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Business Transitions

Awarded Business Transformation Consultancy 2024 Edinburgh
UK Enterprise Awards


Experience smoother transitions, reduced operational disruptions, and faster completion.

Comprehensively Transition your Assets

Clients engage us prior to their Sale and Purchase agreement being signed. This allows us to collaboratively lay the groundwork for a successful transition.

Acquisitions and Divestments

If you’re looking to acquire another business or divest yours, our team of seasoned professionals will help you transition assets, production facilities, business processes, people, and other resources, from one party to the other.

Mergers and Demergers

If you want to combine forces with another company to achieve greater value, or conversely, if you want to break your company into components, we are here to assist you.

Contact us to discuss your specific challenges

Transition your assets from one party to another.

Business Transitions

If you need to comprehensively transition your assets, then our Transition Deployment will be suitable for you.

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Benefits you will experience

Your Outcomes

Our specialist Business Transition services provide executives and senior leaders with tried and tested approaches to successfully transition assets.

Access to Expertise and Guidance
We are adept at bringing in Business Transition specialists, including Transition Managers, Project Management Office (PMO) teams, and Workstream Specialists, to support our clients.  We deploy Consultants who have practical experience and specialised knowledge of transitioning assets. Their expertise allows you to leverage best practices and avoid common pitfalls.  
Comprehensive and Accelerated Handovers
From the start, foundational project management tools, techniques and methodologies, tailored to suit your business’s specific needs, are used to help keep the transition progressing at pace. We supplement this with an early focus on managing critical path activities, to accelerate completion timelines.
Mitigation of Business Risks
Early and ongoing identification of risks and creation of corresponding risk mitigation plans, give leader's confidence that business risks are being well managed, operational disruptions are minimised, and the likelihood of delivering a successful transition is increased.
Improved Stakeholder Confidence and Collaboration
Executives and Senior Leaders from both parties benefit from having a clear governance framework in place throughout the Transition. Our tried and tested framework enables leaders to collaborate well, enabling them to steer the Transition to a successful conclusion.
Effective Communication to Engage Personnel
Your Change Manager will be equipped to know what strategies to employ to actively engage the workforce (whether their asset is being sold, purchased or merged with another business). This will be a key focus throughout the transition and will involve effective interpersonal interactions and engaging communications. The result is higher adoption rates and support for the changes being made, as well as increased employee motivation levels.
Post-transition embedment of new ways of working
The focus on identifying and implementing new business processes and tools, whilst simultaneously locking in corresponding behaviours, enables business leaders to create a cohesive and positive post-transition culture.

Our Approach

Our team of experienced professionals specialise in helping executives and senior leaders to successfully implement complex changes within their business.

The results are smoother transitions, reduced resistance, faster adoption of the change, and ultimately, greater success in achieving business objectives.

Your Challenges

Our Solutions

Listen First Approach

We have a strong foundational toolset that we use. But we believe in modifying it to meet the requirements of each individual client.

We develop tailor-made programmes that have the highest probability of being successful.

Structured Programme Approach

We believe it’s very important to take a structured approach to making complex changes.

Right from the outset, robust project management practices are used, to align stakeholders on the vision and objectives, and to plan, execute and manage delivery of results.

This enables the transition to progress ‘at pace’ and achieve your desired outcomes. Depending on the type of transition being made, we employ waterfall, agile or both project management methods.

Cultural Transformation Approach

Whether you are divesting assets, or acquiring assets, there will be a requirement for you to lock new ways of working firmly into your organisation.

Our approach is geared towards sustainably embedding effective habits and behaviours at each level of the organisation. We do this by educating and supporting your leaders to effectively do this throughout the duration of the transition.

Responsive Approach

We aim to be very responsive to your business needs.

Being a well-connected company, we are adept at bringing in specialists to support our clients, when this is required. We can call upon our pool of specialists to supplement your team, conduct one-off training courses, or otherwise add value to you.

Five distinct Phases that Acquisitions and Divestments go through

It is a truth that no two acquisitions or divestments are the same. Each one is different, whether this be the size of the assets being sold, the experience of the Buyer to operate the assets, or the timescale for completing the Transition.

One thing is the same though: your Transition will typically go through five distinct Phases and each of these will have a different characteristic.

We help you successfully navigate through each of these Phases and achieve your business outcomes.

01

Pre-announcement Preparation Phase

This Phase commences at some point before the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) is signed and is usually cloaked in secrecy. There may be commercial, legal and regulatory reasons (including stock market sensitivities) why such secrecy is required.

Only people who are ‘in the know’ that the transaction is progressing are party to it. These people will normally have signed a Confidentiality Letter, or Non-Disclosure Agreement, restricting them from disclosing information to any person or company that is not ‘in the know’.

During this Phase of the Transition, the following activities are undertaken:

1. Establish Governance for the Transition.
2. Appoint a Transition Manager.
3. Get ready to announce the sale and purchase.
4. Support the Mergers & Acquisitions Deal Team.
5. Prepare for the Initiation & Ramp Up Phase.

02

Initiation & Ramp Up Phase

This Phase commences as soon as the Sale and Purchase Agreement has been signed. It’s characterised by:

1. Dealing with a Shocked Organisation.
2. Populating and Onboarding the Transition teams.
3. Finalising Terms of Reference Documents and Building the Transition Plan.
4. Onboarding people who join the Transition teams late.

03

Delivery Phase

This Phase of the Transition commences once the Workstream Leads have sufficiently developed their Workstream Plans.  The bulk of the Transition work will be completed during this Phase. The Transition Management Team focuses on the following:

1. Testing the Transition Plan.
2. Freezing the Transition Plan and Transition Budget.
3. Enabling Workstream Leads to get work done.
4. Holding required Review Workshop.

04

Drive to Completion Phase

During this Phase, Category A Deliverables are progressively closed out by the Workstream Leads and the focus turns to becoming operationally ready to "go live".

The Transition Management Team continue to monitor progress of the Transition Plan and how Transition Risks are reducing.

As Completion Date draws nearer, significant effort is expended to close out Deliverables and work towards transferring Ownership at the planned date.

The emphasis is on quickly surfacing issues and seeking to resolve them in an expedient manner. The final stage of this Phase is to enact the Freeze Calendar and Cutover plan.

05

Close Out Phase

This Phase commences once Cutover has been completed. The key requirements of the Close Out Phase are to:

1. Complete all Category B Deliverables.
2. Implement Transition Service Agreements.
3. Conduct and publish a Lessons Learned Review.
4. Disband the Transition Teams.

Transition Training Courses

Acquisition

Divestment

Merger

Demerger

If you will be undertaking a transition soon, the following courses can help you and your teams leverage best practices and avoid common pitfalls.

This will enable you to comprehensively transition your assets from one party to another, experience smoother transitions and reduced operational disruptions, and complete the transition quicker. Our Trainers have practical experience and specialised knowledge of transitioning assets.  

‘An Executive’s Guide to Transitions’

This half-day interactive course is aimed at Steering Group members, Transition Managers and Transition Management Leads.

Our experienced Trainers will take you through each stage of the Transition and bring it to life for you.

This course is ideal for Buyer and Seller Transition Teams to attend prior to announcing the Sale and Purchase of assets. It enables you to start building relationships between the Transition Teams and allows you to agree how to govern and manage the transition.

'A Workstream Lead’s Guide to Transitions’

To undertake a successful Transition, there is a requirement to establish and follow clear and simple Programme Management practices.

This one-day interactive course is aimed at Transition Management Team members and Workstream Leads. It provides a comprehensive insight into what is required to transition assets: from pre-announcement of the deal, through to cutover and close out.

The course equips them to use Programme Management practices that have been successfully used for both small and complex Transitions.  Topics covered include: Transition Governance, Transition Planning, Transition Budgeting, Risk Management, Progress Reporting, Document Collaboration, Communications, Programme Management Documents and Transition Service Agreements.

Partner with us to navigate major changes, improve operational and business practices and achieve sustainable growth.

Ready to transform your organisation?

Contact us to discuss your specific challenges