Andrew can step into a variety of interim management roles.
In 2005 – 6, he acted as interim CEO of a company looking to raise $40 million for investment in projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thus earn carbon credits under the U.N.’s Kyoto protocol. Priority technologies were methane from landfill and PFCs from aluminium smelters. Target countries were China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand.
CEOs, CFOs and other senior management in banks and corporates will from time to time be faced with ad hoc projects lasting several months which require senior judgment but which are so demanding or time-consuming that they prevent management from fulfilling their normal role. Examples include negotiation of complex financings, purchase due diligence or filling in between permanent appointments. Andrew is able to play each of these roles:
- Andrew has led many negotiations of complex financings in a variety of jurisdictions and with quite different risk profiles. He therefore understands that different parties have different agendas, how to harmonise these agendas so as to sign a lasting agreement; and that there is a critical path with time constraints to doing so.
- He was instrumental in WestLB purchasing a significant stake in a Singapore – based aircraft lessor and led the necessary due diligence thereon.
- His time at WestLB involved addressing almost every aspect of managing a business. This included setting strategy, leading marketing and execution, significant staffing initiatives and establishing information flows.
Such interim management roles can offer users (i.e. banks and corporates) much more flexibility and cost saving when compared to employing either too many or too few permanent personnel. In Europe and the U.S., the interim management model is well established in that short term placements represent typically 30 – 40% of intermediaries’ (i.e. headhunters’) income. In Asia, the model is currently less well established but its attractions are fast becoming recognized.
