Recovering margin without cutting the business
A mid-market manufacturer
Four points of margin found in pricing and mix rather than in headcount.
The challenge
Volumes were holding but margin had fallen for six straight quarters. The board’s instinct was a cost programme; the leadership team suspected the problem was elsewhere and could not prove it.
What we did
We rebuilt profitability by customer and product line — properly, with the cost-to-serve allocated rather than averaged. It showed a fifth of the customer base was being served below cost, and that pricing had not moved with input costs in three years.
The outcome
A repricing programme and a mix shift, delivered over two quarters, without a redundancy. The reporting we built is still how the business tracks margin.
Results
What changed
- +4.1pts
- gross margin
- 2 qtrs
- to full effect
- 0
- redundancies
Practices
Our practices
Where we are asked in, and what we do once we are.
- 01
Growth strategy
Where to compete next, and what it will take to win there.
Leadership teams facing a genuine choice about direction.
- 02
Operating model design
The structure, decisions and accountabilities the strategy needs.
Organisations whose structure is now fighting their plan.
- 03
Performance improvement
Margin, cost and productivity, found where it actually sits.
Businesses under pressure to improve without breaking anything.
- 04
Transformation delivery
Programme leadership for changes too big to run on the side.
Boards who have approved a change and need it delivered.
- 05
Commercial due diligence
What the business really is, before you commit to it.
Acquirers and investors under a deadline.
- 06
Standing advisory
A senior sounding board, on call, without the engagement.
Leaders who need a candid outside view they can trust.
Let us look at it properly
An initial conversation is free and confidential. If we are not the right people, we will tell you who is.
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