When the UK business of Highwood Consultants sought to address a decline in trade, it brought in advisors from Collinson Grant for support. The consultants implemented a recovery plan which helped to stabilise the firm, and prepare it for future growth.  

Founded in 1995, Highwood Consultants is a Cheshire-based firm which manufactures synthetic timber products. Its original process, first developed 30 years ago, uses recycled plastics, and paved the way for recycled timber replacement products across the UK. The products are made in its factory in Runcorn, and used to replace timber, composites and other recycled plastics, which are used in many outdoor applications, including canopies, composite doors, fencing and gates, and outdoor furniture.

However, despite its innovative legacy, Highwood’s UK business was struggling to grow. When revenue began to fall, it became clear that changes were needed at a management team level – but the firm’s shareholders were unsure where to begin. That is where professionals from consulting firm Collinson Grant came into play.

According to a release on Collinson Grant’s website, the firm was engaged to “investigate the business performance, advise the shareholders and implement the actions that presented the best value for them.”

The professionals quickly set about analysing data from 2008 to 2022 on its financial performance, customers, products, and volumes. Collinson Grant stated this data revealed that despite the business “maintaining revenue over several years”, it was “regularly losing large customers and the revenue should have been at least four times its current level”.

To weigh up the course of action needed to set this right, Collinson Grant conducted interviews with employees, suppliers, and existing and old clients. This process ultimately found that “customers generally liked the product but were regularly let down by the business”. As a result, old customers had been switching to competitors or changed to a different product – while many existing customers were actively looking for replacements.

With suppliers increasing prices creating a challenging environment, Highwood needed to adapt quickly. To that end, Collinson Grant implemented an immediate recovery plan to stabilise the business.

The plan included “improving relationships with customers and suppliers, approaching old customers to win them back, controlling costs, improving employee engagement and stabilising and supporting the management team”. All together, Collinson Grant asserted via its release that these actions “prevented the business from closing, allowing time to develop a plan for growth.”

Building on this, Collinson Grant undertook further work to understand competitors and opportunities for growth. This resulted in a targeted product offering that was easier to sell and created significant growth prospects.

At the same time, Collinson Grant developed a detailed five-year business plan to transform the business from loss-making to profit with the creation of significant shareholder value – allowing the shareholders to evaluate immediate business sales options versus continued investment. With Collinson Grant supporting on this evaluation, the shareholders decided to reinvest into the business and to hire a managing director.

Collinson Grant managed the recruitment processes, and the ultimate result was the appointment of a new managing director to the client’s satisfaction. Overall, the firm concluded that its business turnaround efforts returned Highwood to “a path of profitable growth, presenting its shareholders exceptional value.”