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At Alastor we are very proud of our previous projects and the positive impact they have had. On our clients page you can see the kinds of clients we have worked with. Here we hide the names to maintain confidentiality but give a flavour of the kinds of work we have completed in each sector and for each of our services.
If you have any questions please get in touch by emailing info@alastorconsulting.co.uk.
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| Portfolio Management for a Cruise Operator |
| Acted as an advisor to the board of a major cruise line operator to help plan and prioritise an inventory of 18 major strategic systems initiatives. Structured the initiatives into three portfolios (customer facing and sales distribution, logistics and supply, finance and HR) to support initial capacity growth of 37% within existing resources. Identified additional savings of £1.8m initially and £3m annually thereafter. |
| Project Director for a Paper Manufacturer |
| Operated as Project Director of the international logistics review for a US based pulp, bleached board and kraft manufacturer. The project resulted in a new international sales organisation structure, reallocation of responsibilities between manufacturing and sales, simplification of the US based distribution process and a partnership programme with key customers. The project identified benefits and savings of $109m. |
| Process Redesign in Corporate Recovery |
| Advised a “big four” accountancy firm on the redesign of processes in the Corporate Recovery function. The new process splits “front” and “back” office functions, centralising all “back office” processes previously carried out in national, regional and local offices. The Shared Service Centre supports significant improvements in the Corporate Recovery function, at reduced costs, utilising integrated workflow and accountancy software to ensure seamless integration of the national practice. |
| Risk Management and Organisation Design for a Bank |
| Worked with the Chief Executives of a major bank to implement the same rigorous portfolio and risk management process to the IT project portfolio that are applied to the commercial operations of the bank. This led to a redesign of the organisation structure, including joint business and IT staffing, career planning and skills development. Implemented end to end customer focused processes and service portfolios resulting in improved operational stability and a headcount reduction of 10%. |
| Joint Venture/Outsourcing for a DIY Retailer |
| Worked with the senior management team of a large DIY retailer to resolve installation problems. Installation (of bathrooms, kitchens, conservatories etc.) was a major growth area but was generating unacceptable remedy and warranty claims. Worked with the management team to negotiate a joint venture with a partner specialising in installation management, generating savings in excess of £15m and eliminating significant capacity barriers. |
| IT Strategy for a White Goods Manufacturer |
| Worked with the IT services subsidiary of a major international manufacturer of white goods to redevelop the IT strategy, following the consolidation and outsourcing of many of the core technical services. This resulted in the development of new (global) governance structures and cross-charging mechanisms to differentiate the impact of IT unit cost reductions from the effects of increased business volumes. This further led to improved decision processes and improved relations with the operating divisions. |
| Global Vendor Management for an Accounting Firm |
| Worked with one of the “final four” major accounting firms to create a global service management function covering all IT supplies. The service management provided a hierarchy of performance measures that enabled the Global Vendor Management function to move beyond the measures of failure (remedies) to measuring genuine service improvements. |
| Procurement for the United Nations |
| Advised a large UN agency on the procurement process for worldwide integrated accounting and logistics systems in the Rome head office and eighty regional offices. This enabled to enable the agency to meet UN and sponsoring organisation reporting requirements (including public and private sector bodies) as well as the operational needs of field operatives. |
| Outsourcing for a Government Department |
| Worked with the Environmental Ministry of a European Government to develop a consistent benchmarking structure for a major outsourcing project for 7,000 client systems and 200 servers. The benchmark structure covered the current performance benchmark, proxy bid for outsourcing, benchmarking of supplier offers and tracking of supplier performance over the timescale of the contract, including the auditing of supplier processes, quantitative and qualitative benchmarking of supplier performance. The study identified annual savings of €3m. |
| Project Management in the Insurance Industry |
| Managed a major project for a large global insurance broker. The objective of the project was to improve client acquisition and retention in the mid-market sector by streamlining risk acquisition and placement processes. |
| Programme Management and Outsourcing for an Electronics Manufacturer |
| Managed a senior management team for a major electronics manufacturer that was developing the RFP, vendor management processes, benchmarking and contract terms to outsource the global IT infrastructure covering 800,000 client systems. Managed the subsequent vendor assessment, board presentation and contract negotiation process. This generated annual savings in excess of €20m per year. |
| Outsourcing for a US Biotech Company |
| Worked with a US-based biotech business to develop the most appropriate IT sourcing strategy to support a significant service improvement in line with significant corporate growth. |
| Performance Improvement for a Jewellery Retailer |
| Worked with the senior management team of the largest global jewellery retailer to identify major service improvement and cost reduction opportunities in HR and payroll, identifying direct savings of between 20% and 33%. |
| Strategy for a Catalogue Retailer |
| Worked with the MD and IT Director of a catalogue sales company to review the impact of a move to a more direct sales and distribution model on the portfolio of existing applications, and identify the likely cost of migrating to a new applications architecture. The IT costs identified facilitated the decision to divest the company, rather than invest in the required systems changes. |
| Aligning IT for an Environmental Agency |
| Advised a major agency responsible for the regulated recycling, reprocessing and recovery activities of its members in the UK on how to structure IT to support volume growth as well as the increasing service expectations of its members, while retaining the flexibility to respond to regulatory changes. |
| IT Improvement and Management for an Aid Charity |
| Advised a world-wide charity on the recruitment and appointment of an IT Director. Acted as interim IT Director during the recruitment process. Subsequently worked with the new IT Director to develop a framework for portfolio management of short, medium and long term IT project planning. This facilitated resource allocation, elimination of duplicated activities and identification of systems dependencies across local, regional and global initiatives. |
| Performance and Process Change for a Law Firm |
| Worked with a large regional law firm to support a significant expansion of services on a UK-wide basis. This required the redesign of core processes, the implementation of shared service centres to support the increased transaction workload, and the implementation of e-commerce applications to support customer acquisition. These changes were supported by improved IT applications and infrastructure. The project also identified a number of quick wins in local offices to enhance capacity and improve customer service levels. |
| IT Advice for an Accounting Firm |
| Advised a “big four” accountancy firm on the implementation of knowledge management systems to support the collection, processing and distribution across all UK locations of tax rulings, external legal advice and guidance from government departments received at any of its UK locations. |
| Outsourcing for a Mobile Phone Operator |
| Worked with the German subsidiary of a global mobile phone operator to outsource all IT activities (including the mobile network operations and all applications management and development). The negotiations generated significant reductions in running costs of €6m per year and released €20m cash in time to fund the Christmas promotion of handsets. |
| Business Strategy for an Information Company |
| Helped a provider of corporate data to refocus business processes and sales activities to move away from “commodity” selling of data products, to selling value added services in marketing, purchasing, risk management and data conversion to enhance revenues and customer retention. |
| IT Improvement for an Insurance Company |
| Worked with the global IT Director of a major international insurer to assess and quantify the benefits flowing from improved global co-ordination of IT and consolidation of data centres. Savings in excess of £10m were identified, as well as opportunities to enhance the resilience of systems and consistency of global services. Additional opportunities to reduce the cost of complexity, following a number of acquisitions, were identified. |
| IT Advice for a Finance Company |
| Advised the financing subsidiary of a large US-based motor manufacturer on structuring a joint project to roll out a common European systems solution, following the acquisition of a significant shareholding in an Italian-based motor manufacturer. |
| Information Strategy for a Government Agency |
| Worked with the UK Government Agency responsible for the major roads network to develop an information strategy to make better use of existing assets and road capacity without the need to build additional roads, with the objective of significantly reducing congestion. |
| Training Programme for an Entertainment Company |
| Ran a management training programme for the Dutch subsidiary of a major distributor of entertainment products including CDs and DVDs. Topics covered include problem solving, facilitated workshops, effective team management, coaching and empowerment. |
| Performance Review for a Gaming Company |
| Managed part of the review of the overhead costs structure for the operator of a national chain of betting shops, and recommended reorganisation of the property and systems functions, generating initial savings of 15% and identifying further savings of 10%. |
| Procurement for an Oil Company |
| Managed the procurement of an integrated accounting package for the recently acquired Dutch joint venture oil and gas field operating subsidiary of a UK-based oil exploration company. The package had to support the reporting and statutory requirements in the Netherlands (where the operations were based), Norway (where some of the oil and gas fields were located), Italy and the UK (where the headquarters of the joint venture partners were based). |
| Cost Reduction and Performance Improvement in the Automotive Industry |
| Managed the review of the cost structure of two automotive parts manufacturing plants. This resulted in the design of a faster product development and engineering process to support specialist markets, rationalisation of product lines, the introduction of manufacturing cells and statistical process controls. This ultimately enabled the closure of one of the manufacturing plants and consolidation of the remaining production requirements. |
| Organisation Change and Cost Reduction for a Factoring Company |
| Worked with the factoring subsidiary of a large bank to restructure and redesign its factoring operations to reduce costs and to deliver improved and measured client service levels, supported by implementing nationally consistent processes. This enabled the operations to cope with additional volumes without growth in complexity and administrative overheads. |
| IT and M&E Strategy for a New Build College |
This College of Arts and Technology on the south coast of England was a new build establishment that sought to use ICT to enhance the teaching and learning experience. We worked with the Principal and her management team to develop a common language covering all the functions of the College (admin, teaching, learning, resources and ICT) and to develop a comprehensive ICT strategy. We further developed the specialist IT-related mechanical and electrical requirements for the new build.
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| IT and M&E Strategy for a New Build School |
| Worked on a £32m new build for a school for boys in a London borough, with particular responsibility for the ICT strategy and IT-related M&E components. The objective of the ICT strategy is to deliver a step change in the use of ICT (the school is a Mathematics & Computing Specialist School) within a sustainable (technology and cost) environment. |
| Outsourcing in Central Government |
| Worked with the senior management team of the government department responsible for all infrastructure projects in one of the United Arab Emirates states on the outsourcing of all IT activities. We were asked to intervene during the final stages of contract negotiations to ensure that the client had the appropriate commercial and legal protection in place. Despite the many clauses and schedules that were originally identified as being missing, the client was able to progress to signing the contract with all appropriate protection in place within two months. |
| IT Organisation in Central Government |
| Worked with the management team of a large government department to develop a new IT organisation structure to integrate multiple technologies (including e-commerce) and improve service delivery with reduced costs. Led the future state process and organisation design activities that identified significant cost reductions. |
| Benefit Realisation in Central Government |
| Reviewed a number of strategic government health initiatives to develop a business case for implementing new government policy, liaise with and present the case to local authorities and prepare ministerial briefings. Subsequently provided implementation support to local authorities. |
| Business Process Improvement in Central Government |
| Within a central government department, managed a team of business analysts and subject matter experts to prioritise sustainable efficiency improvements of £1 bn in Adult Social Care across 150 local authorities in England. |
| Business School Accreditation in Europe |
| Carried out the first business school accreditation in Europe under the Bologna Accord, resulting in the Dutch Government Department for Education granting MBA degree-awarding powers to the business school. |
| Strategic Planning and Benefit Realisation in Local Government |
| Worked with a major Local Authority in the Midlands and the local Primary Care Trust to develop an integrated and shared vision for adult social care in 2020. We worked with the clients to translate the vision into specific actions and used these to review the current LA and PCT projects and activities to identify those that were redundant (generating savings), reprioritising those projects that were relevant, and identifying those specific additional projects that were required to deliver the vision. |
| IT Strategy and Cost Review in the Public Sector |
| Reviewed the IT strategy of a large Naval Dockyard (including responsibility for submarines) to ensure that it supported the business requirements at an appropriate level of risk, resulting in a recommendation to scrap the planned development of a £7m materials control system. |
| IT Strategy in Retail |
| Worked with the senior management team of a global luxury clothing designer, manufacturer and retailer to develop the global IT strategy, governance and systems routemap in support of a major global expansion. |
| E-Procurement for a Shipping Company |
| Worked with the global procurement function of a shipper of containers to identify and define and implement pilot e-procurement projects across different categories of supplies and services. |
| Training in Inventory Management for CIPS |
| Designed and presented the very successful two day Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply workshop covering the use of advanced inventory management and forecasting techniques to support enhanced customer services with reduced cost and inventory levels. The training workshop took place twice a year. |
| Process Improvement for a Global Shared Service Centre |
| Worked on developing and implementing all purchasing, sales, logistics and accounting processes in a European Shared Services Centre set up in Switzerland by a major US paper manufacturer. This generated improved controls and procedures, supporting explosive sales growth without increased costs, enabling most national and all regional offices to be closed. |
| IT Value Improvement for an International Airline |
| Worked with each of the divisional directors of a large international airline to maximise the value from using IT as part of a programme to improve annual profits by £1bn, following the devolution of central IT budgets to the individual business units. |
| E-Commerce in the Travel Sector |
| Worked with the team developing a new service line for business travel, based on e-commerce principles, the use of web-enabled applications, call centres and voice recognition technology, with the long term objective of changing the pricing structure of an entire industry sector. |
| Training in Change and Benefit Realisation for a Professional Firm |
| Worked with a major, global consultancy to introduce change and project management techniques to “Make Change Stick”. Trained the internal consultancy teams and then worked on assignments with the teams, applying the tools and techniques and mentoring the client teams. |
| Market Positioning for a Technology Company |
| Advised the senior management team of a major global software provider on the positioning of value-added services (operational excellence; managed support; value innovation and governance; consulting services) to ensure that they addressed genuine business needs and generated demand in the market. |
| IT Strategy and Business Change for an Electronics Manufacturer |
| Worked with the senior IT and business management team for a major electronics manufacturer to develop the global IT strategy to support simplification of the business, a major shift of resources to the Far East, and increased collaboration across the supply chain. |
| Security Policy and Planning for an Electronics Manufacturer |
| Worked with the Security Competence Centre of a major electronics manufacturer to agree security standards, plan integration of security requirements with the global systems architecture, and develop the strategic plan for integrating the evolving security requirements generated by (for example) collaborative processing, peer to peer working and joint ventures. |
| HR Improvement for a Major Bank |
| Worked with the Global HR Director of a major global Bank to identify core HR competencies and redesign the global HR function to focus on value added services and the effective management of outsourced transaction processing. |
| Purchasing Improvement for a Building Society |
| Redesigned the purchasing procedures of a large building society and introduced the purchasing life cycle concept, generating initial savings of £6m, as part of a pilot application of an integrated performance improvement and systems development methodology. |
| Cost Reduction for an Insurance Company |
| Worked with the subsidiaries of a major international insurer to identify the costs of complexity (following a number of acquisitions) and explore methods of reducing those costs. |
| Business Change in the Insurance Sector |
| Worked with the COO of the London branch of a major global insurer, to review the commercial arrangements for systems to manage the global risk portfolio, to implement significantly enhanced governance procedures across the international offices, and to bring the project developing the systems to manage the global risk portfolio back under control. |
| Outsourcing Advice for a New Insurance Business |
| Helped an insurance start-up, which had been set up to combine sophisticated risk and capital analysis with traditional insurance underwriting, to outsource all IT and back office functions. |
| Process Improvement in Manufacturing |
| Supported a highly innovative global packaging company and its customers in the implementation of significantly enhanced manufacturing processes in the Saudi Arabia based plant that supported the company's Middle East markets. |
| IT Cost Reduction in the Oil Industry |
| Worked with a major oil company to develop a migration plan to a single worldwide consistent desktop environment to reduce complexity, improve systems reliability, enhance systems security and reduce costs by US$300m. |
| Benefit Realisation and Procurement in the Oil Industry |
| Reviewed blending plants and refinery systems throughout Europe for a multinational oil company, including joint venture sites, to identify the benefits of implementing common systems, common interfaces and reporting structures to integrate with a European-wide architecture. Advised and participated in the procurement of pan-European materials control systems for blending plants. |
| IT Support for a Major Charity |
| Developed the subscription and integrated accounting requirements specification for a large charity, also advising on the subsequent procurement, development and implementation process. |
| Strategic Management for a Charity |
| Chaired the board of an international charity during the development and implementation of a new strategy to replace declining revenues from financial services and replace these with paid-for services for members, commercial organisations and business schools. |
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An Alastor Case Study
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IT Value Improvement for an International Airline
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Worked with each of the divisional directors of a large international airline to maximise the value from using IT as part of a programme to improve annual profits by £1bn, following the devolution of central IT budgets to the individual business units.
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| ::AN ALASTOR CASE STUDY:: |
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