I am often asked about business growth as a way to ensure continued success, but many organisations need to make themselves ‘growth-ready’ before they can reap the benefits.
This involves setting a clear strategy and plan which I will demonstrate using a client success story featuring WHC Hire Services Ltd, a construction plant hire company, founded in 1997, who came to us for help with their growth strategy.
The senior management team at WHC worked closely with me to assist with developing and implementing a three-year plan. When we started working with WHC they indicated that they were looking for significant, profitable and sustainable growth but were encountering barriers in doing so.
WHC faced a number of key challenges which included the renewal of a major contract which represented a significant proportion of sales and business growth was being constrained by the amount of equipment available to hire, requiring significant upfront capital investment.
Objectives
We explored and developed a three-year vision, key strategies and a one-page plan to address these key challenges and set five objectives.
Implementation
The strategic plan set out a smart, powerful and outcome driven programme and the key elements of this were:
- Win the major contract renewal
- Reduce reliance on individual customers
- Extend the hire fleet
- Increase leadership and management capability
- Add a third depot
Results
The three-year plan was achieved with in excess of 100% increase in sales over the period, record turnover month to month and a significant increase in profit and cash flow.
The third depot was added by the purchase of a business with help from our Corporate Finance team; from initial negotiations, due diligence, finance and deal management. It was opened by Lord Digby-Jones and speaking at that event James Clutterbuck, Managing Director, said: “The partners and team at Randall & Payne simply gave us what we needed to turn our plans into reality. We are excited about the future and are already working with them on the next three-year plan”.
The success of WHC was recognised nationally at the 2017 British Accountancy Awards when we were awarded “Best Client Project of the Year”. By taking the time to understand the key issues and providing the skills and resources to support implementation of the plan, we proved essential to the WHC’s growth success.
Will Abbott is our business problem solver and coach and is always happy to have a chat about your business over a coffee – simply arrange an advice clinic by calling 01242 776000 or email will.abbott@randall-payne.co.uk.
