Interim Management - Case Study Portfolio

Interim management engagement delivering a critical business transformation.

Lord have worked with this international consumer healthcare products group for over 7 years, and when they needed support from a specialist Industry experienced business leader, we engaged with our associate network to find the right solution.

In this assignment, our clients UK operations had experienced significant growth over the previous 3 years, however the business was now struggling with high operational costs and fluctuating prices in global commodity markets.

The brief was to appoint an Interim with expertise in the sector and these global commodities, with a lean manufacturing background. The objective was to support the management team in streamlining operations, reducing waste, and to develop a stable pricing model with key suppliers to ultimately improve profitability.

This approach not only improved the company’s bottom line, but also increased its attractiveness to potential buyers, as the group were approaching the pre-sale exit preparation stage with their private equity partners.

PE and Venture Capital portfolio projects can be diverse, each tailored to the opportunities and risks that high growth organisations face in challenging global markets.

We support business leaders and operational teams to identify priority opportunities for improvement, reduce operational risk and help shape growth strategies, to improve EBITDA and support the return on their investment.

In this project, our venture capital client had recently invested in a heritage products business in the UK. Their brand was critical to the investment and they designed all of their own products and manufactured their high value range in the Far East, working closely with outsourced manufacturing partners.

During the pre-investment stage, the due diligence showed an over reliance on certain suppliers and there needed to be a review of their supply chain risk and operational developments needed to support dual supply strategies.

The Interims project focused on sourcing new suppliers, improving quality control techniques to ensure consistency of the branded items, and training to develop the team and provide them with the tools to manage a more complex supplier management process.

The successful outcome was a foundation for growth, and improved supply chain resilience which allowed the team to design and develop new product ranges to underpin their expansion plans.

Lord Interim provides clients in the Private, Public and Private Equity markets, with access to approved Interim associates for Fractional leadership provision, or short-term Subject Matter Expert roles.

Fractional Interim support, is usually a part-time, ongoing arrangement where an experienced functional expert provides high-level strategic oversight a few days or hours a week.

They can deliver C-suite or specialised functional executive capabilities (e.g. Finance, HR, Product, Supply Chain, etc) without the overhead of a full-time salary and due to this can manage multiple clients and projects simultaneously.

Case Study - Rapidly growing management consulting firm - Global Commodity Expert

In this subject matter expert role, the Interims remit was to work alongside various project teams managing multiple client projects with a common theme. The consulting firm was supporting their clients through challenging global commodity raw material price fluctuations, due to volatile oil and downstream commodity market pricing.

We appointed an experienced Interim expert with 30 years experience of the oil and downstream markets such as intermediate chemicals, plastics, resins, and derivative global commodities.

Working on a 'pay as you need' fractional basis with the various teams, providing guidance on pricing, supply chain risk and supplier management strategies, the project teams had the assurance of access to years of experience at the right time to successfully deliver the projects.

Lord's expertise is in assembling blended project teams that drive high-value transformation initiatives, ensuring impactful and sustainable business results for clients.

By combining diverse skills and interim project leadership, we deliver tailored solutions that align with each organisation's strategic and transformation goals.

Rail Project - Interim teams support the transition to Public Ownership

A project highlighting executive Interim support for a challenging mobilisation program requiring a team of experienced professionals with project, procurement and transformation expertise.

As part of this transition to public ownership, train operating companies (TOC’s) functional team’s capacity was significantly reduced, as previously reliant on their parent companies central HQ support teams.

Losing access to greater bandwidth and experienced colleagues at a time of significant change and transformation of the operating model was challenging, however manageable with the rapid introduction of experienced public sector Interim specialists and project management teams to support the transition.

The assembled team had a range of different skillsets from analytics to public sector transformation & project management leadership, all designed to support the leadership teams through the process with fixed and demanding delivery dates.

The successful project team delivered a blueprint for future private to public mobilisation based on shared learning and knowledge transfer. Also, as the Interim team left the project, the business was also supported in recruiting new staff for permanent roles in the newly designed organisation structure.