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Programme Management

 Thank you, Clive, for all your work over the last 9 months on our very complex Global Product Portfolio Project. Your input as trusted advisor and an expert facilitator has been invaluable! On behalf of our cross-functional team, thanks for helping us understand what needed to be done, enabling us to plan our work and focus on the important stuff. Your knack for asking the right questions in the right way created a highly engaged team and led to excellent outcomes.

Programme Lead - Global Fortune 250 Pharmaceutical Company

I took over a consulting lead role from Clive just before he moved onto another client….This was a big role to fill as Clive had a senior executive sponsor of a global blue chip enterprise. During the handover period I was impressed by the strength of relationships that Clive had developed with the client and the level of trust he had built up.

He has an impressive array of consulting capabilities that he had used in this assignment to build a manufacturing site rationalisation strategy for the business. This became a key element of a subsequent and successful merger with another key player in the industry.

He drives results forward through the client team and transfers consulting skills onto them so they can operate in a more effective way in the future. In fact I benefitted enormously from his knowledge, experience and personal coaching to ensure I was set up for success. Clive provided me with the impetus and confidence to achieve great things with this client and take giant strides forward with my consulting career.

Phil Symonds, Partner - Deloitte Consulting

Clive remained committed to delivering the needs of the client and the project, despite pressures of time, budget, lack of resource. He brought the team together in a collaborative partnership focused on delivering the project objectives….not always my experience of working with senior external consultants. Clive has an impressive armoury of project and change management tools which he is adept at using and adapting to move the project forwards.

Global Business Lead - Pharmaceuticals

I have been both a client of Clive’s, a consulting colleague and a fellow Independent Consultant!

As a client, I found Clive’s consulting skills to be of a very high standard. He quickly engaged the team and worked with them (including me) to deliver against expectations. Throughout our time together he used his robust meeting and workshop techniques to get the best out of everyone. Clive displays objectivity, challenge and always looks for alternative solutions – important attributes of a consultant. He also has impeccable attention to detail in managing projects – nothing ever gets missed.

As a fellow Independent, I requested Clive to help out running a 2 day client workshop with a leading Pharmaceutical company. He used his strong process skills to deliver the required outcome and more. In fact the client liked him so much that he was asked to stay on and complete a major piece of manufacturing strategy work. He quickly engendered trust with the client, who had a reputation for not suffering fools gladly! He led the client to a successful half day showcase of recommendations to the senior Executive team in the US. This in turn led to another contract extension for Clive on an unrelated packaging strategy project. Clive’s quality of delivery and high level of value add virtually guarantee him extensions wherever he goes.

Stephen McIndoe, Vice President - Be4ward

Clive showed a strong drive for quality and timeliness of results and overcame obstacles in simple ways that I had not come across before. He provided great support in engaging senior stakeholders as he developed the detailed Business Case for the programme. He brought in high quality resources to the team who achieved a lot in a short space of time; this was due in part by Clive’s informal mentoring of some of the team leads, as well as having rigour around reporting and deadlines. He worked well with the core team to develop ways of communicating complex data simply.

I was impressed by his can do attitude, commitment, very high work ethic and very high standard of work. He was always available to discuss ideas, concerns, communications and give sound counsel. We learnt a lot from Clive in how to set up a global transformation programme.

Global Business Lead - Consumer Healthcare

Clive demonstrated superior skills driving and leading strong connectivity and very senior stakeholder engagement across the business, including Commercial, Medical, Supply Chain, Finance and other functions. I found him to have a very broad appreciation of what it takes to shape a complex programme, in addition to providing me personally with everything I needed to gain CEO and CMO approval for this £100m+ project.

He also shows great ability to pull a team together, building a very motivated and energised workforce to deliver. Clive brought about very strong project controls, driving alignment across the organisation and continually reducing costs through challenging the norm. One thing that sets Clive apart is the personal accountability he demonstrates day in-day out. Another key (and often rare) strength was his ability to seamlessly integrate into the company culture and his flexibility and capability to shape and relentlessly deliver against a complex set of requirements

Dean Blackman, Senior Client - GlaxoSmithKline

Unflappable, professional, stakeholder focused, delivery mindset, coach, patient, driven and passionate!

Senior Client - Pharmaceuticals

Clive excels at driving complex, global, change programs. He brings big Consulting Company know-how, energy and discipline as an Independent Consultant. His ability to lead and develop a global program strategy in addition to his attention to detail is how he ensures 100% success.

What really separates Clive from other Big Company or Independent Consultants is his ability to learn the business and develop trusting relationships; this enables him to gain credibility and command respect from senior stakeholders which drives the best, right-first-time result.

The ‘Clive-way’ differentiates him; his structured approach, calm, professional drive, and impeccable attention to detail make his contribution invaluable. I’ve worked with Clive on multiple programs over the last 6 years and I look forward to working with again as I know the results and overall experience will be my gain!

Vincent Pisculli, Director and Global Business Lead - GlaxoSmithKline

Clive proved himself to be a very experienced project manager who quickly learned the organization and its challenges and then drove the project in a structured and focused way. I think his balance of brightness, structure and the highest professional attitude was key in the delivery of quick results and getting people to change their way of working.

He also showed a very supportive and loyal approach to me and provided some valuable coaching. It is with pleasure that I give Clive the very best recommendation and am confident that the good results he delivered were not an exception.

Helena Mannerfelt, Vice President Operations - AlfaLaval AB

Clive is a well-organized project manager with a sharp mind and pleasant personality. He is very target oriented where his target is a sustainable effect of the project, not only its delivery. I do hope I get the chance to work with Clive again.

Tord Ringenhall, Project Stream Lead - DeLaval International AB

Clive’s approach to consultancy is committed to delivering the best results. He has an inclusive approach to facilitating workshops and managing projects, ensuring input from all involved. Clive provides focus for the team with his excellent use of facilitation and Project Management techniques, continually steering the team toward its goals at times when there is danger of veering off course. Working with Clive was both a pleasure and an education on how to provide excellent consultancy.

Phil Trovatello - Independent Consultant

Perhaps I will add a special meaning of, ‘doing the impossible’ to my personal dictionary. You have certainly shown me a new corporate world!

Ansuman Pattnaik -  Independent Data Analyst

Clive was the Programme Lead for an important global project to recommend an improved supply chain strategy for an operational area of our business. As the global Business Lead, I sought out Clive to take this role due to his reputation for high quality delivery within our organisation.

As an Independent Consultant, he brings big consulting firm know-how and an extensive toolbox of tried and tested consulting methodologies. Clive has a strong capability to select the right tools and adapt these to the local business requirements. For this project he led us effectively through a structured analytical process to come up with a range of strategic options and ultimately to a recommendation that was approved by the senior Executive team. Critical to the outcome was strong alignment and support from key stakeholders – Clive understands the importance of this and brought his own process and tracking tool to ensure this was managed effectively.

He ran a tight programme, delivered within short timeframes and always kept us on track. He overcame resistance from impacted stakeholders that unchecked would have put a successful project outcome at risk. He also worked closely with me to develop comprehensive updates for the Steering team that were extremely well received.

The coaching that he provided to me through the project was incredibly valuable. Clive is a trusted professional to his clients

Andrew Love, Vice President - Be4ward

Zenesis recruited Clive as a Strategic Advisor into a global performance improvement and change programme with a capital goods manufacturer.  I was excited to have him on the programme as I knew of his strong delivery and communication capabilities from when we were colleagues at Gemini Consulting.

As expected, Clive fitted into the company culture and established trusting partnerships with client team members very quickly.


He displays strong consulting skills across all phases of the business transformation programme.  Clive is particularly impressive in developing solutions to defined business issues.  He then excels at finding the right methodology to sustainably implement the new 'ways of working' through engaging all affected individuals across the organisation.  His main objective on this programme was to transform the 'On-Time-In-Full' (OTIF) delivery performance for complex on-site capital goods installations.  He worked with client teams to define a new set of working practices and procedures; including the introduction of a new IT tool.  He developed one of the most comprehensive sets of training materials that I have seen and implemented this across 14 global markets in 6 months.  This resulted in a dramatic OTIF improvement from under 30% to over 70% within 12 months.

Finally, Clive introduced a new 'performance tracking tool' to monitor the sustainability success or how well the new 'ways of working'  were embedded across the organisation.  This is usually the part of the change and transformation process that the majority of businesses miss, and it was especially rewarding to leave this final tangible legacy with the client.

We look forward to working with Clive again in the future.

Kiran V Patel, Strategic Advisor & Coach - Zenesis International Limited

I have worked with Clive on a number of global projects – we are both Independent Consultants.

Clive has a deep knowledge about how complex global organisations work and don’t work – and how to make change happen in these environments. Key to this is his strong understanding of how to manage stakeholders across a business and in particular balancing emotional, political and rational perspectives.

He demonstrates superior programme management skills; this is from project structure and design through effectively coordinating multiple, matrixed workstreams, through to implementation and sustainable delivery. He drives results through others, coaching team members with a broad range of skill sets and capabilities. He leverages his extensive toolkit of Independent Consulting skills – many that other Independents haven’t even heard of! Clive possesses an unusually high financial acumen and uses this to develop business cases, track benefits and control spend.

He is a great coach and mentor to team members and has an ability to flex his style to suit the situation and people (situational leadership). His knowledge and experience from other clients, industries and  previous career is seen as a huge benefit by clients. Clive is unusual amongst Independent Consultants in that he remains a consultant and doesn’t get absorbed into the organisation or become a defacto employee . His commitment is to delivering towards an end date, not trying for a job for life.

It’s always a pleasure to work with Clive – he has a can do attitude and persistence together with a sense of humour and fun.

Charles Peachey - Independent Consultant

I have known Clive for a number of years and worked with him on client acquisition and project delivery. He has a strong business acumen particularly around how to make sustainable change happen. He also demonstrates a good grasp of business financials and how to deliver a return for his clients. He has an unusual ability to understand the big picture at the same time as paying attention to the detail. He learns about every client business quickly and always develops strong trusting relationships with his clients. He is in strong demand and always seems to be asked to extend his contracts.

Clive has impressive programme management skills, bringing structure and rigour to all projects he works on. This includes setting up projects in a professional way, tracking progress / benefits, managing stakeholders and applying strong meeting management disciplines. He is incredibly results orientated and will always go the extra mile to ensure he exceeds client expectations. He leads teams in an inclusive way that gets the best performance out of individuals. His overall approach instils confidence with clients and project teams.


Clive is different from many Independents in that he can bring big company consulting methodologies to the role.  His extensive business and consulting experience means that Independent Consultants often look to him for training / coaching on consulting skills and business change

David Watts, Regional Director - The Quantum Organization

Clive has a wealth of experience helping clients to transform their organisations and deliver superior performance addressing the rational, political and emotional aspects of change. He has highly developed skills in mobilising client teams, diagnosing the root causes of their key issues and developing sustainable solutions.  Clive really understands how to turn ideas into action.

Alasdair Mackintosh, Member of the Management Group - PA Consulting

I worked with Clive for a period of around 1.5 years on a very challenging, international business transformation assignment.

By the time I joined that initiative, Clive had already been with the client consistently for over a year and his reputation preceded him.  He was clearly very well-liked as an individual and the quality of his results delivered were much appreciated by the client.  So, expectations were high to keep up that standard of professional service.


It was immediately apparent that Clive applies a very well structured and honed approach to programme management, which ensures that all relevant aspects are thoroughly considered, complexity is broken down into manageable chunks, and that good communication is consistently applied.  The result: well-aligned frameworks for driving change.

While highly polished on the nuts & bolts of programme management and the accompanying change management and transformation toolkits, Clive’s skills shine most when transferring that in-depth know-how and over 30 years’ experience as both line manager and consultant to others.  Clive’s “heart” really comes out when he coaches individuals 1 on 1, as well as when he leads workshops and brainstorming sessions of all size and kind.

It is particularly his ability to build rapport quickly across all levels in organizations small or large that enable the type of trusting relationships so vital to gaining “true” and unfiltered feedback and engaging employees’ hearts and minds in creating and anchoring sustained change.  His healthy sense of humour and simply being an all-round good guy to work with compliment that ability.  Whether burning the midnight oil putting the final touches on a piece of client work, resolving resistance to change across functional areas or simply having a good bottle of vino, Clive is the guy you want in your corner for all that.

What is the evidence for all this? As indicated already at the outset, clients either ask Clive to stay on for long durations and / or the same client(s) ask for his return for new assignments in subsequent years.

John Bailey, Independent Consultant