SERVICE
Operations & Performance
Lower cost, faster delivery and steadier quality, with savings that are still there in year three.
Typical reduction in addressable cost
Of committed savings still visible after 24 months
Typical payback on the program
OVERVIEW
Cost transformation, procurement, supply chain and service operations, designed with the people who run them and tracked against the P&L rather than a slide.
Most companies have run a cost program in the last five years. Fewer can show the savings in this year's accounts. The usual reasons are familiar: targets set top-down without a plan behind them, savings counted when a decision was taken rather than when the money left the budget, and no change to the work itself, so the cost returns when volumes do.
We build operations programs the other way round. We start with the activities that consume cost, work out which ones customers would pay for, and redesign the rest with the managers who will run them. Targets go into budgets, not trackers. Finance signs off every number before we count it.
The result is a lower cost base that holds, and an operating rhythm that keeps it there: a few metrics that matter, reviewed weekly by the people who can act on them.
QUESTIONS WE ANSWER
What clients bring to this practice
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WHAT WE DO
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Cost transformation
A full review of the cost base by activity, with targets set bottom-up and booked into budgets so they cannot quietly drift back.
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Procurement and spend management
Category strategies, supplier renegotiation and demand control, typically worth 6 to 12 percent of third-party spend.
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Supply chain and network design
Inventory, footprint and logistics decisions modeled together, so service levels and working capital are traded off openly.
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Service and back-office operations
Process redesign, shared services and automation for finance, HR and customer operations, measured on cost per transaction and error rates.
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Lean and continuous improvement
Daily performance management on the shop floor and in the office, built so supervisors own it after we leave.
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Performance management
A short set of operating metrics tied to the P&L, with a weekly review rhythm that surfaces problems while they are still small.
OUR WORK
All case studies
INDUSTRIES
Where this practice works most often
Is this just a headcount exercise?
No. Headcount is usually less than half the opportunity. Third-party spend, complexity and rework are often larger, and cutting them is less disruptive.
How do you make savings stick?
Every saving is tied to a named owner, a budget line and a changed process. We track them against actuals in finance, not in a separate program tracker.
Can fees be linked to results?
Yes. On most cost programs we offer to put part of our fee at risk against savings verified by your finance team.
What do you need from us at the start?
Twelve months of general ledger and spend data, organization charts, and two or three hours with each member of the leadership team in the first fortnight.
Webinar: scenario planning for the 2027 board calendar
scenario-planning-2027-webinar
Event
Elena Marsh and Priya Raman
A one-hour online briefing for directors and executives on building scenarios, triggers and prepared moves into the board's regular cycle.
Scenario planning that boards will actually use
scenario-planning-for-boards
Article
Elena Marsh and Thomas Reid
Most board scenario exercises produce a thick report and no decisions. A lighter approach, tied to triggers and pre-agreed moves, makes them useful.
Making cost savings last: a breakfast roundtable for CFOs
making-cost-savings-last-roundtable
Event
David Okafor and Hannah Cole
A closed-door breakfast in London for finance leaders planning their next cost program, built on the findings of The CFO Cost Agenda 2026.
Operations AI Benchmark 2026: from pilots to the P&L
operations-ai-benchmark-2026
Report
Marcus Lindqvist and Priya Raman
How 286 operations leaders are using AI in maintenance, planning and quality, how much of it reaches production, and what the companies seeing returns do differently.
Zero-based organization design, done properly
zero-based-organization-design
Article
Hannah Cole
Designing an organization from a blank page sounds radical. Done well, it is the most practical way to remove layers and duplication without starting a political war.
The first 100 days after a merger
first-100-days-after-a-merger
Article
Lukas Brenner and Amara Nwosu
The first hundred days after closing set the pace for everything that follows. What to settle before day one, what to do quickly, and what to leave alone.
The CFO Cost Agenda 2026: why savings fade and what keeps them
cfo-cost-agenda-2026
Report
Thomas Reid and David Okafor
A survey of 412 chief financial officers on cost programs, how much of the savings survive, and the practices that separate durable results from temporary ones.
Making AI pay back in operations, not in pilots
making-ai-pay-back-in-operations
Article
Marcus Lindqvist and Kenji Watanabe
Most operations AI never leaves the pilot stage. The few use cases that pay back share a set of traits that have little to do with the model itself.
Pricing power after the inflation years
pricing-power-after-inflation
Article
Elena Marsh and Priya Raman
Companies raised prices faster than costs between 2021 and 2024. Customers remember. How to set prices now that the cover of general inflation is gone.
Why cost programs fail in year two
why-cost-programs-fail-in-year-two
Article
David Okafor and Thomas Reid
Most cost programs hit their first-year targets. The savings disappear in the second year, for reasons that are predictable and largely avoidable.