Entrepreneur William Scott restructures for survival

Entrepreneur William Scott is on shaky ground. His struggling marketing and advertising services group CommQuest has been placed in a trading halt while it continues to restructure, and reduce debt and costs.

But Scott told SmartCompany this morning that although his business means more work than sleep at present, he is focused on delivering a positive outcome.

Scott, 29 years old, is in the middle of restructuring the business, made up of 12 separate entities. He says the public relations business he founded, The Smart Group, was doing well, as was Bongo, a question/answer SMS mobile service.

However the advertising and PR sections, which include Boiler Room, Shack, and ThinkCreative, were struggling. He says they will be sold or closed down.

He refused to comment on when the company would trade again, and says he is looking at divesting non-performing assets. The company, which reported a $46.4 million loss for the December half, has between 450 and 500 staff, he says.

Scott, a PR consultant, started the business in 2000 with no money and has said in previous interviews that one of his biggest mistakes was under-capitalising.

The float of CommQuest in 2007 raised $30 million, of which the bulk was used to acquire eight companies. Shares were issued at $1 but were trading around 1.5 cents.

“We will let you know when the restructuring plans are in place,” he says.

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