Case Studies

Our team has worked on projects, which vary significantly in size, but they share five common features:

They are strategically important to our clients;
They require specific skills and experience provided by The Axcess Group;
We work with our clients to achieve results that the business can implement
Our clients people gain from our people and knowledge bases; and
Our approach is driven by the need to enhance shareholder value.

Examples of the variety of work our consultants have undertaken are:

Major UK Retail bank

Our client was looking to enhance customer service and significantly reduce costs, but the line business areas had a portfolio of change initiatives and were reluctant to free up resources to tackle “another change project.” Instead we worked with the Information Systems team to analyse the core 180 information systems that supported the Division, and identified an opportunity to reduce this number to around 75. This would reduce the technology budget by around £35m for an investment of £12m. However, on the back of this presentation, the Divisional Chief Executive could see the power of changing business processes, consolidating back office activities into shared services units, consolidating payments processes and restructuring the organisation structure, such that benefits of £200m pa were identified with costs to achieve of circa £90m. These benefits were realised within 30 months.

Major Insurance Company

The insurance company's bank had offered asset based lending products for a number of years but had not managed to increase volumes of business. We undertook market research with retail customers and intermediaries, which identified key service and product failings. Our client and our people redesigned the products and business processes supporting the products in line with the validated findings of the research, and the improvements launched. This resulted in a four-fold increase in the volumes of business in asset lending. A similar project was then initiated in investment products, with similar success.

Global Pharmaceuticals Company

The manufacturing cost base of this Pharmaceuticals Company had been increasing for a number of years and senior management were becoming concerned about both the cost of manufacturing but more importantly its ability to support the new product launches over the coming five years. A joint client-consulting team undertook a review of the manufacturing plant network. We recommended that just over half of the factories should be shut and investment into the other factories structured around a manufacturing competencies framework to utilise the corporate capabilities and competencies. This resulted in a 28% reduction in the cost base of manufacturing (over £500m pa) but a near tenfold increase in the flexibility of the network to market and new product demands.

Global Technology Company

Our client had tried unsuccessfully to develop quality relationships with its major clients, and was regarded as a software company and “box shifter”. We worked with the Global Management team to define a marketing and senior management relationship process to sit above the global account programme. This resulted in the client moving to principal partner status in 80% of their major clients, and a near doubling in revenues with each of the clients in two years.

Global Technology Company

Our client had suspicions that the finance function’s reporting was not accurate and there were issues around the integrity of the Finance Director. We carried out a review the strategic business units sales and profitability, which led to a detailed review of the accounting processes and controls. We ran our computer software looking for transactions that were out of line of the ordinary course of business. This led to the identification of a major fraud. Our report was passed to the Police and subsequently this led to a prison sentence for the Finance Director.