Shepherd Group Built Environment Division was acquired by Wates Group in 2015 to increase turnover by £300m, add 1,200 colleagues, and cement Wates’ position as a major construction partner for both public sector and commercial customers.
In 2014, Fluid partnered with Shepherd to deliver a major IT-enabled finance transformation programme for what was then one of the UK’s largest construction companies.
“Trust Fluid. The Fluid guys were exceptional in delivering this project for us.”
Michael Porter, Finance Director of the Built Environment Division
Shepherd Group Built Environment Division was acquired by Wates Group in 2015 to increase turnover by £300m, add 1,200 colleagues, and cement Wates’ position as a major construction partner for both public sector and commercial customers.
In 2014, Fluid partnered with Shepherd to deliver a major IT-enabled finance transformation programme for what was then one of the UK’s largest construction companies.
Challenge
Shepherd was centralising office functions across the company’s divisions. Key modules of financial systems were on a legacy platform which was no longer suitable for the needs of the business. Different processes were in place across multiple systems, resulting in inconsistency and inefficiency, with manual workarounds ingrained in daily activity.
Solution
Fluid defined a technology roadmap and systems strategy to rescue the Finance systems and deliver business transformation.
Our team was then brought on board to deliver the 18-month strategic programme of work by forming and leading a multi-disciplined team to transform the IT programme delivery capability. This included the redesign of the project and software development lifecycle and introduction of a new best practice governance framework. We combined new work processes, architectural and software implementations with building and embedding a collaborative business and IT work ethic. This drove a new approach to change focussed on the highest overall business value by continually assessing business benefit and cost of delivery.
“What worked well, was the integration of Fluid with the existing team members. We probably lacked strength and depth overall, and we certainly lacked certain skillsets such as project management and testing capability, and the ability to interface with the business. But Fluid brought those deficits to the table and helped us complete a very successful project.”
Michael Porter, then Finance Director of the Built Environment Division.
Result
Our programme delivered improved efficiencies in Finance business processing, reduced system administration, maintenance and support costs in IT, and improved financial control with faster, better management information.
We set new benchmarks for delivery, effecting a culture change from a supplier / customer relationship between IT and business departments to one team working to deliver strategic business priorities.