Ones to watch: V 20:20
A guiding light to SMEs through difficult times
What is it?
V 20:20 - A new company helping small and medium enterprises survive and thrive despite the current economic climate.
The company will work with selected, distressed bank clients and will perform a due diligence commercial 
viability assessment.
They will then create a strategic plan and a set of measurement criteria which the company can benchmark performance against, as they execute the plan.
At all times, the team of independent consultants will be using the proven V20:20 framework and processes. This means that there will be consistency, which will lead to greater confidence.
Who's behind it?
Robert Cooper and Peter Lawless. Cooper has 25 years financial-services experience.
Since working for two financial services start-ups at board level, he has been an internal and external management consultant and has run his own business change management consultancy 1MPLC for the past year before recently teaming up with Peter to form V20:20.
Throughout his time, he has worked with and helped hundreds of companies grow their business and optimise their resources. He recently published a Bluffers Guide to Banking.
Lawless spent 12 years in IBM, in Ireland and abroad, his last role in 2000 being EMEA Director of CRM sales. Lawless has written hundreds of articles and presented The City Index on TV and The Internet without fear for six months on radio. He serves on the council of the Sales Institute and the Irish Computer Society.
Financial situation?
The company is self-financing.
Future plans?
Future plans are to save or positively impact 200,000 jobs by the year 2020 and to help 10,000 businesses thrive over the next decade, say Lawless and Cooper.
"We would like to become the business consultancy brand of choice for the MEs in the SME sector."
