Background
Clyde Materials Handling is in a period of rapid change and growth. The Company was engaged in the specification and selection of a new business system to replace its ageing Sanderson system and also considering establishing a new strategy.

AHC was commissioned to facilitate the strategy development as, in the past, the good work undertaken in senior management workshops had failed to materialise in action plans that were implemented and monitored.

Project Summary
Using the strategic planning framework, the senior management team attended 3 one-day workshops, the focus of which was to define a strategy for the next 3 years to ensure the company achieved the financial goals it had set itself.

The team developed outline budgets and the next year's base sales and marketing targets. They investigated the available market size and growth information to target suitable industry groups in each country. They also reviewed the technologies at their disposal and decided in which order these should be exploited in each geographical region.

The team developed a balanced scorecard and individual reports to monitor their critical measures and the progress against the key actions. The resulting document has formed the basis of presentations to shareholders and in developing each individual country's budgets for 2004 in dialogue with that country's local managing director.

Project Benefit
The benefit has been greater focus from the management team, achievement of corporate goals and belief in a process that can turn qualitative information into measurable and manageable actions and plans. In addition the presentation to the city shareholders made a positive impression, demonstrating that the team had moved on in terms of the depth and rigour of its thinking on how to take the company forward.

Testimonial
"Allman Horrocks assisted greatly in the selection process for the new replacement ERP system for Sanderson."

"An area where they added huge value was in the facilitation of the workshops on strategy and business planning. Like all good facilitators they listened and made sense of the comments that were made."

"To cut a long story short they assisted greatly in adding order to the brainstorming and by so doing helped the team build enormous belief in the exciting targets that were being discussed in the new entrepreneurial approach to brand new markets. The answers were provided by the team but without the facilitation the answers would never have been clear!"

"Our facilitator added enormous value and is one of those few consultants that's actually very pragmatic, understands the real issues and has indeed been there, seen it and done it."
Alex Stewart, CEO, Clyde Materials Handling Ltd.