Growth strategy for a children’s services NGO
Growth strategy that turned around a major children’s services NGO, enabling them to invest in new areas and expand their impact for children.
In the highly fragmented UK children’s services sector, we mapped the market, assessed the clients’ position and their capabilities, and examined emerging government policy. We defined priority locations and subsectors, as well as the organisational and capability enhancements required to gain share. And we supported the client to develop a 3-year Strategic Plan together with key strategic objectives, measurements and a comprehensive roadmap.
Context
This major provider of children’s services across the UK was under increasing pressure: government reluctance to fund their core early-years services had led them to several years of decline. We had worked with them to build a forensic understanding of the economics of their business and as a result they had improved capabilities and cut costs. They were surviving, but demoralised.
Now they wanted our support in returning to growth. Beyond building a broader geographic footprint of their existing services, they had identified residential care and children’s mental health as major areas for potential investment. We were tasked with developing their strategy for the whole sector.
Approach
Our task was to map the highly fragmented and local children’s care services markets, the competition and the client’s position, to understand where they should focus. We also examined emerging government policy with a view to anticipating significant changes. We facilitated the client’s decisions on how best to deploy and build capabilities, and where they should invest to succeed.
In a next phase of work we addressed other strategy gaps and combined them into a comprehensive 3 year strategy for the organisation supported by KPIs and performance measures. This included quantifying the impact on children of every initiative.
Impact
The client embarked on the growth plan with clarity of focus on how and where to grow and reverse the previous decline – both in terms of which geographies to focus on and which services they should develop and invest in.
This sharpened focus also crystallised how the organisation could increase its impact on the quality of children’s lives. With staff morale rebounding, the organisation is well on its way to regaining its leading position in supporting the UK’s children.