Click on each title link to view the case study in more detail

Construction Industry : Start Up Launch

A start-up business with a patent applied for a prefabricated foundation system for log cabins and garden offices and modular buildings. The MD was frustrated at the lack of sales in spite of support from Business Link and employing a consultant salesman. 

Consumer Product Testing : Restructuring & Organisational Change

The company specialises in consumer product testing and conformance. The UK business had been  built by the current Managing Director, who had been backed by a US company wishing to expand its testing and conformance business internationally. 

Office Equipment : Management Buy Out

The Group within which he works has had significant financial problems and the CEO was considering making a bid to buy out the company he led from the Group.

Retail : Business Support and Acquisition

The owner sells model motor cars into the adult market from a well placed shop in a retail area.  Over a 10 year period he had grown the business to about £300k turnover and was looking to expand.

IT/Telecoms : Fund Raising

Already working with the company to help drive sales, we were approached to raise a further £200k in flexible loan stock secured against the company assets and the owner’s house.

Training & Management Development : Private Investment

Entrepreneurial and charismatic CEO had developed the business to £4m turnover.  However given his large ambitions he was constantly investing for the future and not making much profit now.  This was exacerbated by high growth rates putting severe strains on cash.

Construction Industry : Efficiency & Turnover Improvements

The company operates from two locations in the British Isles, importing items for the construction industry at the luxury end of the market. The operation in the South East of England has half the number of staff as the other operation, but only managed to achieve one quarter of the turnover. Previous attempts to determine the cause of this anomaly had failed and whenever the MD looked at the SE operation, all the staff were busy working on client quotations.

Child Day Care Nursery : Procedural Improvements

The organisation is a successful day care nursery with over 80 children, from baby to pre-school age. The nursery is run by a husband and wife team supported by a manager overseeing 20+ staff. Having been in business for over 5 years and reliant on word of mouth referrals for occupancy, the organisation was in need of a marketing strategy, a management team and a review of operational systems and processes.

Water Utility : TickIT Quality System

The IT group within the company wished to demonstrate to its internal customers the quality of its IT services. It decided that the best approach was to implement a defined quality management system to meet the requirements of ISO 9001, including the TickIT Scheme.

Snack Food Industry : Factory Efficiency Improvements

Following a new product introduction, the company re-organised an existing line to make space and planned on efficiency improvements to maintain capacity. After 6 months, the line was only delivering 50% of requirements leading to short supplying the customers in spite of additional shifts and people. Urgent help was required, as nothing seemed to make any difference.

Industrial Fastenings : Efficiency Improvements

Located in Buckinghamshire, the MD of an industrial fastening company had experienced a sharp downturn in business at a time when his many business interests had diverted his attention to less, potentially, remunerative ventures. The organisation was in need of a full review of activities with the aim of putting it back on a sound financial footing.

Retail Industry : Business Intelligence / Project Management

The financial services / household goods retail business, operating out of over 100 high street stores, required weekly store management information to be available for Monday morning planning meetings.

Telecom Industry : TL9000 Used To Resolve Disputes

The company supplies equipment to telecommunications operators. If the systems break down, even for a few minutes, then the operator loses revenue and goodwill. Unfortunately, a certain amount of downtime must be expected with systems of this complexity, but each incident resulted in an argument as to "whose fault it was".

Soft Furnishings : Business Plan & Restructuring Assistance

The company is in a specialist area of the Soft Furnishings Industry with a small factory that employed 10 people, servicing the hotel industry. Sept 11th and Foot and Mouth devastated the hotel industry in the area and nearly killed this business.

Telecom Industry : Contract Negotiation

A large software company had been providing software and services to a UK telecommunications company (telco) over many years. As a result, the telco was using several different software packages from the client, along with a variety of support, maintenance and other services, each of which was subject to different terms and conditions and commercial structures. The company wished to persuade the telco to upgrade all of its sites to the latest software package under a single set of terms.

IT Industry : Recruitment Strategy, Planning and Implementation

The organisation is a fast growing IT consulting and software company with a unique equity partner based ownership philosophy. They were faced with several challenges, such as achieving their planned growth in revenues and headcount in a very tough trading environment and developing the capabilities to allow them the focus on key projects, whilst in parallel devoting management time to a recent acquisition.

Hi Tech Manufacturing : Marketing Technology

The client is a manufacturer of precision measuring equipment. The MDO has an impressive design and development track record in this field and with his team has produced a range of products that has no equal in the marketplace. However, over the development stage of the business the bank facility had ballooned to £750k, while the sales were not rising very rapidly. In 2004 the annual sales were £650k. Also, the MDO had no meaningful month by month financial or production management information and was having to run his growing business “by the seat of his pants”.