Frank Management is a UK based Management Consultancy

Background

Our Client developed and sold digital content into the US educational system. Initially they established a presence in the US by acquiring brand names and also by developing their own highly innovative educational software. As part of their strategic desire to expand, they wished to establish a presence in the UK.

To facilitate this, the client utilised venture capital funding and on the advice of the VC, engaged Frank Management to establish a business in the U.K.

The Project

As there was no presence at all in the UK, every element of the business had to be built, this included:

• Defining a Business Plan and associated implementation plan
• Setting up premises, building operational infrastructure and recruiting staff
• Defining the sales, marketing and business processes
• Localising the US product to fit with the curricula of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Establishing sales channels and partnerships
• Promoting the company and product range within the UK market

Having completed this project, the client presented Frank Management with a proposition to accelerate the growth of the company in the UK and requested that Marie-Anne van Ingen and Terry O’Brien devote 100% of their time to the business as CEO and COO respectively on an interim basis. The client had always been a hugely acquisitive company and had started a process to acquire a huge US book publisher, in a reverse takeover. Having a robust UK presence alongside growth plans in China and the Middle East supported the acquisition strategy. Against this back-drop Frank Management took over the running of the UK operation.

The Outputs

Over the next two years they experienced rapid growth in the UK and extended the product range beyond educational software to include educational hardware and services. A variety of sales channels were established including a direct external sales team, internal telesales team, indirect channel, via an extensive re-seller network and a number of key partnerships.

By the time the reverse takeover was complete Riverdeep had a 10% UK market share in its chosen space, a revenue stream in excess of £2 million and was break even in profit and cash. The revenue is a significant achievement given the average order value of £100.

Subsequently, the US arm of the publishers, were also acquired to form a new entity and Frank Management went on to support business growth in China.

Background

As part of a need to increase efficiency, reduce costs and be more Customer Centric, a London Borough Council launched a £350M change programme. As previous attempts to make change had failed within the council, they commissioned and number of external private sector companies to help with this project. Whilst most of the focus for these companies was in outsourcing, Frank Management was engaged to work with the CEO’s Programme Management Office to deal with organisational, process and people elements of the programme.

The Project

The project centred upon the premise that services need to be built from the experience and perspective of the customer. The council was extremely hierarchical and built upon very traditional lines. It was necessary for Frank Management to engage with all Service leaders and their teams to map out service delivery priorities and current processes. It also required the engagement of all these teams to map out the “desired state” for their customers.

By taking teams and Programme Office champions through a difficult and protracted process over a number of months, we were able to define revised processes and associated structures. This was then taken down a level, to all service deliverers, to define specific activities and actions required to effect and embed the necessary changes. All this required to buy-in of managers, staff and trades unions.

The Outputs

All Frank Management’s activities were completed to time and within budget. The actions generated significant organisational change, streamlining the majority of the services and resulted in significant efficiencies and cost savings. The Council later won a number of awards for the project, including Management Team of the Year.

Background

After a successful involvement with establishing an educational software company in the UK, Frank Management were engaged by to assist in winning a major education contract in Libya. The $60million contract was to provide the procurement and installation of educational hardware, curriculum aligned software, teacher training, educational television programmes and programme management. The winning of the contract was successfully achieved and Frank Management were engaged to manage the implementation of the programme.

The Project

The project covered a number of elements:

• Establishment of a Programme Office and associated processes alongside Education Ministry representatives
• Training of 5,000 teachers with a wide geographically dispersal
• Negotiation and procurement of 100,000 interactive whiteboards and 10,000 laptops
• Installation of hardware in schools
• Creation and delivery of 3,000 twenty minute TV programmes
• Establishment of an Education Data Centre
• Localisation of all digital software
• Recruitment of 60 ex-pat and local staff

The Outputs

Initially, a pilot project was run within selected schools in Tripoli. The pilot was implemented and audited to ensure all outputs were achieved. The full project then commenced which was particularly challenging given the significant logistical, technical and political challenge. After many changes to the original specifications the project was completed and signed off by the Ministry.

As a result of this success, the project was in the process of being extended in 2011 when the ‘Arab Spring’ and subsequent civil war intervened. Further work has continued on the extension since January 2014 which includes 100,000 tablet computer roll-out and digitisation of all the curriculum textbooks.

Background

Frank Management was engaged to assist a recruitment agency which operates UK wide. It is the amalgamation of four different recruitment companies covering various segments of the recruitment market, including permanent recruitment, temporary recruitment and HGV driver recruitment. It operates through a large number of offices (mainly located in the high street) across the web and through a number of strategic contracts with larger companies. A private equity company had acquired the company and was becoming concerned with the lack of growth and under-delivery against management promises and forecasts. Frank Management were brought in to work with the Executive Management Team (EMT) to diagnose the structural, process and sales effectiveness issues and recommend solutions.

The Project

Frank Management had a number of meetings with the EMT to define the scope and tactics for the project. Given the vast network of offices and the variety of services each office covered it was necessary to agree a representative sample. Having agreed the sample it was a task of information gathering which focused upon:

• Business effectiveness by business stream
• Management structures and effectiveness
• Core processes
• Sales development
• Sales channel effectiveness

The Outputs

We were required to produce a focused, action-orientated report and make a full presentation to the EMT. Because of the constant contact with the team, the key findings were not a surprise in themselves, however, when presented as a contiguous case they were shocked by their lack of ownership of “cross-boundary” issues and lack of control of certain key business indicators. In effect, in many circumstances, issues fell between cracks in the organisation and they were measuring the wrong things – but in great detail!

As a result of the project the EMT requested Frank Management help in defining a plan for change. This was subsequently completed with the input of the whole EMT. The monthly revenues improved consistently, the business was streamlined both structurally and through process change and record results were achieved within 8 months of project completion.

Background

Our client was a procurer, importer and distributor of timber with a headquarters in the Midlands and a regional distribution network across the UK. They procured timber from the SE Asian Region and Brazil and distributed the product to their UK network from their distribution centre in Kent. They have been established in various incarnations since 1906 and in 1999, following a management buy-out the previous year, they acquired their main competitor. Whilst the acquisition was intended to launch the company beyond the provision of pure timber products, these two traditional companies lost market share over a period of time. The natural competitors have become Jewson, Travis Perkins and Wickes, who provide a wider range of value added products to the market. Our client was procured by Alchemy who in turn commissioned the services of Frank Management.

The Project

Frank Management took on a two month project with the objective of establishing the reasons for the failure to hit revenue growth targets and make recommendations to rectify this situation. The particular areas for concern as highlighted were:

• Sales channels, structures and processes
• Sales Development and new wins
• Company culture, development and training
• Remuneration and performance measurement

To complete the project Frank Management visited the 25 sites across the UK including the company headquarters and distribution centre speaking to over 180 company employees. We also attended Board Meetings, Regional Depot Meetings, Sales Reviews and spoke to a selection of customers. The project, by its nature meant that we also had to cover areas of the business beyond pure sales activity, which in the main led us to the IT Department, Finance Department and Procurement and all their inherent processes.

The Outputs

Following a presentation and acceptance of our findings and recommendations, Frank Management were engaged directly by the company to see through the implementation of the recommendations. This period resulted in significant changes to structures, processes, supplier and customer engagement models and sales management. The production of a 100 day plan post implementation assisted the management team to embed the new ways of working. The over-arching plan from the project remained active in the company for the next 18 months and revenues and profits met the Venture Capitalists expectations. The results enabled the company to list on AIM.

Terry has over 25 years’ experience as a Management Consultant, Chief Operating Officer and HR Director in the private sector, Education sector and Central and Local Government. He has a track record of delivering significant business change as a key member of Management Boards and he possesses substantial and diverse management experience in dynamic, fast moving environments, in EMEA and Asia.

Terry’s major responsibilities have centred upon delivering growth and operational effectiveness through significant change management programmes; setting and driving HR strategy; culture change; management development; acquisitions and divestments.

Marie-Anne has over 30 years’ experience as a Management Consultant, Group Executive Board Director, CEO, Sales & Marketing Director and Training and Development Executive. She has a wealth of experience of building businesses, from company start-ups to multi-national, 10,000 person businesses. Marie-Anne has been responsible for large change management programmes and consulting with organisations and businesses across the private and public sectors including Local Government and Education Ministries.

Marie-Anne has built successful company cultures, where productivity was maximised,sustainable profit streams created and service levels optimised. Her experience covers operations across EMEA and Asia.

Pat is a specialist business change and marketing consultant, focusing on the power of customer/user experience to drive business transformation. Pat has held board roles responsible for Business Development and Change in several public and private sector organisations.

A management consultant since 2004 Pat has developed customer centric change programmes for clients in many sectors including retail, software development, local authorities, the charity sector and media. She is passionate about the customer and user experience as the driver for change. Pat is an expert at managing the detail through the changes and winning support for change, whilst inspiring people to succeed.

Yannis has over 20 years’ experience as a Project and Business Manager, delivering contracts on-time and within budget, whilst effecting cultural change to organisations through the use of process re-engineering and scalable IT hardware, software and services.

He has a wide experience of designing solutions, managing major bid teams, initiating projects and establishing multi-year contract frameworks in the Public Sector. Yannis has managed major projects for Central and Local Government clients, the Post Office and the Armed Forces. In addition, he has ensured the delivery of targeted benefits of major change management and IT rollout programs in the UK, as well as the Nordics and the Middle East & Africa.

Kathy is a learning and development professional with a wide experience across Retail, IT, Telecoms, Financial Services, Multimedia and the public sector. Having worked in large corporate environments at Director level, Kathy has been a Management Consultant for over 12 years. She has experienced particular success in developing and delivering business driven organisational development and management development solutions in a cost effective and pragmatic way.

Her experience covers Europe, Asia and The Americas working alongside diverse management teams and delivering true value to her customers. Kathy possesses the ability to ensure that training and development interventions focus on delivering positive and sustainable change within organisations.

With over 25 years experience in the NHS Angela O’Brien is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist heading a team of Psychologists and psychological therapists within a large NHS Foundation Trust. She specialises in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (a mindfulness based cognitive therapy) and is an expert in the field. Mindfulness skills are a core component of this therapeutic approach.

Equally adept at applying her expertise across both the public and private sectors Angela coaches and trains individuals and teams to enhance their personal performance to enable achievement of their full potential. She regularly delivers training, seminars and workshops in the practice of mindfulness to NHS and social care bodies, corporate entities, as well as to schools and educational institutions.

Libby possesses over 20 years experience within the NHS as a qualified Psychiatric Social Worker. Within her career she has developed many skills which are equally applicable in the public and private sectors and she is a trained practitioner and therapist in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy.

Libby has extensive experience in the development and execution of training packages and workshops focussed upon mindfulness and it’s applicability to enhancing well-being and facilitating the release of the potential of individuals and teams. Her programmes have been delivered to professionals in the commercial sector as well as within the NHS, social care agencies and education institutions.

Lesley’s background is as a Global HR Director in telecoms, technology and professional services operating across geographies and complex matrix organisations. She has a track record of enabling business and individual change and possesses a strong focus upon leadership development and talent management.

In her consultancy capacity, Lesley has achieved great success as a qualified corporate executive and personal performance coach. She is a NLP practitioner and a member of the International Association for NLP. She has deep experience of creating managing and embedding change within a wide variety of organisations.