Our clients are change agents too

Our client base is diverse. Our experience ranges all sectors from start-ups to global corporations and multi-stakeholder initiatives. We work at all levels, from leadership teams to front line staff and we’re at home in the UK or internationally.

Typically, the people who engage us enjoy the experience. Usually they are responsible for strategy, insight, sustainability, marketing, HR, corporate communications, – or a combination of them.

Many of our clients are change agents within their own sectors and organisations, and see change the same way we do. Other clients are less familiar or comfortable with change or have less freedom to drive it, so need more hand-holding.

Our clients tend to be people who, when faced with traditional consultants, say “is that it?” They know that conventional thinking and methodologies lead to the same old outcomes.  They don’t want too-clever-by-half consultants telling them how to run their business. They want people they can work with, share and learn from.

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CLIENT REFERENCES

“Selecting the wrong consultants can be very wasteful, but Change Agency were the right people for us. They brought an excellent balance of great knowledge of marketing, good robust process and a deep understanding of the soft HR issues which are critical to address in any sustainable change and cannot be learned from a textbook. They left us with clear, well substantiated deliverable actions and a roadmap for implementation.  And now 6 months down the road we see real results as a consequence.”

HR Director

“The venture capital business is deeply sceptical about marketing, so a root-and-branch review of our market position and identity was never going to be easy. Change Agency adapted their approach to fit the culture of the firm and of the industry within which we operate, earning the respect and buy-in of our partners and delivering exceptional value. We are converts!”

Partner

“Change Agency worked with us to resolve a number of issues relating to change management and communications in this complex, multi-cultural, international organization. The outcome of their work was very positive. They were acute in identifying causes of difficulties, sensitive in recognizing different perspectives, constructive in offering proposals for solutions, and patient with all parties. The results have exceeded our expectations: we have improved our internal communications, clarified key-points in relation to change management, and embarked on a series of important internal reforms.”

Chair, International Executive Committee

“They don’t borrow your watch to tell you the time. They don’t bring you a pre-baked solution but instead really get under the skin of the problem. Their innovative thinking and approach and really grounded thinking on the complexities of change make them a great partner to work with. I look forward to working with them again.”

Managing Director, Brand, Reputation, Citizenship & Marketing

Change Agency are truly what they say they are – people who help you to change from within. They worked with me and my leadership team to develop a strategic plan to 2020 that had concrete support from our global stakeholders and was ambitious and achievable. By creating a safe space and supportive environment, they enabled us to step into our senior roles and take ownership of a rapidly growing global organisation, with confidence, patience and authenticity. I’d say they are the best kind of consultants – ones who will tell you what you don’t want hear.

Executive Director

“Change Agency have been a great partner for us on this journey. They’ve really engaged with the business, they know their stuff, but they’re also passionate about what they do. There’s no doubt they’ve added real value to the process and it’s up to us now to take that away and to translate that into action – and to live and breathe our values long after we’ve said goodbye to them.”

Group Chief Executive

“Change Agency did exactly what it said on the tin: they were midwives to real change. Their clarity of thinking, pragmatism and organisational abilities energised the whole group. The results were a revelation, generated by a multi-disciplinary team drawn from across the Diageo map. And then afterwards, they were as assiduous in following up as they were in their preparation. “Full service” is no hollow boast in this case. Conclusion? Buy now while stocks last.”

Global Head of Procurement

“Cricket’s long-term success depends on a delicate balance between the professional game, local grassroots and central leadership. We engaged Change Agency to help us with a massive stakeholder consultation exercise to work our way through a number of complex issues – requiring open and respectful dialogue, strategic rigour, political savvy and clear communication. These are rare qualities for any consultancy and they went way beyond the call of duty to support us.”

Chief Operating Officer

“We brought in Change Agency to help us re-engineer our global brand and communications organisation. Despite having only 6 weeks to consult with multiple stakeholders right across the business, their analysis hit all the right buttons and their solutions were both inventive and practical. 80% of their recommended actions have been implemented. We have since brought them back in to review our communications agency arrangements and ways of working worldwide.”

General Manager, Global Branding & Communications

“Their analysis was excellent, followed by a raft of concrete improvements (some big, some small) which everyone could buy into.”

Head of Brand & Retail Marketing

Their passion for ‘change comes from within’ resonated with us from the get go. It felt like a true partnership, and their pragmatic, supportive and – where needed – challenging approach helped us to work openly across the organisation. Our people loved being involved in helping to define and shape our new company values. They are more than just words on the wall, they are aligned with our brand and, most importantly, we can feel the energy around the world and see how our teams are embracing them.  Change really does come from within!

Group People & OD Director

“For me, the acid test of research is whether you can take different business decisions as a result. Change Agency’s analysis was insightful, challenging and – most importantly – actionable, in areas as diverse as product development, customer service, training and communications.”

Managing Director

“We engaged Change Agency to help us develop and test a range of ideas for a more flexible, agile culture and working practices across all of our businesses. Their inclusive, collaborative approach and their ability to tap into the creativity of our own people made all the difference. They got us to set of solutions which were grounded and achievable, but also highly motivating and potentially differentiating vs our competitors.”

Group CEO, Europe

“We engaged Change Agency to identify what it takes to create a high performance sales culture in an already successful sales organisation. Thanks to their combination of systems thinking, insightful research and sensitive facilitation, we were able to build a comprehensive picture of all factors that could affect performance at any level, as well as the linkages between them. As a Leadership Team, we are now much clearer as to what we need to do empower our people to perform at their best – and what we can expect of them in return.”

Group General Manager

“They see themselves as much more than consultants, they really do invest time in becoming part of the internal team. This builds trust very quickly, which is important when the projects are all about culture change and dealing with diverse stakeholders. Their commitment to excellent execution and to the sensitive handling of influential internal networks also helped me to get critical buy-in to our strategy. We learned lot by working with them. They are seasoned professionals and genuine human beings.”

Head of Citizenship

“We’ve worked with Change Agency on a number of initiatives including a bespoke blueprint for peak performance – no mean feat for a business which is already Law Firm of the Year and one of the fastest-growing law firms in the world. They are smart, challenging and persuasive, are acutely attuned to our culture and what makes us unique, and are a joy to collaborate with. I’d happily recommend them to anyone bar our competitors.”

Director of Business Development

“As part of our digital transformation, Change Agency proposed a programme of customer research where the majority of the conversations were conducted by our own people. Not only did this deliver rich qualitative and quantitative data, it also gave us a highly engaged workforce who felt that they really had a stake in the results. It was an excellent innovative approach, which I would happily recommend as a way of generating energy, excitement and buy-in.”

Transformation Director

“There’s only so much you can accomplish solo in your first 100 days. Change Agency were an invaluable resource for me. They were able to have conversations that I couldn’t and were an ever-present sounding board for me at each stage of the journey. We didn’t always agree, but that was part of the deal. Because they were free to challenge my thinking, I know I made better decisions as a result.”

Global Chief Marketing Officer

“Do companies measure the right things and indeed act on what they find?  Change Agency helped us re-focus our thinking to extract value from our relationships and indeed how we may undertake internal process change to improve effectiveness rather than just efficiency.”

Head of Campaign Development

“Invaluable. They helped us to understand our people better and know what makes them tick so that we can communicate, develop and manage them in a way that suits them best and is therefore most effective. The flexibility of their approach is something I have experienced only rarely when working with consultants and the result of their efforts to understand our business and become a part of it has meant that we have ended up with a change strategy that is right for our people because it is based around our needs and our culture. Working with Change Agency has been a truly inspiring and rewarding experience and our business is better off for their input and support.”

Supply Chain Director

“Change Agency took on a complex set of issues and rapidly engaged all the relevant stakeholders. Thanks to their even-handedness, depth and clarity, they were able not only to pinpoint what had to change, but also to build the consensus needed to make it happen.”

Head of Group Corporate Identity

Let me thank you again for all your efforts, wisdom and energy that you have put in this process. You redefined what a good consultancy is!”

Chairman

“Change Agency is equally at home in the business and non-profit sectors and is skilled in making the connections between the sectors. This capability played an important role in the planning, implementation and development of our five-year global partnership for basic education with UNICEF. They have consistently shown great commitment and loyalty to our company and provided high levels of insight, critical thinking and reliable support. I consider Change Agency to be a business with high ethical and performance standards and a real understanding of sustainability and corporate responsibility.”

Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications

“From an initial objective of aggressive restructuring across Europe, Change Agency helped us turn this to our advantage by creating a positive transformation of our marketing organisation.  They did this by guiding us towards a clear vision and perspective on Marketing Excellence which we could sell both up and across the organisation. Unusually we asked them to work alongside Ernst & Young, bringing an alternative external viewpoint to the team’s thinking. Change really does come within, it just needs a bit of help to bring out. And that’s where Change Agency were indispensable.”

Head of Communications, Europe