“Selection of SA Partners for United Utilities (UU) was heavily influenced by their methodology and approach to upskilling which we found particularly outstanding. They were the only supplier who recognised both continuous improvement (incremental change) and discontinuous improvement (transformational change) which reflected the nature of UU and the process changes required. They also provided evidential ‘insights’ that had been lacking from previous process work conducted within the organisation, which enabled tangible process improvements to be made which were sustainable and delivered better value for customers.
SA Partners were interacting with executive board members on a daily basis, would respond immediately to requests, changing requirements, and areas of sensitivity. They were flexible and extremely amenable to working ‘with’ UU rather than ‘telling’ UU how to affect process change.
SA Partners were asked to deliver a challenging programme of work, initially consisting of 8 end-to-end process streams cutting across the entire utility business – one of which was ‘customer to cash’ (which also included debt collection). Requirements included current & future state process mapping using a replicable methodology, involvement and upskilling of UU staff, delivery in excess of £50m efficiencies across the programme, rigorous governance and the ability to liaise and influence the Executive Board. This they achieved – and went on to undertake further process work upon completion of the original scope.”
Clare Hickson, Formerly United Utilities