Ex-Rangers director re-appears at RSM Tenon

A TURNAROUND SPECIALIST who recently sat on the board of Rangers Football Club has been drafted in to help cut costs at RSM Tenon.

According to an email seen by Accountancy Age from RSM Tenon CEO Chris Merry to his directors, Donald Muir will set up and manage a ‘programme management office' to coordinate and monitor service lines headcount reductions and efficiency savings.

Muir's tenure as a Rangers director made the headlines, as he was brought into Rangers on behalf of its lenders Lloyds. He also served as a turnaround specialist at Northern Rock and with two NHS trusts.

In his email, Merry said that efficiency savings should not affect client service: "...It means making all of our lives easier because we remove barriers to success..."

Merry said that a recruitment freeze had been put in place at the firm, with no recruitment authorised until 30 June. However, the freeze does not affect signed off recruitment, or its graduate/trainee programme.

"I am determined that these measures will result in a swift and permanent return to profitability ad a platform for growth," Merry added.

In an interview with the FT in 2008, Muir said that understanding the key issues at a troubled business was more important than the minutiae: "I distil everything down to half a dozen points and use my experience to maximum effect."

The firm has also made six appointments to its client-facing financial management team. Nick Courtney; Andy McGowan; Melissa McCalla; Alistair McQuiston; Lorraine Montgomery; and Nigel Ranger have joined the firm across a range of offices.

RSM Tenon announced earlier this year that it would look to make headcount reduction of approximately 10% as part of turning around the firm.