Navigating the future of turnaround: Five global trends reshaping operational restructuring

This insight is drawn from remarks by Anton de Leeuw, CEO of BM&T, ahead of his panel session at the Turnaround Management Association’s Annual Conference in Paris on 6 June 2025. BM&T is a trusted specialist in complex operational turnarounds and cross-border restructuring.

What does the future hold for operational restructuring?

After six months of working and listening across the UK, Europe and beyond, one thing is clear: we’re not returning to cyclical downturns or textbook recoveries. We’re operating in a VUCA world - a term coined by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus of the US War College in 1987 to describe a shifting post-Cold War landscape. Today, that same lens defines our operating environment:

• Volatility is constant.
• Uncertainty shapes every forecast.
• Complexity clouds every decision.
• Ambiguity defines modern leadership.

And so, the job of the turnaround leader is changing. Not just to rescue distressed businesses, but to build resilience for whatever comes next.

Here are five key global trends we believe will define the future of turnaround and restructuring:

1. From control to conditions

The traditional CRO model - step in, take control, cut cost, reset the balance sheet - still has its place. But the emerging model of leadership is different.

Future-fit turnaround professionals won’t control outcomes; they’ll create the conditions for sustainable ones. That means:

• enabling teams rather than overriding them
• navigating stakeholders rather than bulldozing them
• rebuilding trust - not just fixing numbers.

2. Fix the business before the balance sheet

From Chapter 11 in the US to WHOA in the Netherlands, StaRUG in Germany, and recent reforms in Italy and Spain, there’s a visible shift toward consensual, preventive restructuring. The message across jurisdictions is clear:

Operational viability must come before financial rescue.

Boards, lenders and courts now expect turnaround professionals to demonstrate:

• execution capacity
• EBITDA delivery
• viable business models, not just financial engineering.

3. Compressed timelines. Dual expectations.

Turnaround is no longer sequential. You’re expected to stabilise the business and plan for transformation - on day one. The pressure is real:

• Liquidity control
• Operational clarity
• A credible plan

All are expected within weeks, not months. The distinction between triage and transformation? It’s collapsing.

4. Cross-border, cross-stakeholder, cross-discipline

Modern cases rarely stay within borders. Whether it’s a Dutch WHOA, a Spanish preventive agreement, or a UK-led group with a Luxembourg subsidiary and Chinese supply chain, the reality is the same. Turnaround leaders must work across:

• jurisdictions
• disciplines
• stakeholder agendas.

That takes:

• local insight and central orchestration
• legal and regulatory fluency
• cultural intelligence
• the credibility to engage with everyone - from boards to factory floors.

5. The rise of adaptive leadership

Today’s most effective turnaround professionals aren’t just technically strong. They’re emotionally intelligent, culturally aware and narrative-driven.

They act as:

• storytellers – crafting clear, compelling future narratives
• sense-makers – decoding ambiguity and uncertainty
• clarity creators – aligning diverging interests into actionable strategies.

The intersection of turnaround competence now sits at the crossroads of:

• soft skills
• critical thinking
• technical and financial acumen.

Credentials matter - but so does the ability to lead humans through complexity.

Final thought: Resilience before the next VUCA

The next wave of turnaround leaders will be defined not by how they respond to crisis, but by how they enable resilience before the next one hits.

It won’t be about playing the battle-hardened hero - it’ll be about building clarity, calm and confidence in chaos. That’s the shift we need to lead.