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With a period of transformational change under its belt, the flourishing Hansbury Group needed help maintaining its vibrant culture and people-first approach while navigating significant growth.
The Hansbury Group, a collection of businesses including Zentura, Fluid, and Martello, sought advice from People Director Richard Cummings to scale up and create a sustainable structure for continued growth. They have since managed to double their revenue numbers at Zentura.
Managing Director, James Hutchins, approached Richard at a critical juncture in the business’ growth. Zentura, the office design and fit-out company based in Saxmundham that he had founded in 2008, was experiencing rapid expansion, and he needed help restructuring the leadership team and defining the long-term vision. Goals included increasing profitability, structuring the team for scalability, and maintaining a positive work culture during growth to attract and retain talent.
Creating a blueprint for the future
Richard started in the summer of 2023 by getting the leadership team to review historic figures which enabled them to benchmark data and set realistic goals. Together they created a 3-year plan with ambitious targets to reach by 2024. Richard recognised that if they carried on as before, they would not reach those targets, so he challenged the status quo and encouraged a belief that they could shake up the business by improving accountability and creating a new system of business operations that included:
- Timetabling a weekly meeting
- creating a scorecard and deciding which metrics to measure
- setting individual quarterly goals over and above business as usual for each team member to achieve.
‘Everyone is now doing the same thing at the right time and in the right way. Goals are visible and so no one is not doing their job,’ reports Richard.
Establishing objectives to exceed targets
These changes aligned the team with Zentura’s objectives creating the structure it needed to grow sustainably so that by July 2024 they hit their annual target 6 months ahead of schedule. Richard is confident that the team at Zentura will meet their ambitions.
“It’s been clear that the work Richard has undertaken over the past 18 months, has helped us to stay aligned to our strategy and its execution. The big benefit has been having a person from outside of the whirlwind coming in to focus on how we move the dial, rather than an internal person doing their day job and trying to look at the bigger picture. We’ve also built a credible people and culture team that helps sustain a high-performance three-year work plan”. James Hutchins, Managing Director.
The team’s alignment is not just noticeable on the bottom line. Summing up his experience of spending one day a week with them, Richard says, ‘I genuinely think it is one of the nicest environments in which to work. Everyone is willing to help everyone else and the fact that everyone makes time for each other is testament to the leadership. They have a lovely mantra that when everyone is winning, we are all winning.’
Recruitment strategy
Another significant change was in recruitment. Richard helped Zentura bring in a business development director and recruited industry experts from competitors, a move that gave the team the firepower it needed to drive sales. This focus on recruiting specialists, coupled with sales training, helped Zentura target vertical markets and expand its client base, particularly in London.
Iterating across the Hansbury Group
Beyond Zentura, Hansbury Group was also eager to boost Fluid, their office furniture rental business, and breathe new life into Martello, a long-standing stationery company. Richard’s role was to look across all three companies and advise on strategy, management, and overall growth.
For Fluid, the focus was on refining operations. Fluid was set up in 2020 in response to the pandemic and quickly reached £2 million turnover. Richard restructured the way the company reported data, ensuring they used real-time figures to make better decisions. He enabled them to set the foundations for scaling by improving their commission structure and partnering with a recruitment company that really understood the brief to find the right people who would drive the business forward. Their ability to identify talent in target markets has positioned them for continued success. In Martello’s case, Richard advised on getting fresh leadership involved, hiring a General Manager to oversee day-to-day operations. Although Martello had been operating since 1978, it needed a strategic refresh to unlock its full potential.
Business transformation of the Hansbury Group
The results of Richard’s work with Hansbury Group have been transformative:
- Zentura doubled its turnover thanks to improved management, recruitment, and clear accountability.
- The company’s ambitious goals for the next three years now seem well within reach.
- The culture within Zentura also shifted.
- Employees across the business now share a sense of purpose and accountability, with weekly and quarterly reviews helping to keep everyone on track.
- The introduction of external training and partnerships with specialised marketing and recruitment firms has given the company the additional expertise it needed to continue thriving.
“Richard has been a great fit for our culture, he’s been able to relate to the team and drive accountability and performance in a constructive manner.” James Hutchins, Managing Director
Fluid has similarly benefited from the operational changes, with clear targets and improved talent acquisition. They are now positioned to hit their target by 2025 and have carved out a significant market share in the competitive office furniture rental industry.
Overall, Hansbury Group has turned into a fast-growing and ambitious organisation. Their commitment to making structural changes, bringing in external expertise, and adopting a transparent and accountable culture has set them up for long-term success. Leaders across the organisation have embraced a “give it a go” mentality, making them open to change and innovation.
Richard: ‘It is exciting to be part of something that is moving forward at such a rapid pace. When you come in as an external consultant, your suggestions are listened to attentively and taken onboard, which means you can see an immediate impact. It is so rewarding to see the figures increase – and to prove the sceptics wrong, who thought the targets were too ambitious!’
The Hansbury Group’s story is a testament to what can be achieved when a company commits to structured growth, strong leadership, and accountability. Through Richard’s guidance, the group has not only scaled faster than they thought but created an environment where its employees thrive and grow alongside the business.
