Shop Direct Financial Services
Hitachi Consulting, 2005
Summary
Integrating two businesses, with different processes, systems and cultures, whilst reducing from eight geographically diverse locations to three, is a tough challenge. Add in the fact that in three years only 300 out of 1500 employees will be doing the same job in the same location and the complexity begins to mount. Supplement these requirements with the need to build a 600 seat call centre and negotiate new T&Cs with several Trade Unions, in an environment in which the Group Executive required assurance of the programme deliverables, and it becomes obvious why the Chief Executive of this financial services organisation felt the risks were too great to tackle without expert help.
Hitachi Consulting (known then as Impact Plus) was engaged to redefine the programme structure, develop a robust Programme Plan and begin delivery of a programme designed to generate benefits of £65m in four years – to date benefits of £8.7m have been delivered, which is 9% ahead of plan for this stage of the programme.
A successful win-win programme is clearly demonstrated by the following:
- All deliverables signed off by the FD as completed to brief and on time
- Group executives citing the programme as ‘best practice’
- An Impact Plus employee joining the client on a permanent basis
- The Chief Executive taking the initiative to write a glowing reference.
