Q: What will you be doing to bring LanciaConsult to London?
A: There's a great pulse in London, and I'm keen to ensure we join this beat. We have many friends in London to share the Lancia growth story with. I want to continue to listen and respond to the opportunities and challenges of our existing clients in London and strengthen these partnerships. At the same time, I want to use our experience and expertise to meet new clients and develop new relationships through referrals, networking events, and reconnecting with old colleagues.
Q: What has been the best bit about setting up the Lancia London office and team so far?
A: It's like starting a new business but with the full backing and security of a great team, culture, and depth of experience. Firstly, it's the people who have joined this journey and their enthusiasm – to help build Lancia and help our clients. Secondly, finding the right office that reflected our culture but also allowed our cultural fleck. It's then being proud to share this with clients, colleagues, and friends.
Q: A core part of the LanciaConsult brand is that we invest at all levels: in our people, our client's teams, and our local communities. Is there anything on the horizon to showcase our local efforts to invest in the London community?
A: We've positioned ourselves near Paddington, which feels well connected to our Bristol office and close to Heathrow for our Belfast office. It also offers a connected gateway to our clients. It's our London home, and we want to support it wherever possible. On the horizon is supporting the Consortium for Street Children with a charity event, and we have plans to support further charities such as the Felix Project, which supports local communities, including around the Paddington area.
Q: Are you a Londoner?
A: Not originally, but I feel like one, having visited London frequently as a child and having lived centrally for the last 22 years. I love the energy, the buzz, the hundreds of unique villages in London, and the diverse communities that call them home.
Q: How do you think it benefits our clients to know we now have a physical presence in London?
A: Nowadays, the physical location is less critical, but building trust and genuine relationships is still important. We want to work alongside our clients, and working with clients on a 'client site' is one of the best experiences as a consultant. This is where you listen and learn. Being located in London does give us flexibility and allows us to quickly and easily meet and work alongside our clients and colleagues.
Q: Are you looking to make new hires into the London team? What are you looking for?
A: Yes. We are building a team in London, and our initial focus is bringing in some experienced Managing Consultants who can help grow the Consultant layer that will be our next focus.
Q: What were you doing before life at Lancia?
A: Following University and some time travelling through Pakistan and India, I joined Accenture in their Comms and High-Tech division. After 14 years working in delivery across mobile and telecoms organisations, I left to set up an online education business serving schools and tutor organisations before moving back into Consulting with a focus on delivery within Pharma, Publishing, and Financial organisations.
Q: How different do you think the approach of Lancia is, compared to Accenture?
A: I feel the approaches are similar, but there is a more personal approach for Lancia – not just for the client but for team members, too, which results in a better performance for the client.
Q: What are your capabilities? Or what type of projects do you typically work on?
A: While I have focused on Programme Delivery for most of my career, this has touched across many disciplines, including vendor management, contract management, RFP management and evaluations, outsourcing, service set-up of outsourced services, restructuring technical integrations, and software evaluations. It's certainly not dull.
Q: Do you have any words of wisdom to share with people at the beginning of a career in consulting?
A: Be inquisitive, ask questions, and be resourceful.
Q: What do you think Lancia brings that other consultancies don't?
A: Care – we care about the client, our people, and our work. More than I've experienced elsewhere in my career. It's not about the numbers
Q: What excited you about joining the LanciaConsult team?
A: The quality of the people and the clarity of the ambition. Let's make a difference and work with people and organisations that make a difference.
Q: Do you have a favourite (shareable) story from your time in the consulting industry?
A: Three separate consultancies worked together for one client to bring an industry first – no elbows, focus, aligned work, and a clear vision.
Q: What are you looking forward to about developing and building out your role at Lancia?
A: I'm looking forward to building the London office with a strong team that supports and pushes each other with equally strong client partnerships where we all push hard to deliver great things and celebrate those successes together.
Interested to become a part of the team? Get started here.
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