Blog 30.04.18

Interview with Matt Dunham, R3 National Council Board Member

This month we sat with Matt Dunham, National Council Board Member for R3 to get a better understanding of the trade body and how insolvency practitioners work with security firms to comply with insurance and prevent any potential threat.

1. Tell us a bit more about your role with R3 and Dunham Dean Advisory.

R3 is the trade body for people working in insolvency which includes insolvency practitioners, lawyers and clients. 

It’s been in existence for about 30 years, and is a members’ representation body. We are there to represent the views of members to parliament but also to provide technical support and training.

I joined the NW Committee 15 years ago and was elected Regional Chairman for 3 years after which I joined National Council as a board member. My brief here is to promote the interests of the regions to the centre and vice versa on a range of issues including what professionals want and the support they need.

At Dunham Dean, I am an insolvency practitioner. But rather than just winding business up, I’ve spent most of my career trying to stop businesses going bust. That is how we try to make ourselves different for clients.

2. What is the main challenge of your role? 

The hard thing is to get people and businesses to take advice early. Everybody should know their business better than I do.  What I am is a situational expert. We understand what is possible and what is impossible when you run out of money.  The biggest challenge tends to be that businesses come to us too late. Once the decent into insolvency is in full motion, it is much more difficult to stop.  

3. What impact has the changing economy and Brexit had in relation to the Insolvency industry over the recent past? Both in terms of moving from a recession and beyond?

In my opinion, Brexit is very much a Politician’s news story. Businesses have factored Brexit into their plans; whether that be a hard or soft Brexit.

I see more uncertainty around technology. I was talking to a major retailer on Tuesday who have a good web offering. They’re seeing lots of opportunities. Historically, their core market was big retail units. They are now seeing a huge switch to pure internet based shopping. It’s that technological change which is going to increase. Businesses need to move with the times if they are to avoid insolvency.

My business is a core example of this. John and I can now run the practice from two laptops and two mobile phones. All of our business is done on the Cloud and we set it up as such so that we can use the technology to be efficient. This in turn frees up more of our time to spend face-to-face with clients. That’s where I see a huge change coming in the next two or three years.

4. How do practitioners work with security firms at the moment, and what would your advice be for this area?

If I have a property, I want to maintain it, or generate an income stream from and perhaps subsequently sell it. That’s as simple as my brief is. What I don’t want to have to do is send somebody out to do regular inspections, deal with trespassers or squatters onsite. That's where a trusted security firm pays dividends.

Security should be a cost-effective solution that complies with my insurance and takes away any potential threat. It is crucial to preserving an asset for the estate. But the workings of how it is done, I’m delighted to leave those with you. Security has never helped me to realise more into the estate. But bad security can ruin asset values. I want to work with someone that I can trust to get the job done.

We would like to thank Matt for his time and insight. To view more information on R3’s offering, visit www.r3.org.uk.