By Joanne Peters
It is often a tricky and lonely road making a success of a local government company. Many hundreds exist but they are all very different in purpose, size, maturity and success.
Having worked with a range of companies and other public sector commercial ventures, here are some of my reflections on recurring themes underpinning success:
- Ensure that there is shared and agreed clarity over purpose and stick to this, and regularly review and reinforce the message
- Get the right people involved in both governance and operations – key skills are a commercial mindset, systems thinking, relationships and getting things done
- Create the space and trust for the flexibility to innovate, be agile, test and learn. Don’t be afraid to stop things which aren’t working
- Get the nuts and bolts right – right sized, bespoke enabling functions (especially HR, finance, IT, audit and compliance) and, in particular, design in simple processes for intercompany transactions
- Conflicts of interest are inevitable, so put in place good governance support to negotiate these appropriately.
Healthcheck your local government company
We can undertake a short healthcheck of your commercial ventures and provide assurance and guidance to ensure you are on the right track.
Our Commercial Healthcheck is a cost-effective way for you to assess the financial management, business plan, risk, performance, contract and governance of your commercial ventures – whether these be your council companies, shared services, joint ventures, council commercial services or outsourced services.
Our reviews typically take five working days and provide you with a practical diagnostic that will show you issues, risks and gaps and produce workable ways to mitigate them.
We are registered on frameworks with Bloom, ESPO and Constellia, so it is quick and simple to engage us.
For further information or a conversation please call us on 07834 686136 or email SpeakToUs@WeAreC.Co
