- Altnet – Energis – Launched, ran and grew a portfolio of telecoms services. Generated multi million pound annuity revenues by leading team to launch rich, innovative service portfolio, including capturing dominant market share among Internet Service Providers
- BT plc – Launched and ran new telecoms service. Created multi million pound annuity revenue stream through an adventurous premium pricing strategy, by delivering to market network based Call Centre services, working closely to influence senior stakeholders in sales, marketing and finance functions
- Altnet start up - Advised on actions required to correct misalignment between strategy plan to be a world-class customer orientated Telco and what in practice was the baseline plan, including product management organisation and portfolio
- Altnet/Mobile, ESAT – Facilitated planning for a joint venture, subsequently executed, to use railway telecoms assets in Ireland to establish a national SDH network, working with senior technical, marketing and financial managers
- Altnet RWE – Accelerated product planning by leveraging Energis and BT experience. Advised on portfolio, specifying features, service levels and preparing implementation plans. Proposed product management organisation, defining roles, skill sets, structures and resource levels
- Datatec – Improved a network integrator’s business model by codifying and standardising propositions, enabling more focused selling and lower cost delivery by reducing customisation
- Alcatel – Improved marketing of advanced voice switches, developing a business, rather than technical, proposition for Telco’s, including a supporting toolkit for sales personnel
- NEC – Prepared market analysis input for proposal for a joint venture with BT to deploy broadband. Analysed requirements of SMEs, consumers and existing market for multimedia services, forecast growth and developments
- BT plc – Business case repair. Enabled a major project to overcome crippling launch pricing, by identifying business case errors, liaising with key players in finance, marketing and product management to agree the necessary changes
- BT plc – Led cross-divisional work on business case for Communications facilities management services, involving spend of £215m. Obtained consensus on way forward and business case
- BT plc – Designed and ran test that showed direct marketing was ineffective at stimulating calls revenue – saving UK from years of direct marketing call stimulation campaigns
- BT plc – Improved performance of BT business unit by delivering projects on advanced services aimed at MNCs. Responsible for building and maintaining business plans and ad hoc projects
- Major bank – Market advice to lenders with exposure to network integrator with a cash flow crisis following disastrous implementation of strategy
- Major bank – Market advice, lender exposed to insolvent specialist call centre solution provider, following loss of key sales people and market downturn
- Travel company – Assessment of contact centre operations conversion rate and cost performance as input into acquisition plans for an online/telephony travel basis
- Japanese Insurance business – Assessment of client plans and provision of advice on how to maximize synergies from customer data between insurance and motoring repair businesses
- Provided advice to lender with significant exposure to a network integrator with a cash flow crisis following disastrous implementation of strategy
Network Integrator, UK and Eire
Assessing new management’s recovery plan after disastrous implementation of strategy
Private equity owners of a network integrator with an operating footprint in UK and Eire decided to implement a strategy to move it from a ‘transactional’ retailer of voice, data and related systems solutions, to a services business, maintaining ongoing relationships, understanding the needs of its customer base and securing annuity revenues from loyal customers. A management team from Blue Chip technology businesses was recruited to implement strategy, however they conceived and executed a poor plan intended to deliver these sensible strategic goals. When a bones plan associated with the strategy was presented to sales teams, key salesmen concluded that they would not earn money in line with previous years or their capabilities, and most left the business. This had an instant impact on sales, a slightly delayed impact on cash flow, both worsened by prevailing market conditions. Worse, the downturn in performance meant that a key technology partner with which the business had an exclusive distribution arrangement was under threat.
The management team was replaced. A key lender wanted an opinion on new management’s recovery plan – essentially that reversion to the old business model and recruiting new and former sales people would generate a quick impact, enabling the business to sell its way out of trouble.
David, leveraging his commercial experience in telecom and network integration, reviewed and challenged management plans, probing key assumptions and progress on actions taken so far. He identified key issues and risks for the lender to consider and provided a view on the riskiness of the recovery plan. The business was refinanced.
