity: a third of its 22-strong team are women. Among them are investment executive Lucia Villamor, who joined a year ago after qualifying at Deloitte, and Indra Valeinis, who joined three years ago after a stint in industry. “I think we are the only females in private equity, at least in the regions,” says Villamor. She thinks part of the reason for the relatively high proportion of women is Endless’s youth. Older, more conventional private equity organisations, she says, do not tend to recruit at graduate level, wanting more senior people, who tend to be men – although that is changing. Both say that a female perspective lends a more balanced approach to a deal. Villamor worked on the Vasanta deal, while Valeinis was project manager for the last fundraising. “We have soft skills that not all men have,” says Villamor. “We approach conflict in a different way. “You have to establish a reputation or a presence, whether you’re male or female,” says Valeinis. “When your clients get over that initial surprise, as long as you engender respect, that’s the battle won. You can’t overcompensate. You don’t have to be anything you’re not. “People would be able to tell if you were, in our environment,” Villamor adds. They both think working for a relatively small organisation like Endless gives them more all-round opportunities than they would have in a large accountancy firm or in industry. Opportunities include marketing a new brand, for example, or relaunching the Endless website. “I’m as hands-on here as I would be when I was in industry,” says Valeinis. “What I do is not on the remit of any chartered accountant.”
BUSINESS QUARTER |WINTER 10