Diet or feeding on pastures new?

I’m not sure about anyone else out there but quite frankly I am happy that 2009 is over. In the last 12 months the support services industry embarked on a large cost reduction exercise which was a complete (and necessary) reaction to many of its customers reducing spend and therefore potentially reducing operating profit unless costs were cut. The media was awash with redundancy notices which had an impact across all functions and any staff remaining are still feeling the change in culture where governance is now king. This affected Interim Management as many programmes were shelved along with anything else that required expenditure.

Will 2010 continue to be a year of trimming the fat or will it bring a renewed urgency for profitable growth?

In December many in our Industry were talking about sizing up lucrative outsourcing deals including a high profile move by VT Group to buy into the market and target Mouchel for acquisition. Diversification was also a hot topic at the end of the year with many companies looking to capitalise on existing customer relationships to deliver expanded services. Thankfully for my sector the model has already proved successful; I realise that they are public sector focussed but you only have to look at the success of Capita and Serco to understand that support services companies can diversify into almost any service offering and deliver it well by initially utilising the right amount of expertise and customer relationship management.

I personally think that 2010 will be an exciting year for support services companies that are at the forefront of change and diversification; Local change programmes will be re-instated as long as they benefit the customer and intelligent cost reduction programmes will have a National, European or Global effect and will be for the long term. A move into complimentary services will feature in many companies’ strategy reports and all of the above can only be good news for proven Interim Managers or Industry experts.

I would like to hear your predictions for the Support Services Industry in 2010; do you think that companies will diversify to offer a broader service to existing clients? Do you think that the focus will be on growth rather than further cost reduction?

Mark Kitchen is Head of the Construction and Support Services Practice of Interim Partners.ber many in our Industry were talking about sizing up lucrative outsourcing deals including a high profile move by VT Group to buy into the market and target Mouchel for acquisition. Diversification was also a hot topic at the end of the year with many companies looking to capitalise on existing customer relationships to deliver expanded services. Thankfully for my sector the model has already proved successful; I realise that they are public sector focussed but you only have to look at the success of Capita and Serco to understand that support services companies can diversify into almost any service offering and deliver it well by initially utilising the right amount of expertise and customer relationship management.

I personally think that 2010 will be an exciting year for support services companies that are at the forefront of change and diversification; Local change programmes will be re-instated as long as they benefit the customer and intelligent cost reduction programmes will have a National, European or Global effect and will be for the long term. A move into complimentary services will feature in many companies’ strategy reports and all of the above can only be good news for proven Interim Managers or Industry experts.

I would like to hear your predictions for the Support Services Industry in 2010; do you think that companies will diversify to offer a broader service to existing clients? Do you think that the focus will be on growth rather than further cost reduction?

Mark Kitchen is Head of the Construction and Support Services Practice of Interim Partners.

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