The University of Warwick, a top UK HEI, is home to Lord Bhattacharyya's world renowned Warwick Manufacturing Group. Viretec was engaged to support the development of The National B2B Centre during its transition from pure public sector grant funding to a mixed revenue model involving commercial activity.
The Need The National B2B Centre needed to restructure its reveune model in response to a reduction in public funding, in particular around ICT and e-business adoption. Viretec was engaged to help the Centre Director develop a new business model and commercial offerings, leveraging our experience in both public sector support and private sector consultancy. The Approach Viretec Consulting's Denis Pelych, worked closely with the Centre Director to develop a Commercial Business Plan and Financial Cash Flow Model that would meet the B2B Centre's development aims and satisify the University's financial needs. This plan comprised government-funded business support activity, commercial management consultancy projects and SME training courses. In order to deliver on this plan, Viretec supported the Centre in commercial tendering to Business Link and other organisations, helping the team to express their capabilities and experience more effectively, and working with them to develop their in-house tendering skills. This also involved the creation of a Transformational ICT Consultant's Toolkit, developing tools that enabled the team to tackle new challenging work, as well as training and mentoring less experienced consultants. As the team moved towards becoming a commercial operation, Viretec helped to identify the keys issues and new operating practices required to meet their new financial objectives. Denis also supported the Centre Director in tackling people development and cultural change issues. The Outcome By late 2009, the Centre had won two major SME support services contracts with Business Link West Midlands. These contracts for Transformational ICT and Business Transformation Mentoring accounted for 70% of their revenue plan over 2 years. And, to round-off a successful year, the Centre won the IBC's "Regional Practice of the Year" Award for the West Midlands. This award is based largely on client feedback, reinforcing their commitment to quality and the progress that has been made by the team. What Next? Viretec has considerable experience helping public sector organisations transform financial models and delivery operations. Contact us to find out how we can help you to survive in a changing world. |