Alicia Clegg, journalist with the Financial Times is keen to here from WBS alumni who have nursed their business back from the brink. She is especially keen to here from international alumni.

Further details of the planned article by Alicia follows:

Back from the Brink

How do you nurse your business back to health after a really crushing setback
that jeopardizes its reputation? I have in mind something on a par with Heston
Blumenthal (a leading UK restaurateur) having to temporarily shut his three
Michelin starred restaurant, after his diners went down with food poisoning, or Toyota recalling its cars.

Relevant angles include:

• Containing the crisis e.g. recalling a faulty product
• Working out how and why the problem happened - was it simple human error or
  symptomatic of some deeper underlying flaw?
• Impact on customer goodwill and what the entrepreneur did to restore confidence
  and bring customers back to the fold
• Handling the emotional fallout, particularly the impact on morale (yours and
  your employees)
• What the entrepreneur learned from the experience and how the company has
  changed as a result.

We appreciate it when entrepreneurs are frank, not just about the problems that led to the crisis but also about their handling of the situation and what they learned from the experience.

The ideal business will have a turnover somewhere between £3m and £50m and must
be owner-managed, i.e. run by an entrepreneur.

For an example of Alicia's work, please see her article on 'When letting go is hard to do'

If you fit the criteria and would like to tell your story, please contact Alicia directly and as soon as possible. alicia.clegg@btinternet.com