Redefining strategy for a major UK plumbing supplier
Following a planned separation away from a US based parent, Oaklin was engaged to rapidly define a corporate strategy for a UK based plumbing supplier. This work focused on providing alignment across the business, as well as a clear direction for the future, and produced a range of collateral to engage a range of key stakeholders.
“The primary challenge of the revised strategy was that the one, three and five year plans must be clearly implementable with the resources and capabilities available to the organisation.”
Case Study
Oaklin was engaged by a FTSE building and plumber supplier to revise its UK business strategy, following a planned separation from a US based parent. The primary challenge of the revised strategy, set by the CEO and CFO, was that the one, three and five year plans must be clearly implementable with the resources and capabilities available to the organisation. The documentation produced also had to be fit for purpose for discussion with relevant financial institutions, the group board, institutional investors and staff.
Early stages of this engagement focused on providing a level set for senior management on the current performance of the UK business. This included standardising, cleansing and augmenting relevant financial and operational data, and providing clear and agreed assumptions as to what this data meant for the company.
Following the level set the Oaklin team performed a deep-dive diagnostic of the UK business. A range of key sources were utilised when forming options for the new strategy including (but not limited to): Quantitative and qualitative information available internally and externally; market analysis; best practices from high performing areas of the business; and, Oaklin's sector and subject matter experience. The analysis also incorporated a detailed evaluation of existing strategies and provided a refresh on key initiatives that remained relevant to the future organisation.
The team produced an innovative and revolutionary strategy document, as well as bespoke collateral to be used when engaging the various stakeholder groups. This was also completed in an extremely demanding four-week turnaround period. Most importantly however, the overarching strategy was clearly mapped to the existing paradigm in which the organisation operated and was articulated in language digestible by the business. This led to alignment and buy-in to the new strategy by senior management, its sign-off, and its intended use moving forwards.
