Lunch Money

Firing up manufacturing in Australia – one of the great challenges of 2020

What does it take to be a successful Australian manufacturer in 2020? 

This Friday we put the question to Todd Alder, CEO of Orbital UAV (ASX: OEC) – the Australian world-leading designer and manufacturer of engines for tactical drones. Todd was joined by Jason Skinner, Managing Director of corporate advisors JP Equity. Jason has been acting as lead manager and corporate advisor on several interesting capital-raising and IPOs in the tech and mining space this year. 

2020 has alerted Australians to two strategic challenges – a depleted manufacturing sector, and growing challenges for our regional defence as relations between our biggest trading partners become fractious.

Managing C-Suite Talent in Special Situations

How do you build a team in the face of adversity - deciding who stays, who gets sidelined and how to find and make the right draft picks? Join host Nick Samios and special guests Deanne Tindale (CEO, DreamVast Executive Search) and Bryan Hughes (Executive Chairman, Pitcher Partners) as they discuss managing executive talent in special situations companies.

Rain-making in the new world

How do we build trust and “make it rain” when the stakes are high, but face-to-face meetings are not an option? Join host Nick Samios along with special guests David Kenney (Partner, Hall Chadwick) and Adam Benson (Managing Director, Recognition PR) as they discuss how to create, deliver and communicate value in professional services in the Covid era.

Surviving lockdown 2.0 & powering recovery

This week, on Lunch Money host Nick Samios is joined by BDO Partner Nicholas Martin, along with Managing Partner at William James Law, Brendan Wyhoon. Special guests discuss surviving lockdown 2.0, powering recovery and the mountain of deferred loans continue.

Government, the banks and COVID-19 – a half-time analysis

It’s time for some Covid-19 “half-time analysis”. Has the collective response of our governments and the banks to Covid got the structure right – or have they dropped the ball? Should the government intervene in business more, or should they just put the whistle away and let business be business? This week, host Nick Samios is joined by David Gandolfo (CEO, CAFBA) and Scott Langdon (Partner, KordaMentha) to discuss what has happened so far and what needs to be addressed in the "second-half".

Parachuting into a corporate maelstrom

Business restructures and turnarounds require the corporate advisor to lead disparate groups of stakeholders with competing interests to the singular objective of saving the business – in these times of unprecedented levels of uncertainty. Senior management, staff, bankers, suppliers, regulators and more all need to “buy-in” for the turnaround project to succeed. Lunch Money this week explores unique leadership challenges with insights from host Nick Samios & special guest panellists Daniel Woodhouse (Managing Director, FTI Consulting) and Bernard Desmidt (leadership development facilitator & author).

Resilience: staying strong when things don’t go to plan

2020 has asked of us to fight one battle after another – how do we build the resilience necessary to maintain enthusiasm and to win out in the end? How do we garner “resilience” so we can lead ourselves and others in times of uncertainty and adversity? This week, the focus is on the spate of resilience in the current environment with host Nick Samios and special guests Arabella Macpherson (Director, Resonate Communications) and Ian Hyman (CEO, Hyman's Valuers & Auctioneers).

The "Retail Apocalypse" and the cost of capital

The role of private equity in the retail sector is again under the spotlight following another retail giant collapse last week. What are the lessons for investors, lenders and suppliers to the retail sector – and beyond? This week, the focus is on the spate of private equity backed retail collapses with host Nick Samios and guest field specialists - Sule Arnautovic (Partner, Jirsch Sutherland) and Gary Blom (Director, Main Street Capital)

Pivoting business models and forecasting into the unknown

How can a business see around corners when it sets about the task of forecasting? Challenging indeed as we launch into a new financial year of uncertainty. And how can a business successfully pivot - changing its business model and strategy in the face of dramatically shifting buyer behaviours and economic conditions? This week, the focus is on forecasting/seeing around corners and the business pivot with host Nick Samios and our guest field specialists Michael Ford (Founder & CEO, Castaway Forecasting) and Jamie Holroyd (Managing Director, Stratosfear).

Staying solvent and credit worthy

Lunch Money is where work-outs, special situations and commercial finance specialists give us their take on the weeks’ news. The focus this week is on preparing for the next phase of the “Covid Recession”. In September, JobKeeper ends, and deferred loan repayments become due again. At the same time, business owners will no longer be quarantined from the threats of insolvent trading and business wind-up through statutory demands. There will be economic stimulus by governments at all levels – but business owners will need to keep the financial support of their bankers and trade suppliers if they are going to go beyond survival and make the most of the opportunities that arise. Our panel this week features "Safe Harbour" specialist Ginette Muller (Partner, Hall Chadwick), together with restructuring lawyer Hector West (Hall & Wilcox). We will ask Ginette and Hector what measures business owners can take to preserve their business fire power and gain the trust of their bankers and suppliers in order to survive the long hall and ensure a return to prosperity.