The College is the leading international body providing distance learning education and training to the property professions and construction industry.

Commissioned to write a practical guide on communications and communications management, aimed at non-specialists, as part of the communications section of the College’s Diploma in Surveying Practice.

Role function: work with team-members and the client’s own facilitators, to facilitate change sessions in a workshop environment.

This work was delivered as an Affiliate of a London-based management consultancy

Delivered change management sessions across the country, based on General Electric’s Work Out principles and designed to engage front line staff.

Coached internal facilitators to help groups of frontline staff identify and execute ways of improving personal efficiency, equating to major man hour savings (average 15,000 per session).

Facilitated new senior management teams in developing 100 day operational and staff engagement plans with a focus on building team-working and leadership skills.

Facilitated at a follow-on session in March 2008.

Role function: stakeholder communications consultancy.

Advised the charity on improving their communications with external stakeholders and making better use of current communications vehicles.

Helped the team identify stakeholder groups as initial steps to re-focusing stakeholder communication vehicles.

Role function: focus group based research.

Conducted focus groups with parents and pupils to identify the ethos behind the school’s success as preparatory work to the Governors’ search for a new Head Teacher.

Role function: set up the opening phase of a major change programme; develop stakeholder management strategy and framework and associated internal and external communications; research new means of delivering Post Office services to customers; manage small team.

Set up and managed the first phase of the Rural Strategy Programme, a DTI funded review of the rural post office network, looking at how services could be delivered more efficiently in rural areas to save £140m per year. Was responsible for an annual budget of £15m.

Analysed the stakeholder environment and identified critical stakeholders. Developed the communications strategy, supporting framework and underpinning collateral to manage relationships and consistency of message among internal and external stakeholders and the media, recognising the sensitivity of key consumer and other stakeholder groups to the change programme.

Engaged with internal teams and personnel at all levels to ensure common understanding of the programme and to set up two way information flows to remain aware of issues, concerns, attitude shifts.

Established the “Rural Strategy Advisory Group” – as a key external stakeholder management group, whose members included senior representatives from as DTI, DEFRA, Countryside Agency, the Welsh and Scottish devolved administrations, Northern Ireland, National Federation of Sub postmasters, Postcomm and Postwatch – to manage their differing views on the future of the rural network of post offices and to build joint influence into Government. Their published views suggested this approach was successful.

Launched pilot activity in Scotland and Southern England with regional partners to test partnership working, customer reaction and commercial viability of the exercises. The pilots investigated the impact of working with local businesses to run weekly post offices at temporary venues; the broader use of mobile post offices; and shared services partnership activity at tourist information centres.

Inputted into the report into Government detailing the options available with respect to the future of the rural post office network.

Managed Programme Office into second phase of the programme.

Facilitated Post Office Ltd board’s review of business direction and development of new strategy, in response to declining government business through post offices.

Worked with the sales and marketing teams to reorganise Post Office Ltd’s market intelligence function to make it more supportive of the future needs of the business. Reduced the overall cost and sped up the acquisition of market intelligence through developing and introducing a regular structured programme of basic scans within specified markets.

Helped individual teams develop their 5 year plans as part of building the business unit’s strategic plan in response to the Group’s objectives. Plans judged to be a benchmark within Royal Mail.

Engaged all members of the division on the overall strategy by setting up regular open forums with the divisional board – first time this approach had been adopted. Feedback suggested it was well received.

Role function: manage an on-going project; in conjunction with the programme delivery authority, develop a business case for over the counter card acceptance; manage small team.

Ran a pilot scheme in 600 post offices in North West England to understand the financial and commercial impact of accepting debit cards within the post office network. The network was the largest high street retailer not taking cards at the time.

Led a virtual team of core suppliers that included ICL Pathway, NatWest Streamline and internal departments to develop a business case for national roll-out.

Role function: manage all aspects of Post Office Counters Ltd brand; head up marketing communications; work with the product marketing teams on communications projects; business manage new intranet; manage small team.

Accountable for multi-million pound promotional budgets.

Worked with internal stakeholders to strengthen the business’s understanding of building brand value and brand management through formal presentations, one to ones, networking, and by supporting the development of formal branding guidelines for use by marketing teams. This reduced the overall cost of creative work and gave a clear guide to house style.

Reduced the cost to the business and sub postmasters of re-branding the post office network through process simplification and better product specification. Savings equated to c. 30% year on year.

Developed campaigns with marketing teams that promoted the business at corporate and product levels using a range of in-store and external print, press and broadcast media.

Led the development and introduction of the business’s first intranet. Built staff engagement through staff media channels, as well as face-to-face with conference and team presentations. First corporate intranet to use streamed sound and vision for training and communication. Awarded “Best Development” by Cranfield University in their 1999 Benchmarking Exercises.

Advertising Manager, later Communications Consultant – Post Office Counters Ltd

External Communications Manager - Hoskyns Group plc (now Cap Gemini)
Introduced £7 million new business in one year, as a result of mail marketing initiatives that I set up and ran.