Critical Situations
Crisis & Restructuring
Crisis & Restructuring
Take control of the crisis while your board still has choices.
When cash is running out, a major customer has gone or the management can no longer hold the business together, CE Interim Management Group puts an experienced interim executive in charge, so your board can still choose the best way forward.
A proven, mandate-matched executive ready to start within 72 hours of the completed mandate brief.
A recent CE Interim result
60 days
to restored operating control, with turnaround, sale and closure options prepared for the board
Interim CEO, Austrian group in the Czech Republic
Full legal and operational authority
Who we work with
Owners and family shareholders
The business is under threat and the next decision is yours.
Private equity partners
A portfolio company is missing its plan or heading for a covenant breach.
Boards and Group CEOs
A subsidiary is in crisis, and the board must decide whether to restructure, sell or close it.
CFOs
Cash is tight and the forecast can no longer be trusted.
HR leaders
Job changes and cuts must be handled lawfully and fairly.
Is this your situation?
When the business itself is at risk
A crisis is not always announced by an empty bank account. Often the business is still selling and producing, but nobody agrees on what is happening or what must happen next.
In short
What is crisis and restructuring interim management?
Turnaround restores control of operations. Crisis and restructuring leadership protects the company’s future while there is still time to choose it.
Crisis and restructuring interim management puts an experienced interim executive in charge when a company’s survival, continuity or the confidence of its banks, owners or customers is seriously at risk: for example, when cash is running out, a major customer has gone, or the management can no longer hold the business together. The executive takes control of cash, keeps the people the business depends on informed and on side, and works out which options are realistic, from recovery and refinancing to a sale, a restructuring or a closure. Your board makes the decision, and the executive carries it out. Restructuring does not have to mean insolvency: it can mean a new organisation, lower costs, fewer sites or new financing. Formal legal steps, such as an insolvency filing, are decided by your board, advised by its lawyers; if the interim executive is appointed to the board, they share that duty.
Bohuslav Lipovsky
CEO, CE Interim Management Group
A crisis usually hits several areas at once, and the current team has neither the time nor the authority to deal with all of it. Companies bring in interim crisis leadership for one of two reasons:
Reason one
When a crisis breaks
Cash runs short, a major customer or bank pulls back, or the managing director leaves at the worst moment. Someone has to take control within days.
Reason two
When the business must be restructured
The business costs more to run than it earns, and sites, costs or the organisation must change. There may already be a plan, but no one with the authority to carry it out.
The typical signs that pressure is building:
Cash is running short.
Payments are delayed, the overdraft is close to its limit and every week there is less cash left.
A major source of income has gone.
A key customer, market or product has been lost, and the business is now too big or too costly for what is left.
Something critical has failed.
A key supplier stops delivering, a site or safety problem halts work, or a compliance issue puts the business at risk.
Management has lost control.
The managing director has gone, the owners disagree, or the figures can no longer be trusted.
What happens while you wait
Pressure builds
Customers, suppliers and staff lose confidence
Lenders and owners intervene
Options narrow
Value is lost
The decision is made for you
Every week without control and reliable figures removes an option.
When does a business crisis need an interim manager?
Ask yourself these six questions:
- Is it unclear how many weeks of cash are left?
- Has a key customer, lender, supplier or manager gone, or is one about to leave?
- Are problems in sales, operations and finance hitting at the same time?
- Is the board choosing between recovery, restructuring, a sale or a closure?
- Is there a plan, but no one with the authority to carry it out?
- Would a permanent appointment arrive too late to help?
Three or more “yes” answers usually mean your current team cannot protect the business and its options in time. And if cash could run out within weeks, a bank is threatening to call in its loans, or the directors may have a legal duty to file for insolvency, do not wait: your board should take legal advice now.
Recognise your situation? Find out what kind of help it needs.
What we have learned
Keep viable options open
The most expensive crisis decision is the one made too late.
In a crisis, every week without reliable figures and the support of banks, owners and suppliers quietly removes an option. Refinancing becomes harder, buyers lose interest and some restructuring procedures are only available before a company becomes insolvent.
So the interim executive’s first job is not to promise a recovery. It is to keep every realistic option open long enough for the board to choose the best one, based on figures it can trust.
Recover
Once control is back, the business can still pay its way. The executive stabilises it, and an operational turnaround may follow.
Restructure
The business survives in a different shape: a new organisation, lower costs, fewer sites or new financing. Some steps need employee consultation or formal approval.
Sell
A new owner is the best future. The executive keeps the business running and the figures reliable while the owners and their advisers run the sale.
Close in an orderly way
Continuing is no longer viable. The executive protects employees, customers and value through a controlled exit, while lawyers handle the formal steps.
Not every company can be saved. The aim is to make the right decision in time, and carry it out properly. Sometimes two options, such as a sale and a closure, are prepared side by side until the board decides.
Mandate
Put one executive in charge of the crisis
A crisis stalls when everyone negotiates and nobody is in control.
Before anyone starts, we agree with you what the executive decides, what stays with you and what CE Interim does.
What the interim executive leads
- Day-to-day control of cash
- Approval of payments within agreed limits
- Talks with lenders, owners, staff, customers and suppliers
- Keeping the business running and key customers on board while options are prepared
- Preparing each realistic option for the board
- Carrying out the board’s decision
What stays with you
- The final decision on which option to take
- Legal and insolvency decisions, taken with your lawyers
- Decisions on new money or ownership
What CE Interim does
- Defines the scope and authority with you, including any statutory appointment
- Introduces one or two executives matched to your situation
- Reviews progress with you through a Partner
- Supports you when issues need escalating
- Plans and supports the handover or exit
We start with the problem, not the job title.
When banks and creditors are driving events.
When cash control and reporting are the gap.
When the business needs a new leader at the top.
When the crisis sits in operations or supply.
When job cuts and consultation are at the centre.
The first weeks
From the first days to a clear decision
There is no standard crisis timetable. Cash, banks and legal deadlines set the pace.
Every crisis is different. A subsidiary three weeks from running out of cash needs different first steps from a group whose largest customer has just left. The priorities below stay the same; the timing depends on your situation and on local legal deadlines.
This is a typical pattern, not a promise. Urgent steps, such as protecting cash, people or safety, start on day one whatever the stage. Restructuring assignments often run six to twelve months in total, and legal deadlines or lender requirements can force faster decisions.
First days
Establish control and the facts
The executive takes charge and checks how much cash there is, what must be paid and who can decide what. Urgent legal questions go straight to your lawyers.
First two weeks
Know how long the cash will last
A week-by-week cash forecast, usually for the next 13 weeks, tight control of payments, and one consistent message to lenders, owners, customers, suppliers and staff.
Weeks 3 to 6
Decide the way forward
Each realistic option is tested against the cash forecast, and the board decides. Short-term agreements with banks and suppliers keep the business running in the meantime.
Weeks 6 to 12 and beyond
Carry out the decision and hand over
Refinancing, preparing a sale, cutting costs and capacity, a formal restructuring or an orderly closure. The cash forecast is updated every week until permanent management or a buyer takes over.
Track record
Crisis situations we handle
Three examples, each a different kind of crisis: a regulated plant, leadership and a staff exodus.
Each result belongs to its own assignment and is not a promise for every client.
Japan to United States
USA: a medical device plant back under control
4 days
to an Interim CEO in charge
Situation: The FDA-regulated medical device plant of a Japanese group, with cleanroom production, was in crisis, with output, quality and the company’s reputation under pressure and a new product launch due.
What we did: An Interim CEO took over within four days, managed PR and the reputational damage, stabilised the plant and restored output and quality checks.
Result: The plant stabilised and the new product launch was achieved within six months.
Austria to Czech Republic
Czech Republic: an Interim CEO keeps every option open
60 days
to restored operating control
Situation: The Czech subsidiary of an Austrian group faced persistent losses, unreliable forecasts and a chronic leadership gap.
What we did: An Interim CEO, given full legal and operational authority, led the planning for a turnaround, a sale or a closure.
Result: Operational control restored within 60 days, with turnaround, sale and closure options prepared for the board to decide.
Netherlands to Poland
Poland: an FMCG business kept running after 70% of staff left
+14%
sales volume in the second month
Situation: The Polish unit of a Dutch-headquartered FMCG group lost 70% of its employees. The business was paralysed, customers panicked, and in the middle of summer a permanent search could not cover the near-term gap.
What we did: An Interim Country Manager took charge within 16 days, calmed key customers, rebuilt the sales team and kept daily operations running.
Result: Sales stabilised, volumes rose 14% in the second month, and the business was handed over to a permanent successor after three months.
More CE Interim crisis mandates
Facing something similar? Speak to a Partner who has seen it before.
Governance
One person speaks for the company
In a crisis, mixed messages cost credibility, and credibility buys time.
Across cultures
One executive, at home in both cultures
The interim executive works with your headquarters in its language and business culture, and leads the local team, banks and authorities in theirs. Group decisions become clear local action, and local problems reach you early, in terms your board recognises.
In a cross-border crisis, the owners, the lenders and the business often sit in different countries, each with its own rules, deadlines and expectations. Figures can be shared across borders, but authority cannot: who may sign, how employees must be consulted and which procedures apply all differ by country, so the executive’s authority is set up locally before the start.
One set of figures. One person speaking for the company. One executive accountable.
Our crisis assignments include a Japanese group’s medical device plant in the United States, a Dutch group’s FMCG business in Poland and an Austrian group’s subsidiary in the Czech Republic.
The interim executive becomes the single point of contact for banks, credit insurers, tax authorities, key customers and critical suppliers, working closely with your legal and restructuring advisers. They act for the company as a whole, not for management or for the lenders.
Your board and owners
Decide which option to take, and take the legal decisions
CE Interim Partner
Reviews progress with you; supports, never takes over
Interim executive
Speaks for the company, in your language and the site’s
You keep the decisions. The executive keeps the figures reliable and every conversation consistent.
Who does what in a restructuring
- Your board and owners decide which option to take, and take the legal decisions
- Legal advisers handle formal procedures and filings
- Restructuring advisers assess the business and prepare independent reviews
- The interim executive controls cash, leads the talks and carries out the decision. They do not have the powers of a court-appointed administrator or liquidator
What success looks like
How you know the crisis is under control
Calm is not the goal. A clear decision the business can afford is.
Measure against where you started
Look for results that hold, week after week:
- A cash forecast the board and lenders trust
- Agreements that give the business time
- Key customers, suppliers and staff staying with the business
- Decisions made on time, on verified figures
- The board’s decision being carried out
- A written record of every major decision and why it was made
Hand over or close cleanly
The assignment ends when:
- Permanent leadership is in place, or the agreed exit is complete
- Lenders and owners have one reliable source of figures
- Every open commitment has a named owner
- Remaining risks are documented and understood
Want to know what a good outcome could look like for your business?
Why CE Interim
Why CE Interim in a crisis?
An executive who has been here before, with the authority to act and a Partner beside you.
CE Interim Management Group provides cross-border executive leadership for critical business transformations. As a member of the Valtus Alliance, we work with partner firms internationally.
10+
years on the market
50+
countries of intervention
95%
cross-border mandates
1
unified standard of excellence
Who we appoint
Comparable responsibility matters more than an impressive title.
- Has run a whole business or subsidiary of similar size, reporting to a board, owner or investor
- Has led in your sector, so they understand its economics, customers and risks
- Has led a comparable crisis or restructuring before
- Has dealt directly with lenders, owners, staff and advisers under pressure
- Works in your head office’s language and business culture, and leads the local team in theirs
- Brings more seniority and judgement than the role would normally need, so they can lead when difficult decisions cannot wait
Which kind of help fits your situation?
Turnaround & Operational Transformation
Operations are losing control of delivery, quality or cost, but the company itself is not yet at risk.
This page
Crisis & Restructuring
The company’s survival or continuity is at risk, often with problems in several areas at once. A turnaround can be one part of the response.
Business & Factory Closure
The exit has been decided and needs to be carried out safely and responsibly.
If the crisis started with an acquisition or a separation, see Post-Merger Integration & Carve-Out.
Relevant industries
Manufacturing
Automotive
FMCG & Retail
Private Equity & M&A
How it works
What happens when you get in touch
You do not need a restructuring plan to call us. Tell us what is happening, what is at risk and which decisions are waiting. A Partner will help you judge whether interim leadership is the right answer.
Talk to a Partner
A confidential conversation about what is happening and what is at risk. No commitment.
Meet the right executive
We introduce one or two carefully matched executives, not a long list of CVs. You interview them and decide.
They take charge
The executive takes control and speaks for the company, with a CE Interim Partner involved until handover.
Ready when you are. The first conversation is confidential.
Questions
Questions clients ask before a crisis mandate
How quickly can an interim executive start, and what does it cost?
We introduce a proven, mandate-matched executive ready to start within 72 hours of the completed mandate brief. The mandate brief is complete once we have agreed with you what the role must achieve and the authority it needs. Interim executives work on a flat daily rate, agreed before the start; the total depends on the scope and the number of days worked. The executive is engaged through CE Interim, not employed by you.
Does a crisis have to involve lenders or insolvency?
No. Many crises start elsewhere: the managing director leaves, the owners disagree, a key supplier fails, a safety or compliance problem escalates, or the business simply costs more to run than it earns. Lenders and insolvency rules matter when cash is short, but that is only one kind of crisis.
Who appoints the interim executive, and how do they work with our lenders?
The board or owners appoint the executive, sometimes at the lenders' request, and agree the scope with CE Interim. The executive reports to the board or owners and becomes the single, consistent point of contact for lenders, while representing the interests of the company.
Can the interim executive be appointed as a board member or managing director?
Often, but not always. Some assignments work through delegated authority; others need a statutory appointment, which lenders frequently expect. A statutory appointment brings the role's personal legal duties. The appointment, authority and insurance cover are agreed with you and your legal advisers before the start.
Who decides whether to file for insolvency or a restructuring procedure?
Your board does, advised by licensed local lawyers. If the interim executive is appointed to the board, they share that responsibility. In most European countries, directors face personal duties and short deadlines once a company cannot pay its debts, or its debts exceed its assets. The rules differ by country. We do not give legal advice. We make sure your board has reliable figures early enough to act on its lawyers' advice.
How is this different from a restructuring adviser or an insolvency practitioner?
Advisers usually assess and recommend, and some also help implement. Insolvency practitioners run formal procedures. The interim executive leads the company day to day, with clear authority, and carries out what is decided. The roles work together, and lenders often expect all of them.
What happens to our current management team?
Many managers stay in their roles. The executive leads alongside them, assesses the team fairly and recommends changes to the board. Works councils and staff are informed and consulted as local law requires.
Will appointing a crisis executive alarm our lenders or customers?
It makes the pressure visible. But it also gives lenders and customers a named executive, a clear scope and regular reporting. That usually builds confidence. What to tell banks, customers, suppliers and staff is planned before the appointment is announced.
Act while the choice is still yours.
If the business is under pressure and the clock is running, a confidential conversation with a CE Interim Partner will show which options are still open and who can protect them.
Bohuslav Lipovsky
CEO, CE Interim Management Group
Book a 20-minute call to speak with Bohuslav directly.
Ready to talk? The first conversation is confidential and free of commitment.
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