London: The Structure Group, the management consultancy specialising in the energy, financial services and utility sectors, has completed another successful financial year on June 30th, 2008, despite a difficult economic environment. In the last year the company has seen growth in turnover of more than 40 per cent across all service areas, the successful launch and expansion of its financial services practice, and increased headcount. It also improved its position in the Financial Times/Great Places to Work ® Awards from 13th to 2nd – behind only Google.
These developments have been supported by further investment in the infrastructure of the company – with a major focus on initiatives including in-house training, knowledge management, career development, and recruiting processes. The external benchmark given by the Great Places to Work ® award reflects the market-leading position that Structure has attained in this regard.
Mohamed Mansour, managing director at The Structure Group, says: “This year we have delivered more change, with a more expansive reach and greater business value for our clients than ever before. We have enabled clients in the energy sector to address a number of cutting edge business challenges, including the impact of smart metering on existing operating models, the opportunity presented by market volatility and prices to optimise and trade physical assets, and the need to leverage new technologies across trading and risk management operations.
The new financial services practice has also enjoyed a successful first year, building a strong presence across the Retail Banking, Capital Markets, Insurance and Asset Management sectors, working to help clients deliver complex regulatory change programmes, define target operating models, transform their finance capabilities and develop their future state payments platforms.”
Looking forward to FY2009, The Structure Group believes that the challenging climate will lead to clients placing a greater focus on value and expertise. This aligns closely to its business model of offering a domain-centric consulting service that focuses on partnership with clients.
Mansour explains: “Despite the wider market environment, energy is clearly going through exciting times, with both structural and transitional challenges facing the industry, all of which represent opportunities as well as risks for our clients. As a result, we see a continuing trend of investments from our clients in work driven by an internal business case rather than regulatory requirements, which is very encouraging and a sign of our clients’ belief in the prospects within this industry.
In financial services, the implications of the ongoing market turmoil has led clients to focus more than ever on risk management, regulatory compliance and cost reduction.”
Adrian Bettridge, head of the financial services practice adds: “While working with our clients in these areas, we recognise that many of them will still be investing to gain future competitive advantage. We will continue to position ourselves as their change partner of choice to help them deliver the business and IT programmes supporting these growth strategies.”
The increased turnover and ongoing client success in the past year has been supported by a significant increase in headcount across the whole company. The Structure Group is seen in the market as a great place to work by reputation and referral, and this has led to a significant increase in applications as those with relevant skills and experience target Structure as a workplace of choice.
The successes of FY2008 have created a solid foundation on which to build in the coming financial year. Following its record twelve months, The Structure Group is looking to expand further into continental Europe. Mansour comments: “Structure has previously had a strong presence outside the UK in Holland and Ireland and initial engagements in Germany, France and Belgium, but in 2009 we will be making significant investments into developing enduring capabilities across Europe in order to support the growing base of clients we are developing across the region.”
Jim Hayward, senior director with responsibility for people says, “We are hoping to replicate all aspects of our success in the UK across the rest of Europe. We were named the tenth best SME in Europe this year – the first time such companies have been recognised across the entire region – as well as the second best place to work in the UK. I think that is a testament to the people who work here and the business we are creating together – and our commitment to maintain the qualities that delivered initial success as the company grows. Looking to the next twelve months we are keen to advance our role as a corporate citizen with a variety of initiatives such as taking on student interns and donating both time and expertise to charity. To start this off, we have chosen to donate our last day’s profits from the financial year just completed to some charities that focus on a variety of domestic and international issues.”
