Mr Ragan has established Cardiff-based Collateral Thinking with fellow directors and entrepreneurs Matt Burge and Bill Mayne.

Their consultancy, which was formally unveiled at an event at the Swalec Stadium in Cardiff last week, aims to help businesses realise their commercial potential.

Collectively the three directors have been involved in nearly 50 companies and are now looking to bring their accumulated business expertise, underpinned by a network of affiliates, to provide focused business advice to established firms as well as start-ups.

Mr Ragan said: “Whether drawing on our collective experiences and expertise, or through affiliates from the private sector, we will provide quick and effective support.”

The venture has also been endorsed by business executives in South Wales.

Adrian Godfrey, managing partner at Haines Watts Corporate Finance, said: “The principle of Collateral Thinking is really interesting and it has lots of merit. I hope it will be a huge success.”

Bruce Morris, regional chairman of Freshwater, said: “The founding directors have correctly concluded that in many sectors there is an absence of real support when it comes to the management of companies or assisting with strategic direction and growth issues.

“Personally, as managing director of Merlin Marketing and Public Relations, prior to our sale to Freshwater in January 2008, I was well served by my professional advisers, but generally I was on my own in the final analysis, when those difficult decisions had to be made.”

Alison Hoy, chief executive of law firm Berry Smith, added: “This is a great concept and lots of people I have spoken to want it to happen. If Collateral Thinking can work as a gateway to opportunities, this will be a fantastic venture for Wales.”

The next Collateral Thinking event will be in the New Year with a Dragon’s Den-style surgery and another business debate session planned for February.

Hosted by Dale Williams, Managing Partners of SA Partners, international speaker on Lean Enterprise the 60 strong audience engaged in interactive debate surrounding the key issues facing Welsh businesses.

Seen here, Paul Ragan explained the desire behind the formation of Collateral Thinking to embrace the need to fast track businesses to success through a network of shared knowledge, experience and contacts.

Attendees at the event hailed the initiative as innovative and exciting. Adrian Godfrey Managing Partner at Haines Watts Corporate Finance told us, ‘The principle of Collateral Thinking is really interesting and it has lots of merit. I hope it will be a huge success’. Bruce Morris, Regional Chairman of Freshwater said, ‘The founding directors have correctly concluded that in many sectors there is an absence of real support when it comes to the management of companies or assisting with strategic direction and growth issues. Personally, as managing director of Merlin Marketing and Public Relations, prior to our sale to Freshwater plc in January 2008, I was well served by my professional advisors but generally I was on my own in the final analysis, when those difficult decisions had to be made.’ Finally Alison Hoy, Chief Executive of Berry Smith added, ‘This is a great concept and lots of people I have spoken to want it to happen. If Collateral Thinking can work as a gateway to opportunities this will be a fantastic venture for Wales.’

The next Collateral Thinking event will be in the New Year with a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style surgery in January and another business debate session planned for February.

www.walesonline.co.uk

THREE of Wales’ best-known entrepreneurs will next month launch a not-for-profit business consultancy aimed at helping businesses realise their commercial potential.

Collateral Thinking is the brainchild of Matt Burge, Paul Ragan and Bill Mayne. Between them, they have been involved in nearly 50 companies and are now looking to bring their accumulated business expertise, underpinned by a network of affiliates, to provide focused business advice to established firms as well as start-ups.

The trio have been involved in some of Wales’ best-known companies. Australian Matt Burge established Cardiff-based CommsDirect, while Mr Ragan is the former chief executive of South Wales insurance broker Protectagroup. Mr Mayne is the chief executive of fast-expanding business services company MSS Group, based in Cardiff.

Mr Ragan, who heads his own investment fund, said: “Whether drawing on our collective experiences and expertise, or through affiliates from the private sector, we will provide quick and effective support.

“One of the issues facing businesses is that there is so much support out there, that many people just don’t know who to talk to. It can also be too slow and bureaucratic.”

Cardiff-based Collateral Thinking is talking to a number of companies and business people with a view to signing them up as affiliates.

They include legal and accountancy firms who will pay a monthly subscription to cover the running costs of Collateral Thinking.

Mr Burge said that advice could be sourced from outside the affiliate network – and outside Wales – if it was in the best commercial interests of companies seeking support.

“It is not about flying the Welsh flag,” said Mr Burge.

“However, if we recommend that advice is given by, say, an affiliate law firm, we will be monitoring the impact of that support on an ongoing basis.”

Collateral Thinking is also looking at attracting funders, tax advisers, business organisations and HR specialists as affiliates.

Mr Mayne said: “What we are looking at is supporting ambitious people who are ready to take the next step in their businesses.

“We don’t see ourselves as being in competition with business support companies or, say, accountancy firms.

“We also hope to work alongside business membership organisations, so that their members can benefit from our support network.”

Mr Ragan said that many businesses didn’t require new external funding lines to grow.

He added: “It can just be a case of getting good governance in place.”

Mr Burge added: “It could be that a company needs to look at things like factoring.

“There are a number of solutions without necessarily turning to, say, equity funding, where an owner’s stake can be significantly diluted and as a result the spirit and motivation is lost.”

The three first came together 18 months after realising that they were individually providing informal advice to the same company.

Mr Ragan said: “We will not really know how much demand is out there until we launch, but we will be focusing on marketing to get the message out there.

“However, our plan is very much to expand in terms of the businesses we can help and the number of affiliates we have.”

Mr Ragan said there were still “tough challenges” ahead, even as the economy emerges out of recession. “Those companies which have survived the recession are a lot leaner and meaner, so it is going to be far more competitive out there,” he said.

Collateral Thinking is also planning to hold Dragons’ Den- style surgeries to provide advice to start-up companies.