David Brands

David Brands – IFT Accredited Member 

David is an IFT award winning and successful turnaround practitioner, in widely differing sectors such as energy, care homes, construction, manufacturing, engineering etc. Widely respected, and called upon by private equity houses, banks, accountants etc. to provide turnaround business support, interim executive leadership and NED guidance. 

David Brands has over 20 years of achievement and success running, improving and performing turnarounds in large corporations, individual SME manufacturing and service industry companies. He acts either as an advisor to the business management, owners and funders, or in a short term interim MD, CRO or other operational role. 

Initially this normally requires urgent handling of short term cash issues, detailed cash-flow forecasting, managing communications with all stakeholders, developing profitable growth plans, and their associated detailed business and action plans. Always results focused, David has extensive turnaround MD experience, commercial background, impressive credentials, manufacturing expertise and strong financial understanding. 

Initially joining GEC as an HV electrical design engineer, David left the (re-named) “Alstom” 17 years later as a Group Managing Director of several international units, to perform a venture capital backed £4M MBI, of a small niche automotive manufacturing business in August 2000. He further acquired his much larger competitor from administrators in 2006, restructured and combined the two businesses, and in 2008, successfully exited from this activity. 

Since 2009, he has been using this wealth of experience to help businesses large and small, to return loss making units to profitability, and help successful units deliver new growth. 

As an NED, provides the difficult twin roles of a) challenging the team's plans to ensure they are both achievable and stretching and b) giving guidance and mentoring the team.