Heather Bamforth, Director, Opus Business Advisory
Too often, businesses enter formal restructuring or insolvency processes not because solutions don’t exist, but because the right advice arrives too late. By the time many owner-managers seek help, the pressure has already crystallised into a crisis. Cash has tightened, creditors are restless, lenders are nervous, and leadership teams are exhausted. At that stage, the range of options has narrowed, not necessarily because the business is beyond saving, but because time and confidence have been eroded. But as Heather Bamforth, Director – Advisory & Turnaround, Opus Business Advisory Group, discusses, it doesn’t have to be that way.
There is a persistent misconception that restructuring advice is synonymous with insolvency. In reality, the earlier a business seeks advisory support, the more pathways remain open. Early intervention is not about signalling failure but inherently about protecting value, extending runway and creating the space to make informed, strategic decisions rather than reactive ones.
Why businesses really fail
When businesses encounter distress, the narrative often centres on cost bases or market conditions. But failure rarely stems from a single structural flaw. More often, it is a combination of cash flow pressure, poor financial visibility, and overstretched leadership bandwidth.
Cash flow is the lifeblood of any organisation. Even profitable businesses can quickly find themselves under strain if working capital is misaligned, debtor days creep up, or unexpected liabilities emerge. Without accurate, real-time visibility, leadership teams are effectively flying blind.
At the same time, owner-managers are frequently carrying the emotional weight of the business alone. When pressure builds gradually, it becomes normalised. Decisions are delayed, difficult conversations are avoided, and optimism persists, sometimes long after the data suggests it should be challenged. This is human nature rather than a reflection of poor leadership, but is precisely why early, independent advisory input is so valuable.
Extending the runway
One of the most important concepts in turnaround situations is “extending the runway”. When time is short, options tend to contract. But when time is preserved, options multiply. Extending the runway may involve stabilising cash flow, renegotiating short-term obligations, revisiting funding structures or tightening operational controls. Sometimes it means implementing robust forecasting processes to replace uncertainty with clarity. The goal is to buy space to make decisions, rather than rush toward a single outcome.
With a runway in place, business owners can explore refinancing, operational restructuring, strategic investment or even a controlled sale process. Crucially, they can do so from a position of relative stability rather than distress. That shift alone can have a material impact on valuation, stakeholder confidence and long-term viability.
Separating emotion from fact
Businesses are deeply personal, and for many owner-managers, they represent years, sometimes decades, of sacrifice and identity, so when pressure mounts, emotion inevitably influences judgement. Fear of reputational damage can delay seeking advice. Concern for employees can prevent necessary cost actions. Optimism can overshadow financial reality.
Early advisory engagement provides an external lens. It introduces objectivity at a moment when clarity is most needed.
Separating emotion from fact does not mean removing humanity from the process. Quite the opposite, in fact; it allows decisions to be grounded in evidence while still recognising the personal stakes involved, and enables leaders to confront uncomfortable truths constructively rather than defensively.
Often, simply having a calm, experienced sounding board reduces anxiety and restores perspective, and that in itself can transform the quality of decision-making.
Moving away from reactive crisis management
In the UK market, there remains a cultural tendency to view restructuring through a reactive lens. Insolvency processes are seen as the primary tool for addressing distress, rather than one option among many. Formal insolvency frameworks are essential and play a vital role in certain circumstances, but they should not be the default starting point.
Advisory-led support, delivered before insolvency becomes unavoidable, builds trust with stakeholders. Lenders are more receptive to proactive engagement than last-minute disclosures; investors are more likely to support a credible recovery plan than a reactive plea for emergency funding; and suppliers are more patient when communication is transparent and early. When intervention happens sooner, relationships can be managed rather than managed around.
Retaining control and protecting value
Perhaps the most compelling argument for early intervention is control. Once a business enters a formal insolvency process, control inevitably shifts, and Directors’ powers are curtailed, with outcomes shaped by statutory frameworks and creditor priorities.
By contrast, early advisory engagement keeps control firmly with the owner-manager and allows them to explore multiple scenarios, stress-test assumptions, and weigh strategic alternatives before external constraints narrow the field. In many cases, insolvency can be avoided altogether and in others, a formal process may still be the most appropriate route, but entered in a planned, structured way that preserves value and mitigates disruption. The difference lies in choice.
A shift in mindset
The challenge is often down to timing rather than a lack of solutions. Seeking advice early should be seen as a strength, not an admission of weakness. It signals responsible stewardship and a commitment to protecting stakeholders, and acknowledges that complexity benefits from experience.
The role of an external advisor is not simply to manage the crisis, but to provide calm, practical and human advice at moments of uncertainty, often before those moments escalate. Early conversations are confidential, purely exploratory and very much focused on understanding rather than judgement.
When businesses act early, they extend their runway, retaining control, preserving relationships, and most importantly, creating better outcomes. In an environment where economic uncertainty remains a constant, that shift from reactive to proactive could make all the difference.