CMR concentrates on helping smaller companies (turnover range from inception to £100 million but sometimes more), who usually share the twin handicaps of being both under-capitalised and under-managed, often at the same time! These smaller companies can be very innovative, and capable of producing much higher growth rates, providing they are given the right combination of financial input and management support. This is the unique combination that CMR brings to bear - the input of very experienced management together with the financial support needed to allow for rapid and controlled growth.

CMR has a wide range of services: Although many of client companies initially approach CMR for funding input, in many cases this is not necessarily the appropriate or best way forward for the company, and a particular strength of CMR is the ability to help such companies through the wide range of other CMR services and facilities provided through its regional structure.

CMR operates through fourteen geographic Regions: Projects are handled by the most appropriate CMR Region, enabling CMR to give a truly local service to its clients. CMR also provides senior consulting assistance for the UK Government and handles government projects.

CMR does not sell its services: CMR members are not required to sell. CMR undertakes marketing and awareness-building activities through PR and direct contact with local professional firms, banks, etc., who refer clients to CMR. Additionally CMR has close links with UK business research universities and major UK professional firms, enabling CMR to identify those clients most likely to benefit from our services.

CMR Revenue Sources: For many CMR executive members, it is their involvement with the project and proposition flow through CMR that will be most important. Each proposition (and there are many being processed at any one time) represents an opportunity to help that company, and through building the right relationship with them, can lead into a much wider business potential.

The opportunities arising from CMR’s Interim Management Programme can also be important - each CMR member is continuously ‘presented’ on the world wide web to prospective employers.

CMR Training Programme helps to convert client contact to revenue: The real skill needed to be a successful consultant is the ability to turn an initial contact with a client into an on-going relationship that can generate income for years to come. CMR provides specific training to help its executives to acquire, or brush-up on, this essential ability to handle client relationships effectively.

CMR Performance Fees: CMR’s fees to its clients are often performance based, with a proportion of the fee being deferred onto a successful outcome. Operating in this way, allows CMR to align itself motivationally with its clients, and to obtain a greater eventual reward than would otherwise be possible. Sometimes CMR will take equity as part of its remuneration

CMR is structured to be of maximum value to those executives of high ability who want to be pro-active in developing their business and career potential, either as an integral member of the CMR team or in a private capacity, or both. CMR provides total flexibility for its members, and whilst we hope that all will want to be proactive, CMR membership itself places no specific time commitments on the member

All CMR members have full access to all the organisation’s facilities and resources. Specifically, CMR executives benefit:

• From being part of a CMR Regional Team, helping to deal with the stream of small to medium-sized businesses approaching CMR for help. Each CMR Region also develops business directly with SME client companies in conjunction with the many professional firms that work with us. CMR Regions are responsible for developing and handling CMR’s business within its own geographic area. CMR Regions in the UK are:

  South East; East Anglia; East Midlands; London
  Mid South; Chiltern Region; West Midlands; Thames Valley
  South West; Western Region; North West;
  Yorkshire & North East; CMR Scotland; Ireland (North and South)

• From being part of a CMR Affinity Group - these are multi-disciplined teams comprising CMR members sharing a common expertise and experience in particular industries. By networking and combining with others having a similar background, great strength is achieved and many opportunities arise. CMR Affinity Groups cover over 60 separate industries and functional groupings.
• From being part of a CMR Special Business Group - we have specialist teams handling Company Sales, Mergers and Acquisitions, International Technology Licensing, Corporate Recovery, CMR's Sales Closer Group.
• From being part of CMR’s Executive Network, which is an extremely powerful resource, and which generates many revenue opportunities for members directly. Access to the network is provided through CMR’s Website and regional/affinity group meetings.
• From being continuously presented through CMR’s Internet Website to companies wanting to recruit interim or permanent executives, or consultants. CMR’s affiliated major professional firms also access the CMR executive database to seek the consultant help they require.
• From the training facilities provided which help all CMR members to be more effective. Special courses are also held in conjunction with our affiliated professional partners covering subjects such as corporate recovery, intellectual property & licensing, etc.
• From the CMR membership discount scheme, which allows CMR members to save more than the total cost of CMR membership!
• From being part of a highly supportive organisation, which truly helps its members to realise their potential, whilst respecting individuality and personal independence..

Corporate Finance - equity and/or loan capital for development funding, working capital, turnarounds, mergers & acquisitions
Corporate Recovery, company doctoring to help troubled businesses.
Consultancy and management support to help companies achieve successful growth.
International Technology Licensing to help companies and universities with innovative products.
Mergers & Acquisitions to help companies to acquire or form beneficial linkages with others.
Progressive Company Sale Programme to provide SME owners with a MBI exit route.
Interim Management to allow temporary employment of CMR members by clients
Non-Executive Directorships to help SME’s obtain the mature experience they need

The main requirements for CMR membership:

1. You must be an experienced executive and be able to show that you have already achieved success in your own field of business activity.
2. You should have entrepreneurial skills, and be able to bring enthusiasm and initiative to bear on the projects you handle.
3. You must be prepared to operate within CMR’s ethical guidelines and standards of practice.

There are several different categories of people for whom membership of CMR will bring many practical benefits:

1. Executives wishing to develop a long-term independent career as part of a major consultancy group.
2. Existing independent consultants, who wish to broaden their scope of activity.
3. Executives wishing to work for themselves, but with the support of a major organisation behind them.
4. Partially retired executives who prefer not to fully retire just yet, and would welcome the opportunity to become involved either on a full-time or part-time basis.
5. Executives who prefer to work under contract with employers, either on an interim or permanent basis, but would benefit from the personal marketing undertaken for them through CMR’s Website, plus the contact and networking opportunities provided through CMR

CMR should be viewed primarily as an opportunity generator.

CMR membership is ideally suited to those executives of real ability, who are motivated and ambitious to develop business activity, either as part of a fast-growing entrepreneurial group, or as an independent consultant, or both!

To continue its growth, CMR needs to attract executives of ability, who are interested in becoming part of our success and in helping us to maintain our position of being the number one organisation for SMEs in the UK.

CMR’s organisational structure has attracted much favourable comment for the innovative way it blends the skills and aspirations of its members into a flexible but highly supportive operation allowing each to develop their career progression in whichever way is best for the individual. One UK university sees CMR’s operational concept as the blueprint for business organisation in the future - where business works not through the old system of employer/ employee, but through the association of free people combining for mutual purpose. We think they are right!

MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS

CMR’s primary objective is to make money for all concerned from servicing clients well, not from charging very high joining or membership fees, as some organisations seem to do. CMR’s philosophy is to at least partially cover the basic infrastructure costs of providing the facilities, support and network capabilities through a minimal membership subscription, which entitles full involvement with CMR’s activities, plus a small deduction on fees earned through CMR.

CMR TRAINING:

In addition to the initial regional inception training (included in joining fee), CMR arranges regular Executive Training Workshops covering all the specific client-related skills needed for effective independent consultancy and CMR membership.

CMR members attending consistently give the day-long workshop an ‘excellent’ rating. As with everything else in CMR, these are held at cost.

CMR Executive Workshop: £385 plus VAT

One full day programme, including all materials, a reference manual, refreshments and lunch. The normal cost of this course is £385 plus VAT, but is included in the CMR Full Membership joining cost.

FEE COMMISSIONS

A deduction is made from fees earned by CMR members from CMR projects. No deductions are due to CMR on private projects undertaken.

• Payable to CMR:

  A charge is made in respect of project revenue accruing to CMR members as follows:

  ON CMR PROJECTS: 30%

  NB: Of this 30%, 10% is passed to the CMR member or unit introducing the business, 5% is passed to the relevant CMR Region, and 15% is retained by CMR Centre. Payments to members will normally be made when the client has paid.

  ON PRIVATE PROJECTS: NIL

  (On work obtained directly by the member and not put through CMR’s system)

  If a member wishes to involve other CMR members on a private project, a commission of 10% is payable on those members’ fees charged. On private business undertaken through Roan Management Consultants Ltd., a commission of 12.5% is payable to RMC.

   

• Payable to CMR Members:

  Commission payable to CMR members: 10%

  (for projects introduced into CMR, as percentage of gross fee invoiced to client.)

  Professional Indemnity Insurance:

When working on CMR projects, members are covered by CMR’s professional indemnity insurance. Cover does not extended to private work carried out by members.

Administration:

All CMR projects will be invoiced to the client by CMR. When the client has paid, the CMR members involved will input their invoice to CMR which will then be paid promptly.

The costs of CMR membership are:

JOINING FEES

CMR FULL MEMBERSHIP - Director-level experience essential
Joining fee, to cover costs of registration, database processing, initial training and inception seminar, operations manual, etc.

£1,495.00 + VAT - CMR Full Members are fully involved with CMR's clients through the CMR Regions and Affinity Groups, and Special Business Groups.

ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP THROUGH 'RMC'- For experienced executives, but director-level experience not essential.  There are restrictions on level of involvement.

Joining fee, to cover costs of registration, database processing, operations manual, etc. £595.00 + VAT

AFFILIATE MEMBERSHIP:  Nil joining cost

MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS:

Monthly membership subscriptions are payable by standing order, to cover cost share of CMR facilities, including professional indemnity insurance, office reception facilities at 31 Harley Street, London, and regional operations (25% of monthly subscription is passed to your Region).  Annual subscriptions are available at ten times the monthly subscription.  All monthly subscriptions commence at the beginning of the month after joining, and can be cancelled at anytime by giving seven days notice by email.

CMR Full Members: £65 + VAT per month, or £650 + VAT paid annually

RMC 'Associate' Members: £35 + VAT per month, or £350 + VAT paid annually

RMC Members have all the benefits of CMR membership including direct business involvement through Affinity Groups and Special Business Groups - but not through CMR Regional operations (full members only).

Affiliate Members:  £20 per month, or £200 paid annually

The above costs are tax-deductible and are the only ‘fixed’ costs of being a CMR member. A reasonable charge at cost is made for consumable supplies used (stationery, etc.) and for CMR breakfast/dinner meetings and other functions attended.

There is sadly no definitive answer to this - it will largely depend on how motivated and how good you are.  Those that make the effort and are good (an important combination!) will do well.  The highest earning members earn over £150,000 pa from CMR activities - in addition many members also have private consultancy/ business income on top.

We will sometimes take share equity in a client - which gives our members a long-term and hopefully increasing revenue and share value in the client's future prosperity.

Again, the answer is dependent on how motivated and able you are.  There are no delays inherent in CMR membership - you can be successfully earning good money shortly after joining.  The record so far is one member for whom we invoiced £55,000 within their first month.

We operate a mentoring scheme in each CMR Region where a senior, experienced member will directly help a new member to rapidly become effective in handling clients.  There is a small cost involved (usually £250 per month) but there is often a rapid payback in helping the new member to obtain a good income in a much shorter timescale.  For Full Members the first month's mentoring is included in the joining cost.

Business comes to CMR from many different directions, giving us a very wide and diverse range of clients and services required.

Some Business comes to CMR 'automatically' - by that we mean that clients seek us out, perhaps because they have been recommended to us, or because they have seen our website (we use google ads) or seen us in a directory (we are listed in very many places).  Or perhaps they have seen newspaper/ magazine articles or advertisements.

Some business comes to us because we/ our members have proactively marketed ourselves.  This can be through CMR regional members networking within their local business community (there are many opportunities for this through local Chambers of Commerce, Business Links and many other bodies).  Building relationships with local professional firms, banks, etc. are an important part of this.

We also have a very effective 'telemarketing' service which can set-up appointments with interested clients for members.  There is a small charge of £25 + VAT for each appointment set-up, which is an extremely low cost for such a useful service.

We also have CMR's Business Referral Scheme, which gives outsiders and CMR members a significant incentive to introduce new clients and investors to us.

This is one of the most important benefits of CMR membership.  Because we have real experts in every area of business we are always able to assemble the perfect team for any client's circumstances.  It means that every CMR member can handle every client, whatever their needs.

You merely stop paying the monthly subs - there is no minimum contractual period involved.  Often, if a CMR Full Member obtains a full time employed job that they want to take, they prefer to stay with CMR but on the lower cost basis of dropping down to Affiliate Membership (£15 + VAT per month) - this keeps contact with CMR (but not active membership of a CMR Region, etc.) and allows Full Membership to be resumed at anytime without payment again of the joining fee. 

CMR works on a cash received basis.  Invoices will be raised by CMR on clients - when the client has paid, the team involved are email-notified and they will email their invoice to CMR.  On the 8th working day (to allow for bank clearance) the members are paid.

The net receipt to CMR (after any external and investor commissions and expenses) are split:

70% to the member(s) working on the project

10% to whoever introduced the business

5% to the CMR Divisional Director and Regional Director involved (2½% each)

15% to CMR

The same split applies to equity shares we may take in clients

CMR’s growth has given the organisation considerable purchasing power, which is now used to bring additional benefits to CMR’s executive members. The CMR Executive Benefit Programme is being considerably extended, but already allows CMR members to save more than the total cost of CMR membership every month!

INSTITUTE of DIRECTORS (UK)

By special arrangement, CMR executive members are able to join the Institute of Directors for no joining fee - subject to some conditions - a considerable saving over normal joining costs.

The IoD provides excellent meeting facilities in its magnificent premises in Pall Mall, London, in addition to a first class business library and an active programme of regional functions.

Many CMR members find the IoD’s facilities extremely valuable in their business activities and for network contact-building.

BUPA HEALTHCARE (UK only)

CMR also has special arrangements with BUPA.

With the decline of the NHS over recent years, membership of a quality private health scheme has become almost essential to properly provide for family healthcare. Many executives find, on coming out of a company health scheme, that premiums on a personal basis are very expensive. As a result many do not have private health cover at all, or decide to take a cheaper scheme, often providing inadequate cover.

The special premium rates negotiated between CMR and Private Patients Plan (BUPA) enable all CMR members to benefit from proper private healthcare cover, with very significant savings each month over normal premium rates.

The main features of the CMR/BUPA Healthcare Scheme are:

1. Open to all CMR members and their families.
2. No medical required. CMR members already having private health cover can transfer to the CMR Scheme maintaining their cover for pre-existing illnesses. New members to private health have the usual two year moratorium for pre-existing problems.
3. Full cover scheme (i.e. no waiting period) at BUPA’s ‘B’ or ‘C’ Hospital Band.

HERTZ CAR RENTAL (GLOBAL)

CMR has special arrangements with Hertz giving membership discounts of between 10% to 20% on regular Hertz rates, depending on rental country.

HOLIDAY AUTOS (part of lastminute.com)

CMR members get a special discount of a further 10% off Holiday Autos' already discounted rates in all countries.  CMR rates are obtainable by phone or on Holiday Autos website.

FURTHER DISCOUNTS

This is a continuing programme for using CMR’s buying power to obtain significant discounts for CMR members. Further significant cost-saving arrangements will be introduced in the future

It is often said that the most satisfying and rewarding career to have is working for yourself. For many it is an aspiration of many years, for others it is a career option perhaps taken in an involuntary way because of redundancy or 'early retirement'.

Taking the plunge...

In either case, those who take the plunge will find self-employment a different world, full of opportunities and challenges - reward and risk! Many are able for the first few years at least, to draw business from existing contacts and companies, but sooner or later this starts to diminish, and the individual concerned needs to become more reliant on themselves and the network of contacts they have built. This latter point is of great importance, because there is probably no successful independent businessman or consultant who is not almost as dependent on their network of colleagues as they are on their own personal skill base. Colleagues not only help in the process of acquiring new business, they are often also important in the process of handling that business, and in achieving success and customer/client satisfaction.

One of the major barriers between the independent executive and long-lasting business or consultancy success, is often the lack of such a network and support base. The ability to work with others when necessary and to call-in for support from colleagues and contacts is probably the major divide between those that are successful and those that are not. Relatively few executives will succeed entirely by themselves - most will benefit greatly from being able to call upon the skills and resources possessed by others.

In addition, it very important for success as an independent businessman or consultant to have the means for acquiring new customers and clients. Most individual executives do not have the means to market themselves effectively (and often don't enjoy that part), nor do they usually personally have the range of attractive services that help those all-important doors to be opened.

CMR provides an enormous network and the resources to open doors

Effectively CMR provides all these facilities for all its executive members - and far more in addition. CMR gives all its members an enormous network of colleagues to work with and to call upon as necessary to help acquire or deal with business. Furthermore, CMR also provides the resources and product range that helps bring clients on-board. Many of these resources are unique to CMR, and allow doors to be opened to new clients in a way that would be very difficult otherwise. Not only does CMR have excellent door-opening resources (especially funding), but also has an internal sales & marketing group that undertakes the business acquisition work on behalf of CMR Regions and for those members who prefer not to market directly themselves.

CMR's constitution allows these resources to be used by its members for their own private business as well in developing co-operative business through CMR itself.

CMR works on a co-operative basis, with each member contributing a minor cost-sharing subscription to help pay for the resources and infrastructure provided. There is really nobody who is already independent, or thinking of being so, who will not benefit tremendously from being a member of CMR.

Interim Management ... A final word

A final word - about Interim Management. Many executives, especially those unexpectantly finding themselves independent, decide that IM is the route to go. It is certainly a possible way to earn money - not an unimportant consideration, and it is as near to corporate employment as one can get without actually being a permanent employee. For many it provides a worthwhile income and it can give at least some freedom from the politics that bedevil many companies. However, IM is usually a route that leads nowhere - one is often only as good as the last IM job, and very often one is left having to seek another IM job from scratch when it ends. Also of course, as one gets older, any job, including IM becomes more difficult to obtain. Except for those who are already financially independent (or expect to be through a forthcoming pension), we would recommend that IM be thought of as a temporary stage - as a stepping-stone whilst a more long-lasting independent career is constructed. This is where membership of CMR becomes particularly valuable, because not only does CMR help its members to obtain IM appointments (through its website recruitment facility), but at the same time they can be exploring the possibilities for successfully moving to a completely independent career. Whenever a CMR executive has an IM position, they are able to remain a CMR member and of course, resume as an active member when the IM position comes to an end.

CMR gives the best of both worlds!