Diagnose the true severity of a distressed situation using a rapid business review and stakeholder mapping exercise.
Leadership & Management
Corporate Turnaround Management in Distressed Businesses
Prepares leaders to stabilise, restructure and rebuild distressed businesses, covering cash triage, stakeholder negotiation, restructuring routes and rebuilding culture after crisis.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Distressed businesses face compressed timelines: cash can run out in weeks rather than quarters, and directors carry personal duties once insolvency becomes likely, so turnaround leadership differs sharply from ordinary change management. This course covers stakeholder mapping across lenders, creditors, shareholders and employees, the 13-week cash flow forecast as the central management and negotiation tool, options ranging from informal standstill agreements to formal restructuring plans and administration, cost-out and working-capital levers, and rebuilding trust and culture once the business stabilises. Teaching uses a simulated distressed-business case running across the course, live cash flow modelling exercises and mock creditor negotiation role plays. Participants leave able to lead the first hundred days of a turnaround, from diagnosis through stabilisation to a credible recovery plan that stakeholders will support.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Build and maintain a 13-week cash flow forecast as the primary management and negotiation tool during a crisis.
Distinguish informal standstill agreements from formal restructuring plans, company voluntary arrangements and administration.
Negotiate with secured and unsecured creditors to secure short-term breathing space without triggering default.
Identify and sequence cost-out and working-capital measures that preserve the core value of the business.
Recognise director duties that shift once a company approaches insolvency and act to reduce personal exposure.
Rebuild employee trust, customer confidence and organisational culture once the immediate crisis has stabilised.
Who Should Attend
Chief executives and finance directors appointed to lead a distressed or underperforming business.
Turnaround and restructuring advisers supporting management teams through a crisis.
Private equity operating partners overseeing a portfolio company in difficulty.
Non-executive directors joining the board of a company facing going-concern risk.
Senior managers promoted into leadership during a company voluntary arrangement or restructuring.
Lenders' relationship managers assessing management capability during a workout.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Diagnosing the Distressed Business
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Rapid Assessment and Stakeholder Mapping
- Conduct a rapid business review covering cash position, order book, key contracts and management capability within days of appointment.
- Map lenders, major creditors, landlords, shareholders and key customers by influence and urgency of claim.
- Identify which contracts and relationships are critical to preserving trading value and which can be renegotiated or exited.
- Assess management team capability and decide which roles need immediate reinforcement or replacement.
Session 2Building the 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast
- Construct a rolling 13-week direct cash flow forecast distinguishing committed from discretionary payments.
- Identify the minimum cash headroom required to keep trading and the date a shortfall would occur without action.
- Use variance analysis between forecast and actual cash flow to maintain lender and stakeholder credibility.
- Prioritise supplier and payroll payments within legal and contractual constraints during a cash-constrained period.
02Stabilising the Business
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Stakeholder Negotiation Under Pressure
- Negotiate a standstill agreement with secured lenders to prevent enforcement while a recovery plan is developed.
- Manage supplier and landlord relationships to secure extended terms without losing critical trading support.
- Communicate credibly with employees and works councils during a period of uncertainty about jobs and pay.
- Coordinate messaging to customers and key accounts to prevent loss of revenue during visible distress.
Session 2Cost and Working Capital Levers
- Sequence cost-reduction measures to protect revenue-generating capability while cutting non-essential spend.
- Improve working capital through renegotiated payment terms, inventory reduction and receivables collection.
- Distinguish quick cash-releasing actions from structural cost changes that take longer to deliver savings.
- Assess the trading and reputational risk of each cost or cash measure before implementation.
03Restructuring Options and Governance
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Choosing a Restructuring Route
- Compare informal workout, company voluntary arrangement, restructuring plan and administration as recovery routes.
- Assess when a pre-pack administration may preserve more value than a prolonged formal insolvency process.
- Evaluate the impact of each restructuring route on employees, pension schemes and continuing trade relationships.
- Work with insolvency practitioners and legal advisers to select the route matching the severity of distress.
Session 2Director Duties and Governance in Distress
- Recognise the point at which director duties shift from shareholders towards creditors as insolvency approaches.
- Document board decisions and rationale to demonstrate reasonable steps taken to minimise creditor loss.
- Establish a restructuring or crisis committee with clear authority to act at the pace distress requires.
- Manage conflicts of interest when directors also hold equity or personal guarantees tied to the business.
04Recovery and Rebuilding
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Building a Credible Recovery Plan
- Draft a recovery plan setting out revised strategy, cost base and financing structure for stakeholder approval.
- Set milestones and governance checkpoints that let lenders track delivery against the recovery plan.
- Rebuild a credible medium-term financial model once short-term survival is secured.
- Present the recovery plan persuasively to a creditor committee or lender group seeking continued support.
Session 2Rebuilding Culture After Crisis
- Rebuild employee trust and morale once immediate survival actions have stabilised the business.
- Address the leadership credibility gap that often follows redundancies and cost cuts made during distress.
- Reset performance management and incentive structures to reflect the business's new strategic priorities.
- Capture lessons from the turnaround into governance and early-warning practices that reduce future distress risk.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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