If you have a business that is in trouble, underperforming or lost its way, you need to change its direction, improve revenues and reduce costs. And none of that will occur by simply doing more of the same.

You know you need a changed approach, and may feel you need to change the leadership as well - but will the business in its current state attract the sort of new leadership team you need, and is this the right time? What you need is help in deciding what should be the new direction, and then what resources - including people, systems, partners - you will need to achieve it.

We can provide proven consulting and interim support for turnarounds and transformations, major change programmes, privatisations and mergers, with a team who have worked with Private Equity, Major Multinationals, and fast growing start-ups. We bring expertise and decades of transformation experience in:

• Financial Management

• Operational management

• Change management

Transforming financial managment, back office functions and controls

Sometimes before you can you turn a business around you need better financial data to really understand its current position. We have seen businesses whose financial and management information outputs were pretty basic when the business was small - and have become inadequate for a business that has since grown considerably (and in one case even been listed on AIM). We can help put the financial team and systems in place to give you a full oversight of the financial position and create the management information you need to take tough decisions. We can also help bring your procurement, HR management, contracting and other processes up to standard to give you proper control over the business.

Transforming operational management, marketing and sales

Turning around a business typically requires better operational management, whether of manufacturing, distribution or retail activity. We can help manage these processes and bring them up to best international practices. Bringing a business back to growth always requires increased sales - but to whom, and why should they increase their preference for your goods and services over your competitors? We can help analyse you customers and potential customers desires and preferences, derive what actually drives choice and therefore demand, identify the most attractive segments, and so reposition your brands to have greater appeal to these customers. Then align your processes to deliver a consistently superior brand experience that will drive recommendation, loyalty and sales growth.

Transforming organisations and culture

One of the biggest challenges in transformation is transforming the organisation and its culture - changing behavioural paradigms and expectations. We can get into the depths of your culture, get to understand why there are dysfunctionalities, and develop practical programmes to transform them.

A proven team

Our transformation team has significant line experience in PE backed ventures, major multi-nationals and in challenged mid-size businesses. We also have experience of working for leading consultancies including McKinsey & Company and Oliver Wyman. Between us we have held the key line roles including CEO, CFO, MD, FD, Marketing Director, and HR Director. We have also worked as interim managers and led consulting teams on transformations.

Guy Marchant

Andrew Dixon

David Hensley

David is the Managing Partner of Hensley Partners, which he founded in 2005. Hensley Partners have worked on many transformations and turnarounds, privatisations and mergers around the world. Prior to this he worked on many mergers and reorganisations as the Head of the Strategy and Organisation practice fo Towers Perrin, the leading HR consultants, and as a Senior Manager with McKinsey & Company.

David has also had hands on management experience with Shell and Carlton Communications (now ITV), and as Director of Organisational Development for Citymax, the IT subsidiary of Credit Suisse. David has won D&AD and brand effectiveness awards.

How we work

We work as partners to the management team of the business, helping them to change the way the business works, getting it back into a viable form, positioning it for growth, and in some cases helping prepare it for sale.

How exactly we work depends on the particular needs of the business, and no two situations are the same. So we typically start by interviewing the key managers and stakeholders, then running a Turnaround Management Workshop to develop a fast and effective plan of action, focusing first on the immediate issues then creating a platform for future growth and or exit/sale. Depending on the amount of data already available that programme might incorporate a management and/or customer audit - or just get straight into sorting things out.

Depending on the scale of the business and its needs we might help form and guide Business Improvement Teams, using your best people in groups addressing specific areas/issues - or might just work closely with the existing management team.

We’d be delighted to talk to you about what your business might need.

Turnaround case examples

We have successfully worked on a range of turnarounds and transformations with organisations of all sizes - from less than 100 people to many thousands. Each one had its own special set of circumstances and challenges. These are just a few illustrative examples. Please contact us to talk about your company’s specific context and we will be able to identify suitable parallels and approaches.