Case Studies

AKP Group – Ian McEwan

Iain Mcewan AKP GroupManaging a business through a period of growth can be an exciting and challenging experience.  It can also be a time of uncertainty and trepidation for the individual whose task it is to drive the business forward.  Ian McEwan, Managing Director of AKP Group, the healthcare and interiors refurbishment company found himself in this position 18 months ago.  As co-founder and current MD and the driving force behind the business, he knew he had good business systems in place, good customers within a buoyant construction market and a capable and loyal team behind him.  He had taken the business to a healthy stage in its development and now faced the decision whether to continue to grow and expand or consolidate and maintain its current size.

The latter was never really an option to Ian who knew the opportunity was there to double turnover over the next five years.  The only doubt he had on capitalising on the continued growth was in his own confidence and ability to maintain the levels of growth.  With these nagging doubts in his mind, Ian turned to The Business Map.  He used the programme to meet and draw on the experiences of the experts and from other company directors in a similar position to himself.  He wanted to hone his managerial skills, get clarity and assurance on his plans for the strategic development of AKP and in particular give him the confidence he sought to make his vision a reality.

The Business Map delivered on all fronts and surpassed Ian’s expectations of the programme.  He is very much now working ‘on the business’ rather than in it, a phrase now common to those who participate on the programme. “The Business Map certainly provided me with the tools to take the business forward, more importantly it provided me with the confidence and knowledge on how to use these tools effectively”.  With his new found belief and confidence to drive the business forward and achieve his revised vision, some significant changes were implemented during AKP’s participation on the programme including a major re-branding exercise as part of the marketing strategy, which will result in two distinct divisions - healthcare and office interior - being established.    Furthermore, AKP are now poised to expand into the Edinburgh market which, Ian hopes, will lead to a quadrupling of turnover.

Since taking on board the experiences and learning from The Business Map and working towards his strategy for growth Ian said: "We're now consistently winning £1m-plus contracts and that's something we weren't doing a few years back."  AKP recently announced it had won a high-profile £6.2m contract to build one of the UK's largest specialist heart and lung centres at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank.  Over the course of the financial year, the company has increased its headcount from around 60 to 100 and the company plan to exceed the £20m mark in its current financial period and to hit £40m over the next five years.

There’s no doubt that The Business Map has helped Ian focus on what he needed to do to achieve this level of growth.  Importantly, Ian will continue apply the skills acquired on the programme to achieve the next phase of growth.  The impact of the programme has had such an effect at AKP that it’s no surprise that Ian’s operations director is participating on the current programme.

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