Following the merger of ntl and Telewest, over 200 initiatives were needed to deliver the acquisition synergies and re-brand the resultant group as Virgin Media.

The team of over 20 Senior Project Managers in Virgin Media's Business Transformation Group, collectively responsible for project investment exceeding £150 million pa, were trained, coached and mentored.

New programme governance and streamlined reporting processes were introduced. Project safety improved and the percentage of projects delivered to specification increased significantly.

Successful projects delivered by the team included the £50m rebrand to Virgin Media, the upgrade of broadband speeds to 20Mb, the delivery of a new code release for set-top boxes and two quarterly product price changes.

This venture built on the principle that there was market for a more professional approach to providing home computing support.

The business plan was developed for a start-up that would pioneer the creation of the UK's Home Computing Initiative (HCI) industry.

Initial funding from private individuals was obtained followed by a £2m launch and infrastructure investment from Compaq Ventures, through a Private Placing Memorandum.

Direct responsibilities included company secretarial, operations and third-party partnerships. Once launched, the company worked with blue-chip clients including Compaq, Oracle, Reg Vardy Motors, SEMA Schlumberger and Philips Electronics.

Distribution of the service was predominantly via the Employee Benefits market which offered the combination of both professionalism and tax-efficiency.

The business generated over £10m revenue in two years.

This initiative led to a position as Programme Development Director for Futuremedia to launch and lead its HCI team. Successful programmes were delivered to many prestigious clients including the UK's largest programme to the Royal Mail Group plc. Over 43,000 PCs were installed in employees' homes over three years delivering over £50m revenue and substantial operating profit to Futuremedia. By the time the Government cancelled the HCI programme in March 2006, Futuremedia held more than 10% of the UK HCI market.

A national Financial Services distribution business urgently needed to reduce its fixed cost base by over half. This was a survival issue for the business.

The project brought together business leaders from Sales, Finance, Operations, Compliance, Facilities, IT and HR. Analysis was conducted to identify opportunities to save significant costs. Financial models were produced to ensure that real bottom line effects would be delivered. A reduction in premises and staff was identified as the most effective and strategic way of delivering to objectives.

Centralised teams and processes were created to replace locally delivered services; property leases were terminated; flexible working patterns introduced; technology enhanced; non-core services made chargeable. This change had to be delivered with an approach and a style that minimised the risks of loosing talent and denting motivation.

The Change Management shaping and driving this project was direct, hands-on and extremely effective. The HR implications of the project called for a high degree of accuracy in planning and flexibility in human interaction. The top priority placed on communication within this work was fundamental to its success.

Delivery of this project rendered the business sufficiently attractive that its nearest competitor acquired it, forming the largest organisation in its sector.

Two entities coming together and subsequently being acquired by a large, overseas parent, created the backdrop and drive to streamline and standardise management information in a London Market Lloyds and Company Insurance business.

A Business Intelligence project was initiated, bringing together heads of Syndicates, Underwriting Units and Group Service functions. Analysis was conducted to understand what decisions needed to be made at a group level that relied on consolidated information. This results-led approach ensured that data was not collated for theoretical reasons, but only where attention needed to be focused.

Technology was developed to enable individual teams to code business appropriately to their needs, whilst a powerful and efficient mapping system was created to consolidate and present data - for slicing and dicing - according to a Group-wide set of codes.

The Change Management shaping and driving this project was firm in ensuring that Group demands were met, whilst also investing in benefits specific to individual business leaders. This balance was key, to ensure that motivation to record data at source was aligned with the ultimate outcome required.

A major London Market broker with delegated underwriting authority was struggling to implement a new computer system. The project was two years late and millions of pounds over budget.

Formal engagement with the Board allowed the project to be shaped into a smaller set of achievable deliverables, new terms of reference were negotiated and a new project plan agreed.

Personal leadership made sure that the existing team bought into the new, simplified plan with its reduced scope and shared the vision of the new programme's objectives.

The new system was then launched on-time and on-budget.

Mergers and acquisitions often present the sternest challenges for change management. In this case, four London Market broking companies, of greatly differing sizes and cultures, had been brought together following an intensive acquisition campaign. The overall process of integration was top down, firstly with senior management, then with business development and client relationship managers, followed by the brokers themselves. The back office operations were the last to be integrated, by which time there was a high degree of uncertainty and nervousness within many parts of the workforce.

The key targets for the back office integration were:

• Migration to a single location
• The adoption of a single IT platform
• Where possible, a single operational model with standardised processes, procedures and controls

Timescales were largely driven by the need to reduce operational costs by headcount reduction, closure of premises etc.

The programme manager led the integration of back office functions for 2 specialty divisions, with staff in excess of 200. There were 2 aspects of these divisions that made this particularly challenging:

1. They consisted of very specialised, niche business areas which did not naturally lend themselves to standardised business models and systems
2. The majority of the back office staff were used to working in locations and with systems and processes different to the targets selected

This made the integration programme very high risk, demanding a mix of firm intent to drive through the significant changes together with sensitivity in handling HR-related matters. An initial risk assessment was carried out and a risk mitigation plan was developed which was constantly reviewed and enhanced throughout the integration programme. A contingency plan was also developed but, fortunately, was not utilised.

The programme took 6 months to complete and was successfully delivered due to the following:

• Definition of a target "day 1 organisation chart" with all job roles and salary ranges clearly defined enabling an early payroll budget in accordance with required savings
• Targeting key staff and in close liaison with HR, successfully achieving many transfers which often involved staff moving home or commuting long distances
• Identifying "transition staff" who would be prepared to remain for a limited period and transfer their knowledge to new staff - and ensuring that the transfers actually occurred
• Designing, scheduling and delivering extensive training programmes for new IT systems and ways of working
• Above all, amidst all of the upheaval of the physical transfers and integration, finding time to ensure that all staff were communicated with openly and honestly at the earliest possible time

An insurer, focussing primarily on private motor insurance, needed to be up and running, underwriting business, within 3 European countries and with a 9 month lead time. These were not green fields start ups which meant that certain staff, structures, business models and IT systems were already in place. However, they had always operated independently of each other and there was no concept of best practice or sharing of information. In addition, business plans envisaged rolling out to several further countries in the medium/longer term.

An initial feasibility study confirmed that it would not be possible to standardise business models or systems across the 3 countries. This was not simply because of shortage of time, but it was also due to fundamental differences in the way private motor insurance operated in each country. The overall strategy therefore became one of striking a balance between the flexibility needed to operate locally and the necessity of central management and control.

A programme was set up which embraced all of the individual projects in each country. This ensured that basic progress monitoring and issue resolution could be carried out efficiently and effectively as well as addressing areas where there were interdependencies across the projects. In addition, the following core projects were established:

• Building of corporate centre functions within the UK
• Defining and implementing a set of standard management reports for each country
• Defining the business requirements for 2 MI data warehouse developments - policy/claims data and financial reporting. The design and build of these took place in subsequent phases of the programme

The above enabled a pan-European view of underwriting performance as well as providing information required for FSA reporting.

All 3 countries achieved their stated aim of being operative within the required timescales and additional countries have subsequently come on board within this overall operative framework.