New procurement legislation is having profound impact on the partnerships between business and the NGO sector
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Unlocking >£20M in Increased Gross Margin at a Major Health Insurer
The issue
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Shrinking customer base
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13 legacy books and numerous policy variants causing customer and staff confusion
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Operationally complex to manage – high cost to serve
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Existing proposition and pricing created trigger points for customer exit
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Customers not segmented by value
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No differentiated renewal or save strategies
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Not pricing for risk or maximised value retention
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Poor customer journey: passed from function to function, advisors not empowered
Solution
- Designed and executed a pricing, product and service migration of all policyholders to one new modular product
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- Developed new proposition which drove retention of high value customers and higher return from lower value customers
- Built in upgrade/downgrade ‘right-size’ choices to mitigate competitor switching
- Created pricing engine enabling all business to move to NCD-based policies and set renewal premiums to optimise gross margin
- Cut expected IT lead time to launch from 12 to 3 months
- Changed customer communications and management processes to de-risk customer disruption and loss
- Engaged Legal and regulator on ‘automatic renewal’ plans throughout
- Piloted the transition on 2 highest lapse-risk books to ensure error-free process and no adverse increase in lapse rates
The results
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Exceeded the £20Mpa gross margin improvement target
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Reduced customer loss by 25%
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Improved operating cost ratio from 30% to 16% with greatly improved IT flexibility
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Excellent customer and FSA feedback
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Successfully rolled out from personal to SME & Group schemes
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Leveraging effective negotiation to deliver up to 50% more value for a major international airport
The issue
- Frontline ‘negotiators’ not trained – Teams lacked clarity on effective, strategic negotiations
- Power balance leaning to suppliers – Although the airport had leverage, suppliers secured favourable contract terms
- Costs above benchmark – Costs were identifed as 20% to 40% above benchmark for critical success
Solution
- Benchmarking & Research
- Gained clarity on the as-is situation. Conducted supplier forum
- Build Strategy
- Tenders, direct negotiations, demand management
- Deliver Negotitations
- Reduced costs, and aligned supplier contracts with strategic goals
- Train Stakeholders
- Equipped them with best practices to ensure long-term value in contracts
- Operating Model Change
- Ensured cost savings are locked in the organisation for the long term
- Build Future Roadmap
- So the organisation can use the training and model to deliver further savings
The results
- Training and Development of Client Team
- Empowered the client team with strategic procurement and negotiation skills, resulting in more balanced contracts and enhanced decision-making capabilities
- Client – Supplier Power Dynamic Changed
- Rebalanced power dynamics, shifting leverage back to the client and achieving more favourable contract terms
- Cost Reductions Delivered
- Achieved over $7 million (AUD) in savings and improved negotiation outcomes by up to 50%
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5-year strategic plan to uplift recurring revenue by 80% through organic growth within four years
The issue
- Our clients was experiencing significant changes in the largest customer segment
- Leading to a material decline in client revenues
- EBITDA fell below business case targets
Solution
- Sized the UK medical consumables market for 10 segment, including private acute, NHS, care homes
- Created a vision for the organisation in collaboration with the client senior leadership team
- Shortlisted target segments to drive organic growth
- Developed win strategies and business model options for each segment
- Identified approaches to extend treatment and care pathways into a patient’s home
- Developed a 5-year financial plan including revenue projections and investments required
The results
- Identified multiple growth pathways to reach 80% revenue growth within four years
- Developed a balanced framework of win strategies to drive incremental revenue and EBITDA growth
- Generated a 5-year strategic plan, go-to-market launch and implementation roadmap to capture the identified incremental income
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Virginia Arguelles
Senior Consultant
+44 (0)1653 628596
An experienced Senior Consultant with expertise in market entry, M&A strategy, and operational transformation across healthcare, infrastructure, and international business. With a strong regulatory compliance and sustainability background, Virginia has led strategic projects that optimise organisational performance, improve efficiency, and support expansion into new markets.
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UK’s Leading Management Consultants 2025
We are delighted to have been recognised in the 8th annual edition of the Financial Times UK’s Leading Management Consultants 2025 Special Report
Recommended across 12 categories an increase year on year, the annual rating, compiled with data company Statista is based on endorsements by clients and peers. It demonstrates our consistent year-on-year sector and service line growth.
Consulting companies are awarded Bronze (recommended), Silver (frequently recommended) or Gold (very frequently recommended).
Sectoral Expertise
· Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals – Bronze
· Construction & Infrastructure – Silver
· Energy, Utilities & Environment – Silver
· Financial Institutions & Services – Bronze
· Healthcare & Life Sciences – Silver
· Insurance – Bronze
· Public & Social Sector – Bronze
· Travel, Transportation & Logistics – Bronze
Consulting Services
· Digital Transformation – Bronze
· Operations & Supply Chain – Silver
· Strategy – Silver
· Sustainability – Silver
Managing Partner Andrew Morgan said
The FT Awards are a testament to our company’s continued growth, driven by our team’s exceptional talent and dedication. I’m truly grateful for their relentless commitment, passion, and ability to consistently deliver outstanding results for our clients.
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Curzon Sponsors the 2024 AMBS Case Interview Competition
Curzon Consulting is thrilled to sponsor this year’s Alliance Manchester Business School Consultancy Case Competition.
Introduced in 2016, the competition enables AMBS MBA students to showcase their skills, innovative thinking, and problem-solving abilities. It’s a platform that challenges them and provides them with real-world experience in tackling complex business scenarios in preparation for interview processes across a variety of industries.
Curzon is a key recruitment partner for the full-time MBA programme, and everyone involved is excited to further develop this relationship. Last Friday, Curzon representatives Nigel Brannan, and AMBS Alumni Sarbo Saha, and Aziz Yuldashev, joined the group and were introduced to the students, leading them through an interactive case study session.
We also heard from Class 2025 students Yasar W Khan and Syed Arhaam Ahmed from last year’s winning team, who both shared their top tips on how to succeed in the competition.
The students now have a few months of preparation before the preliminary rounds begin in January 2025. We can’t wait to see how everyone gets on!
Nigel said
We deeply appreciate Chris Garnett and Nick Burrows for your support and are excited by the enthusiasm and energy of the participating MBA students. It’s a pleasure to partner with you on this valuable and enjoyable aspect of their course”.
Thank you to Nigel Brannan, Sarbo Saha and Aziz Yuldashev for your assistance on the day.
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Highly Commended in the 2024 MCA Awards
10 Years of Continued Success
Huge congratulations to the Curzon Consulting team – marking 10 years of continued success at last night’s MCA Awards. Amidst strong competition, we proudly secured a Highly Commended award in the Commercial Impact category.
This outstanding achievement is a testament to the incredible work of the joint Marston Holdings and Curzon Consulting team, who delivered exceptional results within an impressively short timeframe.
The judges said this was a “project which used an imaginative approach and truly showed the power of a consulting team in delivering commercial benefits.”
Commercial Impact with Marston Holdings Ltd
Marston Holdings Ltd (MHL), a private equity-backed enterprise with a turnover exceeding £350 million. Primarily operating within the UK, the company caters to diverse sectors, prioritising services related to legal and regulatory obligations enforcement, including but not limited to parking enforcement, fine collection, and management.
MHL embarked on a transformative journey to achieve remarkable growth, with a focus on unlocking substantial savings through a strategic procurement programme. In collaboration with Curzon Consulting, MHL aimed to address challenges such as insufficient spend visibility, dominant incumbent suppliers, and limited procurement influence within the organisation.
Under the leadership of Curzon Consulting and CEO Martin Johnson, the project, named Project Eagle, aimed to drive sales, optimise costs, and enhance productivity. The procurement transformation programme set out to revamp MHL’s procurement organisation while delivering substantial savings.
Curzon’s approach was multi-faceted, leveraging deep data analytics, innovative thinking, and tried-and-tested change management methodologies. The process involved three main workstreams: Spend Opportunity Assessment, Benefits Delivery, and Procurement Organisation Assessment.
The Spend Opportunity Assessment phase involved a rapid analysis of MHL’s spend, identifying significant savings. Despite initial challenges, the team delivered the core assessment in less than five business days. Subsequent phases focused on implementing cost-saving initiatives, including achieving quick wins within the first two months.
The Benefits Delivery phase saw the implementation of various procurement strategies across different expenditure categories, such as strategic sourcing, product harmonisation, and make vs. buy analysis. These initiatives led to significant cost reductions.
Additionally, the Procurement Organisation Assessment aimed to enhance MHL’s procurement capabilities. Recommendations included restructuring the team, enhancing governance, and improving strategy and systems.
Throughout the project, Curzon fostered a collaborative relationship with MHL, employing a unified ‘one team’ approach and acting as trusted advisors. A well-defined governance model ensured efficient communication and problem-solving.
Despite challenges such as supplier resistance and stakeholder reluctance to change, Curzon overcame obstacles through pragmatic approaches, evidence-based reasoning, and stakeholder management expertise. The project delivered measurable results, exceeding savings targets by 28%, with a sizeable in-year cash impact. Qualitative outcomes included improved transparency in spend areas, satisfaction with new products, and enhanced trust in the procurement team.
In conclusion, the partnership between MHL and Curzon Consulting exemplified resilience, innovation, and successful collaboration, resulting in significant cost savings and organisational improvements.
Chetan, Stephane and the Curzon team were contracted to deliver an optimisation programme at Marston Holdings. The Curzon team approached the complex task with energy and professionalism, which was key to the ultimate success of the programme.
The technical knowledge and capability of the Curzon team were clear from the start of the engagement and we had total faith in their capability to deliver the ambitious goals they had been set. Marston would recommend Curzon to anyone who requires the domain knowledge and experience of a capable consulting partner. We look forward to working with them in the future
Martin Johnson, CEO, Marston Holdings Ltd