Introduction

It’s difficult to believe that six years have passed since I commenced my studies at Aston and how much has changed since October 2003. I missed the graduation ceremony as I was overseas on my honeymoon though have remained in regular contact with the University and the many friends made during that time. Since I set up my own company my life has changed considerably and now with our first child expected in December, life will continue to change and become increasingly challenging and rewarding in the coming months.

It certainly is a challenging time at present with the downturn increasing demand for business consulting balanced by increased competition from the growing number of consultants entering the market. To complicate matters, free advice for SMEs and increasing availability of grants to stimulate innovation is reducing consultancy charges while also increasing customer choice. The current climate has definitely highlighted the need for organisations to react to market realities and innovative companies are undertaking this journey either with internal resources alone or a mix of internal resources and consultants.

Background

DenovO Consulting specialises in business improvement consulting and change management and helps mainly SME clients align strategy and operations with market environment, to innovate and to implement business improvements.

The key enabler of success for business in a competitive market is service differentiation, reputation and a solid network of Industry clients and contacts. In the case of consulting organisations, the services offered, credibility, knowledge and experience of consultants are of greatest importance. Our services are customised to meet client demands and  while government support and advice is appreciated, clients are increasingly looking for bundled expert services not readily available from one source. i.e. business improvement consultancy, and change management services backed by relevant Industry knowledge and an understanding of external support available to support changes.

I have found that contacts made over the past fifteen years have proven extremely useful for opening doors, providing referrals and generating new business leads. The successful implementation of a variety of complex change projects for large well known companies e.g. TUV Rheinland, Bureau Veritas and Severn Trent has also helped by demonstrating credibility, alongside a solid track record in engineering and business management. These have provided a platform to pursue my career, though as in any successful business, motivation is important and a sense of curiosity and a desire for improvement is a good driver in this business.

Since childhood, I have been curious to understand how things worked and would often take house hold appliances apart to satisfy my curiosity. Appliances will often function without their full complement of parts which sparked an early interest in continuous improvement and later cost elimination. With this in mind, it is not surprising that I went on to study engineering and after graduation worked as a design and development engineer in Japan. This came about as a result of Japan’s auto manufacturers’ strategy to deal with changing market conditions and to promote expansion in Europe which encouraged English speaking engineers to relocate to Japan, to learn the Japanese way of doing business, and to return and establish manufacturing bases later in Europe.

During my three year assignment, I worked for Nippon Thermostat where I was immediately immersed in Japanese culture, communicated via Japanese, experienced new management and production techniques and as an integral part of a new product team, drove continuous improvements of products and processes. I participated in their operations management practices and developed an appreciation for continuous evaluation and improvement as well as recognising the importance of employee participation in the decision making process. There I came to realise the importance of continuous improvement to successful business, and consensus building to successful innovation, adoption of new ideas and change implementation.

My work led to my follow on role with TUV Rheinland, a global technical and management consulting services provider which provides services to organisations looking to penetrate international markets. I  led a team of engineers and support staff delivering technical and quality management consulting services to component manufacturers within Japan while also assisting European companies to access the Japanese market. During that time, I experienced the contrasting styles of Japanese and Western management while working with colleagues and clients from a wide range of backgrounds. Eager for new challenges and a wish to return to Europe, I moved to Birmingham to set up TUV’s first UK subsidiary in 1999. Once established I had the satisfaction of developing the business and seeing it prosper, and achieving profitability within the projected timeframe. Understanding the importance of managing change to the success of business in rapidly changing environments, I decided to enhance my knowledge by studying for an MBA while continuing with my management role.

I chose Aston due to its international reputation, flexibility of study options, and found the course to be extremely rewarding, though balancing the demands of work and study was of course challenging at times. I completed my studies as planned, and as well as gaining new knowledge, built a good network of friends and contacts among students and staff.

Once my dissertation was submitted, I went on to deliver a number of business improvement and change initiatives before embarking on my current enterprise to concentrate mainly on the SME market.

Conclusion

Since graduation I have taken a background in engineering, problem solving, commercial and management roles with experience delivering consulting services and academic knowledge to pursue a career in business consultancy. Key experiences have generated the necessary credibility and knowledge to do so and contacts made during that time have proven extremely useful for business development and as associate resources. Our clients select external consultants to support their management teams identifying improvements and implementing changes, and to bring specialist knowledge to ensure rapid change implementation and benefit realisation. Their choice is heavily influenced by our bundled services of consulting, management services and market knowledge which differentiates us from competitors and I expect will keep all at DenovO Consulting busy for the foreseeable future.