DAVID MOORE is a partner and head of the Liverpool office of Begbies Traynor, the UK’s largest and fastest-growing independent practice of corporate rescue and recovery specialists.
He trained with Ernst & Young, then joined Guy Huntington in partnership as Huntington Moore in 1992. In March, 2001, the practice became the Liverpool office of Begbies Traynor.
This was his working day:
6am: Wake up and lie in my bed in a semi-slumber, prior to the alarm actually sounding at 6.15am. Once I am up, I take my two dogs for a 40-minute walk and collect my newspaper. Then I make my breakfast and head for a shower. By 8am, I am on the road heading to my office on Old Hall Street in Liverpool city centre.
10am: I take an urgent call from a potential client who has received a visit from a bailiff; I arrange to meet him.
I have meetings with creditors this morning to discuss recent liquidations and administrations. The credit crunch is beginning to take its toll on many businesses in the city, including one of our recent clients, the Slaughterhouse pub.
At the Slaughterhouse, the company's trading simply had not reached the anticipated levels, and issues such as the introduction of the smoking ban had also hampered trading.
Despite marketing the business for 18 months, it was not possible to achieve a sale. It was, however, necessary for the existing shareholders to inject funds into the business in order to help facilitate a sale.
The latest attempt to sell the business fell through at the beginning of July and a decision was taken by the management that the company could no longer trade. It was, therefore, decided that the most appropriate course of action was to commence the procedure to put the company into creditors’ voluntary liquidation.
Noon: Today, lunch is at my desk as I have a lot of paperwork to get through. As a great deal of our work is referred to us by practising accountants or solicitors, the odd business lunch will creep into the working week, so I’m grateful for the extra hour I have today.
1pm: I have a number of clients visiting me this afternoon. I tend to ask them to come to me because visits to their premises inevitably result in many interruptions. Usually, clients are under stress and may be suffering from creditor pressure, and the last thing that is needed is somebody in a suit walking into the offices creating speculation among the workforce. If I do have to visit a client, particularly if an insolvency has already been announced, I tend to leave the car out of sight as it has been known that disgruntled employees, through frustration, will put the odd scratch on a vehicle. It is understandable that emotions run high.
3pm: I have a visit from a company dealing with South African jewellery looking for a rescue package.
Every day is different, in that all types of businesses can come through the door, ranging from wine bars to building contractors, to a shipping line which I dealt with a few years back.
In any week, I could see as many as eight different types of businesses who may be looking for a survival package, a liquidation or indeed an administration.
4pm: Meeting with John Fairbrother, a director here in Liverpool and other senior managers. Among other things we discuss work allocation and compliance issues.
6pm: I check that all urgent paperwork and emails have been seen to before making the 50- minute drive home.
7.30pm: I take the dogs for an evening walk.
9pm: Dinner followed by a couple of gin and tonics. Tomorrow is packed with meetings, as the credit crunch continues to take effect, so it’s an early night for me.
