We work alongside senior executives to de-risk and pace transformation. From program design to execution oversight and change management.
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
#wecraftchange
Change artisans
#wecraftchange
Change artisans
#wecraftchange
Change artisans
#wecraftchange
Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
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Change artisans
How to transform while continuing to perform
How to align senior leadership and engage middle management around execution
Where to begin and how to sustain momentum
Our work is anchored in a small set of essential questions:
Our expertise relates to four contexts:
When performance must be restored under pressure
When the business needs to be optimised for efficiency
When growth or integration strain the system
When digitalisation (including AI) changes how the business must operate.
Our approach is active and hands-on, delivering:
Reduced execution risk
Senior capacity focused on delivery
Independent perspective
A trusted decision partner.
Our Clients
Our clients are mid-size international businesses (500–10,000 employees) with manufacturing and processing operations. We partner with a select number of leadership teams at a time, focusing on carefully chosen projects across diverse industries—from metal and mining, energy and extraction, to green energy, cleantech, food and packaging, SaaS and technology, and healthcare.
We believe that transformation is a craft in itself. Working across industries and cultures validates and sharpens our methodology, while also accelerating innovative solutions and enabling knowledge transfer between sectors.
Client Profile
500 to 10000 employees on average
$500M-$2B of annual turnover
Manufacturing & Processing operations
12-18 months typical project length
International teams and operations
Our Cases
A company facing a major organisational overhaul was navigating more than 90 restructuring and right-sizing initiatives, ownership changes and urgent operational challenges. The end goal was clear, but the path was not.
The work focused on defining an optimal future state, assessing the current organisation and translating complexity into a clear set of priorities. The outcome was a realistic, executable roadmap that gave leadership clarity, focus and confidence to move from intent to action.
Strategic Transformation & Road mapping
A long-standing PE-backed company was stuck in prolonged integration. Complex structures, overlapping responsibilities and unclear accountability limited performance. The leadership team were strong industry experts, but lacked a shared management operating model.
Through structured leadership dialogue, best-practice alignment and the design of alternative operating models, a clear direction emerged. Governance and execution mechanisms were put in place to support accountability and enable implementation — turning strategic intent into sustained leadership action.
Turnaround & Leadership Alignment
Following an acquisition, a PE-owned company in a commodity industry faced structurally high SG&A costs, nearing 15% of revenue, with a mandate to materially reduce them.
The starting point was understanding how work actually happened. Using a proprietary methodology, real time allocation and end-to-end processes were mapped in detail. Analysis revealed that between 20–50% of effort, depending on role, was spent on repetitive, non-value-added activities, alongside critical process gaps driving costly errors.
The resulting action plan enabled a near-halving of SG&A within 12 months, while simultaneously reducing operational risk and improving organisational effectiveness.
SG&A Optimisation & Productivity Reset
In a classic “where-to-begin” situation, complexity masked the real drivers of performance. The first step was introducing a clear naming and structuring logic for products and customer families. This enabled a robust 80/20 analysis of profitability, complexity and operational effort.
The analysis showed that focusing on strategic products and strategic clients created disproportionate value. Non-strategic combinations were either automated or removed through outsourcing. By making unnecessary work disappear first, the organisation was then re-designed into a lean, fit-for-purpose structure aligned with the new operating logic.
Turnaround & Performance Reset
A geographically complex business needed to improve organisational performance to unlock financial results. The work began with building a precise picture of the existing organisation — roles, structures, decision rights and performance dynamics.
From this baseline, targeted improvement opportunities were identified and translated into a redesigned structure, supported by a clear implementation framework. Leadership coaching and capability building ensured that structural changes were embedded and sustained, delivering lasting impact beyond the initial redesign.
Organisational Redesign & Performance Improvement
What it feels like to work with us
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Context: High sense of urgency, need to stabilise business quickly whilst keeping day-to-day operations in control.
We partner to stabilise the business, re-establish control and lead the recovery through clear governance and hands-on execution until performance and accountability are structurally restored.
Performance and cost diagnostics
Turnaround planning, governance and oversight
Cost and productivity reset programmes
Operational simplification and workforce restructuring
Hands-on turnaround execution support
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Context: Structures don’t support priorities, SG&A grows faster than value, accountability is diluted across layers and roles. Profitability is suboptimal.
We redesign how the organisation actually operates – aligning structure, workflows, priorities and accountabilities in order to ensure strategy can be executed at pace.
Target operating model design and implementation
Organisational and governance redesign and implementation
Product and client portfolio optimisation
SG&A productivity and effectiveness improvement (SparkUpBlue proprietary method)
Performance-driven changes in ways of working and accountability
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Context: Post-deal complexities threaten value. Integration slows, leaders are stretched, uncertainty creates friction across teams, clients and operations.
We accelerate integration by running it as a focused business programme with a clear operating model, disciplined governance and hands-on leadership support. This ensures value capture and minimises disruption.
Pre-M&A operational and organisational due diligence
Post-M&A integration strategy, governance and hands-on execution support
Target operating model design and implementation
Organisational and culture integration
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Context: High-number of fragmented Digital and AI initiatives, uneven adoption, organisational readiness lags behind technological ambition.
We prioritise and anchor digital and AI initiatives in clear business objectives and prepare the organisation to execute responsibly ensuring adoption, trust and sustainable impact.
Digital and AI strategy, roadmap and prioritisation
AI operating model, automation and organisational enablement
Responsible AI, adoption and workforce transition
We work across transformation lifecycle in mid-size international manufacturing and processing businesses:
Our SPARK methodology provides a structured, execution-focused framework that brings pace, discipline and clarity to complex transformations.