Burns & Co.

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Projects We Deliver

The work, not the theory.

A cross-section of the engagements our team has taken on. Client details are anonymised, but the shape of the work — the problem, what we did and what changed — is as it happened.

Manufacturing

Recovering a stalled system implementation

The situation

A £12m turnover manufacturer had spent eighteen months and a significant sum on an ERP rollout that had not gone live, with the supplier and the internal team blaming each other.

What we did

Independent review of the plan and the contract, re-scoped the remaining build, renegotiated the delivery milestones and took over the programme governance, with a weekly report to the board.

What changed

Go-live achieved within the revised timetable, with the legacy system retired and the internal team trained to run the platform.

Professional services

Turning a partner-led firm into a scalable business

The situation

A growing accountancy practice had doubled its fee income but its margin had fallen, and the partners were carrying delivery as well as business development.

What we did

Mapped where partner time was actually spent, redesigned the delivery model around a manager layer, rebuilt pricing by service line and introduced utilisation and recovery reporting.

What changed

Partner time moved back to client development, and the practice gained the capacity to absorb further growth without adding partners.

Construction & property

Cost reduction across a fragmented supply chain

The situation

A regional contractor was buying the same categories of materials through dozens of arrangements, with no consolidated view of spend or terms.

What we did

Built a category spend analysis, consolidated suppliers, renegotiated the top categories and put a simple procurement control in place so terms stayed current.

What changed

Identified and realised recurring savings across the main categories, with fewer suppliers and clearer contract terms.

Healthcare & care

Preparing a care group for inspection

The situation

A multi-site care provider faced a regulatory inspection with inconsistent records, unclear accountability between sites and no single view of compliance.

What we did

Reviewed every site against the regulatory framework, introduced a common set of records and audits, appointed site-level accountability and ran a mock inspection with the leadership team.

What changed

A consistent evidence base across all sites, a leadership team that could answer for its own site, and an inspection with no enforcement action.

Rural & agricultural

Diversifying a farming business

The situation

A family farming business needed to replace a declining enterprise with something that used the existing buildings and staff, but had no agreed plan or funding case.

What we did

Tested four diversification options commercially, built the funding case for the strongest, and project-managed the planning, build and launch.

What changed

A new income stream trading from the existing site, staffed from the existing team, with the bank funding approved on the strength of the plan.

Education & charities

Rebuilding a governance framework

The situation

A multi-academy trust had grown quickly through conversion, and its board structure and delegation no longer matched the size of the organisation.

What we did

Reviewed the scheme of delegation and committee structure, rewrote the terms of reference and decision rights, and ran induction and training for trustees and local governors.

What changed

A board that could evidence its decisions, with clear delegation to executive leaders and a governance model that would stand up to scrutiny.

Sectors

If your sector is not listed, ask anyway.

The method travels. What changes between sectors is the detail, and that is established in the diagnostic stage rather than assumed.

Owner-managed businessesScale-ups and fast growthProfessional services firmsManufacturing and engineeringConstruction and propertyHealthcare and care providersRural and agricultural enterprisesEducation and charitiesHospitality and leisureRetail and e-commerceTechnology and softwarePublic sector suppliers

Your project could be next.

Bring us the brief. If it is a fit, we will set out how we would deliver it, what it would cost and how long it would take.

Or call +44 20 4652 6432

What delivery looks like across different businesses

The engagements on this page span manufacturing, professional services, construction, healthcare, agriculture and education, and they differ in almost every detail. What they have in common is the shape: a problem that had resisted an internal fix, a decision that needed evidence, and work that had to be done by somebody accountable for it.

Some began as analysis and ended as implementation. Others began with a project already in difficulty, where the first task was an honest assessment of whether to recover, re-scope or stop. In every case the engagement was scoped and priced before it started, and reported against measures agreed at the outset.

Client details are anonymised, and the numbers behind each engagement are shared in conversation rather than published. If one of these situations resembles yours, it is usually the fastest way to establish whether we can help.

  • Recovering a stalled system or ERP implementation
  • Rebuilding a delivery model as a firm grows
  • Consolidating procurement and renegotiating supply terms
  • Preparing a regulated business for inspection
  • Testing and funding a diversification plan
  • Rebuilding governance after rapid growth

Tell us what your project looks like. If it is comparable to work we have done, we will say so — and if it is not, we will say that too.