Career Background

 

My name is Iain Duncan and I provide services under the Before The Last Straw Services business name.

 

The name and the focus of these services draw on the concept of reducing the risk outlined in the well known saying "the straw that broke the camel's back".

 

Prior to undertaking training and achieving accreditation as a Mediator in 2012, I had a long career in the Banking & Finance sector (the final 10 years as Chief Credit Officer for BankSA a division of Westpac Banking Corporation).

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Services Background

 

During my Banking & Finance career, I saw the impact of a number of economic booms and busts (including the pre and post 2007/08 Global Financial Crisis periods).

 

While all clients were impacted by the ups and downs of the economic conditions, there were some business which unfortunately failed to survive major corrections.

 

While a single catastrophic event can result in a business failure, it is more common for there to be a combination of unavoidable and avoidable factors.

 

Some of the common avoidable factors included:

• lack of or over optimistic planning; and/or
• lack of appropriate risk management; and/or
• inappropriate decision making in critical situations; and/or
• breakdowns in key commercial relationships; and/or
• breakdowns in Banking / Finance provider relationships; and/or
• internal unresolved conflicts.

The concept for Before The Last Straw Services came out of the realisation that, by drawing upon:

• my extensive Banking & Finance experience; and
• my training in Mediation and Facilitator processes; and
• the client's specialist advisers as required;

it would be possible to develop services which assisted clients to:

• reduce the potential for "a last straw event" occurring; and/or
• manage the collateral damage if an event were to occur.

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