Bankers' Boot Camp 2024-25

Session time: 9 am - 10 am AEDT

Dr Keith Suter AM is one of Australia’s most influential futurists and a thought leader, author and media commentator on national and foreign affairs. He has presented tailored keynotes at the Grant Thornton Bankers' Boot Camp series for the last few years and once again, with the US election only days prior, will give us his predictions for the year ahead both locally and internationally. 

Session time: 10 am - 11 am AEDT

Australian manufacturers have experienced improved results for the past two years, showcasing stronger balance sheets as a result. This sees them better placed to access debt so they can capitalise on growth opportunities. Conversely, cost-of-living pressures are impacting consumer demand, and management are returning their focus to key performance measures including inventory turnover and debtor days. Hear from industry experts as they share the latest trends and insights, highlighting what your customers need to be mindful of in the sector. This session includes a presentation of the Grant Thornton’s 2024 manufacturing benchmarking data, drawing on the audited financial results of 100 listed and private mid-sized manufacturers. 

Speakers: 

• Michael Climpson - Partner & National Head of Manufacturing at Grant Thornton Australia
• Matt Byrnes – Partner & National Head of Restructuring Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia 

Session time: 11 am - 12 pm AEDT

The agribusiness, food, and beverage industry in Australia is at an interesting juncture. With growing global food demand, the focus is on innovative farming, stringent food safety, and sustainable resource management.

For bankers, the agri sector is taking on a deterioration of credit risk driven by interest rates staying higher for longer than anticipated, inherent climatic risk, labour shortages and rising costs. What is the role of Farm Debt Mediation? Can alternative debt provide solutions for the banks’ customers in certain circumstances? What is the outlook for beef, wine, avocadoes, and almonds? Our speakers will share their recent experiences.

We will also provide you with our early findings from the Grant Thornton agribusiness, food & beverage Dealtracker, an analysis of M&A transaction activity in Australia and overseas for the last 18 months. What are customers operating in branded food and beverage, coffee, agri machinery and equipment, seafood, and other sub-sectors doing to best position themselves for a transaction? What factors are impacting recent multiples?

Speakers: 

• Philip Campbell-Wilson – Partner, Financial Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia
• Cameron Bacon - Partner & National Head of Agribusiness, Food & Beverage at Grant Thornton Australia
• James Murfett - Director, Private Credit at Merricks Capital

In the face of Australia's dynamic retail landscape, businesses must navigate a myriad of challenges to drive growth and transformation. Key concerns include optimising retail footprint by adapting to changing consumer behaviour, embracing digital transformation, and capitalising on data analytics to enhance decision-making. Additionally, retailers are tasked with addressing supply chain resilience, driving sustainability efforts, and fostering seamless omnichannel experiences. Our retail experts will share insights on these trends, drawing from market experiences and the upcoming National Retail Federation (NRF) conference in January 2025, New York. This event serves as a platform for industry leaders and brands to exchange innovative strategies and solutions shaping the future of the retail sector.  

Speakers

• Wi Liem Chua – Partner & National Head of Retail and Consumer Products at Grant Thornton Australia

A slowdown in demand throughout many sectors, coupled with higher interest rates and the rising cost of living, is putting increased pressure on many businesses. At a headline level, insolvency appointments are materially up on recent years. But what does this actually mean, and how is this impacting our economy? 

Our technical specialists, including senior lawyers and Partners from Grant Thornton, will discuss legal and commercial issues impacting banks and their customers in the current market. This session will cover insolvency trends and statistics, an ATO update and recent enforcement activity, restructuring options for bank customers, and other topical areas of interest.  

Speakers: 

• Matt Byrnes – Partner & National Head of Restructuring Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia
• Lisa Gibb - Partner, Financial Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia
• Tianne Nagy-Jones - Director, Financial Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia
• Cameron Crichton - Partner, Financial Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia

ESG is not only a matter for large ASX listed companies and government departments. For mid-sized organisations, having a considered and informed ESG response has never been more important as we are seeing awareness of the elements of ESG continue to expand leading to increased demands for transparency from both inside and outside the organisation, and changes to regulatory and reporting requirements. The challenge for many organisations is where to start and how to understand what is required.     

Speakers: 

• John Askam – Partner, CFO Advisory Services & ESG Reporting Lead at Grant Thornton Australia
• Pete Burgess – Partner, Corporate Finance at Grant Thornton Australia
• Samantha Sing Key – Director, ESG Sustainability Reporting Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia

The hospitality industry in Australia has undergone significant challenges in recent years. Rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis have tightened consumer discretionary spending, while at the same time operating expenses - including energy, rent and labour - have increased materially in turn impacting already tight margins for businesses. Managing the increased cost of delivery with customer price expectations has never been more challenging. In this session, our industry experts will share their outlook for the year ahead as well as some examples of what successful operators are doing to navigate these challenges. Our presenters will explore these issues and share some learnings from a number of recent case studies.  

The Australian private debt market has shown resilience and adaptability despite recent challenges. The outlook for 2025 can expect to see continued growth in private debt, particularly in mid-market businesses, M&A, project finance, and real estate development. How do the traditional banks interact with private lenders? In what circumstances can private debt provide the right solution for your customer? And will continued higher interest rates impact the ability of your customers to service alternate debt, even for an interim period? 

Our session will consider the role of private debt, including its advantages and limitations, and share some insights from our dealings across multiple sectors. 

Speakers

• Matt Byrnes – Partner & National Head of Restructuring Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia
• Philip Campbell-Wilson - Partner, Financial Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia
• Industry specialists  

A panel of specialists and industry participants will discuss several challenges and opportunities facing the aged care sector, and other health services providers including pharmacies and medical businesses.

Speakers: 

• Mike McCann - Partner, Financial Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia
• Darrell Price - Principal & National Head of Health & Aged Care at Grant Thornton Australia
• Carolyn Bamberry – Director, Financial Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia

Being tied to the mining industry as it reaps the rewards from a once in a lifetime global energy transition, the opportunities for mining services companies were, and still are significant. But in times of economic uncertainty, being leveraged to changing production volumes, fluctuating demand in minerals and therefore changes in attitude towards exploration and development of mining companies presents a range of challenges to the mining services sector. This session will provide an insight into the challenges facing mining services companies and arm financiers with a better understanding when servicing customers in this industry.   

Speakers: 

• David Hodgson - Partner, Financial Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia

• Industry specialists