I was commissioned to lead a Transformation Programme of Change within the Property & Facilities Management Division for one of the largest City Councils in the UK to realise savings of £5m.

To create a single corporate custodian of all Birmingham City Council’s property assets, transitioning the portfolio into a shared strategic resource which is fully aligned to, and supportive of, the Council’s overarching objectives. The programme crossed over all Directorates with a combined annual revenue spend of £55m and over 11,000 properties, with 370 users of the CAFM system and 553 Responsible Persons. 7 Central Administrative Buildings were reduced to 2. Savings to be realised of £5m.

I was commissioned to oversee the programme, deliver required benefits and manage external suppliers to deliver. Suppliers were off-boarded due to poor performance. Part of my commission was to design a new Target Operating Model, transfer 94 staff (Union Consultation) and handover to BAU.  Part of the reason the Programme was not performing was due to lack of robust governance processes to manage delivery, which I was quick to design and implement. Data was in poor shape to provide quantifiable and qualitative information on which to base decisions.

• To gain approval of the Business Case to justify the rationale for the Programme.
• Present reports to Executive Leadership Team to gain approvals to proceed.
• To determine where savings could be realised.
• Designed and established effective governance for the Transformation Programme.
• Worked with Stakeholders across Directorates to define and articulate the Vision/Blueprint for the Programme, aligned to realisation of Corporate Strategy.
• Appointed and secured suitably qualified resources for the Programme.
• Oversee the performance and delivery of the 7 Workstreams to deliver outcomes.
• Established the ‘As Is’ v ‘To Be’ status.
• Working with third-party suppliers compiled the Business Case to proceed with investment to realise benefits.
• To improve the quality of data to obtain an effective baseline.
• Managed external third-party suppliers to deliver a robust design model.
• Produced a realistic Programme Plan for delivery.
• Collaborated and worked with Big 6 to define cross programme dependencies through workshop design and delivery.
• Consulted with Trade Unions regarding transfer of staff to new model.
• Reported to Corporate Leadership Team/PMO on progress.
• Defined requirements for an upgrade to CAFM Cloud.
• Part of the Centre of Excellence for the PMO.
• Coach and mentor more junior members of staff.

• Gained Business Case approval from Executive Leadership Team and Members for funding £1m to proceed with the Programme.
• Identified £5m savings through property rationalisation and implementation of a central process for approval of localised spend to gain control over spend.
• Identified more accurate savings target figures by taking a cross-portfolio review of expected savings which had been double-counted, resulting in a revised Medium Term Financial Plan adjustment which was approved by Cabinet.
• Re-profiled the expected savings for the Programme in the MTFP over a longer time period to be realistic based on time to dispose/sell properties.
• Initiated a Governance framework for robust management of the Programme and delivery of workstreams/management of suppliers.
• Working with third-party suppliers designed a new Target Operating Model – renegotiated contract with suppliers to hold them accountable for performance with clear deliverables and linked milestone payments. Off boarded due to poor performance and managed with key SME’s internally which saved £50k.
• Gained Business Case approval for funding to secure additional resources to the Programme Team and to invest in upgrade of CAFM system to the Cloud.
• Worked with external recruitment agencies and held interviews to appoint a Programme Team.
• Implemented Phase 1 of the design and worked with HR Business Partners to transfer 94 staff into a new structure and handed over to BAU.
• Assigned a Business Analyst to review all the data (shared across multiple systems) to obtain one version of the truth (a clear baseline) to help inform decision making and monitor progress/challenge discrepancies/budget spend with service lines. The external supplier had failed to provide a clear baseline to substantiate the ‘As Is’.
• Produced an accelerated Programme Delivery Plan, using an agile approach.
• Defined the benefits of the Programme with measured outcomes.
• Identified all Stakeholders and level of interest/influence and produced a Communications Plan.
• Delivered and facilitated solution bound workshops with Actions/Owners/Timelines to ensure outcomes delivered with clear actions/owners/timelines.
• Devised and executed Programme level RAID Logs with management by exemption reporting.
• Help shape the newly established PMO office by sharing tips and tools.
• Continuously improved by having regular, iterative lessons learnt workshops, based on solution-bound thinking.
• Presented at Portfolio level to raise the profile of the Programme.
• Provided a cross-dependency map at Portfolio/Programme/Project level.
• Created a SharePoint structure for effective document management based on principles of MSP/Prince2.
• Organised and contributed to joint workshops with Ernst & Young to devise a place based approach to putting the citizen central with the identification of Community Hubs.

• programme management
• TOM (Target Operating Model)
• Corporate Governance

• Government and Public Services