UNITE IGNITE Catalyst for change
CLIENTS
The heart of any effective change is being able to bring people together and trigger understanding and motivation to do something differently. Unite Ignite was set up to help clients do exactly that; Unite their people behind a clear and relevant vision and plan, and Ignite action to make that idea a reality. Here are some of the clients we have supported as they make the right changes happen.
STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT
Young Onset Dementia (YOD) has a devastating impact. YoungDementia UK offers award winning services to people in Oxfordshire. It has clear ambitions to provide information and support to help people live well with YOD nationally. It has re-organised its team and strengthened its Board to add impetus to its strategy.
Clare joined as Trustee in 2014 and beyond the work with the Board has also focused work developing the Strategy into a framework and roadmap of deliverables. With this clarity, the Director and Board are able to structure discussions and decisions on priorities, and evaluate the organisational and fund raising implications of delivering the strategy.
YDUK is a lean organisation, exemplar in its leadership and effective ways of working. Ensuring that the voice of people with YOD is heard is an integral value that all live and breathe. The team have a passion to make a difference to enable people to live well with Dementia and it's been tremendous to add value to the existing strength of the Charity's strategy and management.
ORGANISATIONAL FACILITATION
Urban Self Build has emerged as the pioneer for a new segment in the British Housing Industry. Building on their in-depth expertise in architecture and planning, they have worked with Government think tanks to create a £30m working fund to support Custom build projects. One of these is a new development in Peterborough and opened by the head of the Peterborough Council and the Communities Minister in March 2015.
Clare worked with the two directors of Urban Self Build to facilitate their thinking on how to map out and differentiate their new business model within this traditional industry. As Market Makers the directors needed to feel able and confident in understanding how to manage and how to present their business to key stakeholders. Ongoing coaching support has supported their efforts across the whole spectrum of project management, stakeholder management and business development.
COMMUNICATIONS & EVENTS
Electrocomponents is probably the biggest company you have never heard of. It offers it's business customers time critical and high service support for a huge range of technical products. They operate across the planet and employ over 6,000 people in over 26 countries.
It has a clear Vision and Strategy to become "The World's Distributor of Choice" and to this end reorganised to a fully global structure. Following the this, it was vital to bring the new and complete leadership team together.
Clare was appointed to project manage the development, design and delivery of Electrocomponent's first Global Leadership Conference, managing a budget in excess of £1m. The conference surpassed expectations and attained 78% of delegates who subsequently strongly felt part of a global leadership team - a key objective.
Please read the testimony of Klaus Goeldenbot, Global Sales Director, Electrocomponents plc
BUSINESS TURNAROUND
Cultivate Oxford is a pioneering social enterprise &co-operative. Established in 2012, Cultivate's mission is to increase access and consumption of locally grown food to the people of Oxfordshire. To that end, it established a market garden, offers educational & volunteer land days and created a mobile greengrocer’s shop, the VegVan, to get more local food into the city. A mail order business had been created in December 2014.
Clare worked with the team under a grant funded initiative, initially to research the potential of new opportunities to grow local food consumption. However, it became apparent that the financial status of the organisation, together with a strong desire to become fully self-funded prioritised her focus to develop and improve the current business model within a short period.
Clare brought her commercial skills to develop a strategy and plan that innovated and streamlined the business. Work with the team to recruit talent and train new skills and processes, led to a transformation of the financial and business health of the retail division. Clare initiated and embedded a culture change to get Cultivate to think of itself as a retailer and enjoy the business of selling. As a consequence, sales and volume grew, achieving and sustaining an average 183% growth on the prior year after 17 weeks. Waste fell from 27% to an average of 2% and the business went into net profit for the first time. This performance has continued, with the team now tracking well against its ambitious business plan.
Please read the testimony of Gary Frank, Board member, Cultivate Oxford