2022 Draws to a Close

As the end of the year draws near, we would like to express our gratitude and thanks to all our clients, suppliers, and partners for all your support in 2022.

At Where Now Consulting find ourselves reflecting on yet another year of business. 2022 has been an interesting year to say the least, one that has posed serious challenges for the UK private sector, including political instability, disrupted supply chains, rising energy bills, skills shortages, the lingering effects of the pandemic and Brexit, and the ongoing cost of living crisis. However, a difficulty year does not signify an impossible one. It has been incredible to see just how many businesses have weathered, and in some cases flourished, during the economic challenges and are continuing to forward plan and grow.

A new office

2022 saw the return to a little bit of normality as the country moved from lockdown and homeworking to a more hybrid working pattern. After two years of lockdowns, working remotely and in co-working spaces, we were excited to finally move into our new office. Not only is it nice to properly connect with our team again, but the office move has also allowed for a deeper level of collaboration both within the team and in support our clients. The flexible working patterns and the fact that we have moved to the edge of the city has also helped our work life balance as the commute is now significantly reduced from our pre-pandemic daily routine. Who knows, some of us may even cycle to the office in the spring!

This step into a new location is important for our team, and our business, and we are looking forward to continuing to help and support our clients, from our new home in Hillington.

Developing Our Team

2022 has been a challenging year from a staff perspective for many businesses, and we were no different at Where Now Consulting. Our aim had been to build our capabilities and capacity, and we were delighted to gain two new team members in Alexis and Aran! Everyone on our team brings a unique background and different experience, which enriches what we bring to the table. Unfortunately, we also had to say goodbye to two of our existing members, Michael and James. We are obviously very sad to see them leave but it is good to see them taking the skills they’ve gained at Where Now Consulting to develop exciting careers in their new roles.

Cycling

Life is not however all about work. During 2021 our team undertook a Charity cycle on behalf of CHAS. For many of the team this sparked a continued love of cycling and resulted in them challenging themselves again this year to complete a 150 mile cycle across the West of Scotland. As is what seems like tradition at this point, the route we had planned did not work out with our accommodation for the second evening being cancelled just as we completed our first days cycling. Quite a challenge to find accommodation for 7 in the West of Scotland at the last minute. However, we rallied together and figured out an alternative route and found a wonderful Airbnb that enabled us to continue on our route. We gained some bigger hills to climb but the route was spectacular, and we met some old friends on the ride. All in all, a great success.

Our work in 2022

2022 continued to bring interesting opportunities for us to work on in partnership with our clients. There were too many highlights for us to list them all, but we thought we would look at three of the projects delivered during the year.

Working with Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce we have been supporting 5 companies operating in the blue economy with their growth and commercialisation strategies. The companies all operate within or around the Atlantic Ocean and were based in Portugal, the UK, Ireland, and France. Ranging from marine biology to wave energy, these were a group of highly interesting and exciting companies and we thoroughly enjoyed supporting them on this part of their journey.

Closer to home, we have been supporting a Scottish construction company as it has been managing through the challenges of 2022, and in particular the impact of raw material price inflation on its margins and profitability. Working with the company’s leadership, we have been focussing on helping the company to return to profitability, through operational and process improvement, as well as starting to prepare to financially restructure the business for the future.

Finally, our year saw us continue to support overseas companies with international strategies with a review of go to market strategies and options in the German market. Our client is a global business with many years of operations in Germany. In recent years they had however seen their market leadership position being eroded. The leadership team asked Where Now Consulting to carry out an assessment of the current situation, and to advise on options to strengthen the existing sales channels and to assess the opportunities for the addition of new channels in the market.

2023

As we look to the new year, the business, social and political backdrop remains challenging. This will continue to impact business in different ways, some will do very well and others less so. Where Now Consulting is looking forward to continuing to support our clients, whether they are looking to grow or are in need of business transformation to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity.

Once again, a merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all.