THE LAVENDER PARTNERSHIP
PARTNERINGÂ WITH CREATIVE SMEs TO SCALE & DRIVE MARGINÂ THROUGH BEST IN CLASS OPERATIONS.
CHARLOTTE LAVENDER
"Charlotte was by far the most inspiring, insightful business leader I have ever worked with"
Andy Barratt, Managing Director, Ford of Britain.
Charlotte started her career working at some of the world’s most respected agencies including, Saatchi & Saatchi and BBH. With a passion for creative, she recognised that operations, were key to creating the right environment for work to flourish and so focused on driving both the commercial and creative elements of the business.
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This dual focus led to management roles, including as MD and COO and she’s been on the Board in Senior roles, for the last 9 years. With experience across a broad range of disciplines, Charlotte's specialised in developing digital and operational transformation programmes for agencies and clients alike, designing and building in-house agency models and developing multi disciplined teams to deliver best in class work.
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Her ability to knit contradictory demands together and galvanise teams under a common purpose, allows Charlotte to lead businesses to a solid agreed outcome, increasing margin and delivering meaningful results, even in the most challenging of times. Passionate about making things work more effectively and having a positive impact on the teams she works with, Charlotte takes a hands on approach to implementing change.
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As MD of a 40 person agency, she grew the business by 40% in 18 months, driving margin through a forensic analysis and optimisation of existing processes, structures and ways of working, dissolving silos and building an integrated Agency across data, digital strategy, media and creative.
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Charlotte has broad sector experience, including Automotive, Finance, Health and Beauty and FMCG. Having run multiple P&Ls, most recently as COO at Publicis in 2019, she has a keen understanding of which levers to pull for success when times are good, as well as how to survive in more turbulent markets.
It’s this experience that she brings to her work in the South West where she set up The Lavender Partnership in 2019, Partnering with Creative Agencies in the region, to drive margin through increased efficiencies and best in class Business Operations.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE, MEASURABLE RESULTS &
HANDS ON IMPLEMENTATION.
I look at existing ways of working, across the business and quickly identify core areas for optimisation to reduce cost and motivate teams.
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I set out a clear roadmap for change, with estimated ROI attached to each action.
Once we've discussed this, and agreed the best approach, I embed myself within the agency, working with the Leadership team and across the business to drive the change needed and measuring results throughout the process. This enables Founders to continue to lead the business.
Through recalibrating and establishing simple processes, changing ways of working and tightening others, businesses typically see a cost reduction of 20-30% in as little as 3 months. The agency teams help to drive these changes, ensuring that they're owned and embedded by the business.
SERVICE PILLARS
Whilst a full audit delivers optimal margin and efficiencies, I offer 6 key service pillars for those agencies focused on one specific business driver.
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These can be developed and delivered as tailored workshops
alternatively
I partner the agency over a specific period of time to embed new behaviour for long term results.
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GROWING EXISTING CLIENT BUSINESS
From client portfolio analysis to knowing how and where to increase Client wallet share. This pillar looks at how to grow existing client business effectively - usually resulting in 30% growth.
LEADERSHIP, STRUCTURE &Â RESOURCE
Whether designing an in-house agency or restructuring/downsizing your business to adapt to Covid, getting the right structure in place, defining the roles within that and working out how they operate together is imperative to ensure your business is set up for success.
DIVERSIFYING & INTEGRATING TEAMS &Â SERVICES
Having a multi specialist offering involves changes to your Operational model to ensure maximum profit. We look at how you can make these changes as painless as possible within the existing business. Diversifying specialisms for growth - which make sense for the business and how to go about it.
GROWTH PLANS
Future planning for your Agency. Whether your ambition is to scale, sell, diversify or step back from the day to day, we look at the current business and develop a blue print and growth plan for your future business.
BRAND POSITIONING & PURPOSE
B Corp certified businesses were 80% more likely to survive in the last recession. Covid has escalated the demand from consumers and employees for businesses to stand for something beyond commercial value. It's a business imperative, uniting disparate teams under a common purpose, and determining decisions on hires, clients and product development. This pillar determines how to develop and integrate purpose into your business.
BUSINESS STRATEGY IN ACTION
How to make your business strategy a reality.  Stress testing your strategy and translating it into day to day practice. Identifying and addressing barriers to success in existing ways of working.
BEST IN CLASS OPERATIONS
A 4Â STEPÂ APPROACH FOR OPTIMAL RESULTS.
AUDIT
I begin with an initial deep dive into your business across the 3P framework. To get to the opportunities fast, we work closely with you and your team, to understand the inner workings of your business.
OUTPUT: In-depth report & audit.
ROADMAP
Taking the Audit I work with your Senior Leadership Team to agree priorities and develop an in-depth roadmap setting out the change needed for best practice, expected ROI and the impact for your business.
OUTPUT: Roadmap, ROI & Time frame.
IMPLEMENTATION
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Using my proven technique to deliver change across processes, structures and ways of working, I translate advice into action, implementing each stage of the roadmap. I embed myself in your business for a specific time frame, to ensure that theory is effectively put into practice.
OUTPUT: Best in class Operations, owned & understood across the business.
RESULTS
Together, we review cost savings and revenue growth against our ROI roadmap at each stage of the process and follow up once I have left the business, to ensure that the results remain positive and ongoing.
3P FRAMEWORK
Used as a framework for Best in Class Operations, and in some of the work shops I deliver, the 3 P Framework allows me to quickly identify challenges & opportunities within the workings of the  business. With a deep dive across your People, your Product and current Performance, I deliver an audit with recommended actions that are tailored to your business. Below, is a taster of some of the focus areas for each 'P'.
People
Your clients, talent and partners. I look at your management structure and practices, external and internal communication and the capabilities and confidence of your teams to deliver the business' ambitions.
Product
Your product is what attracts both your talent and clients, it builds your reputation and drives business growth. The journey from concept to delivery is critical. Optimising this, creating clear hand over points and raising internal knowledge of this, significantly decreases cost to the business.
Performance
Putting in place clear metrics for success across the business, I review client portfolios for growth and ensure commercial knowledge and accountability across the business.
WHAT MYÂ CLIENTS SAY
I had the privilege to work with Charlotte in the last 12 months to help deliver the digital transformation we need in order to fully embrace iDDM as key element in our marketing strategy. Even in such a short period of time I was very impressed by Charlotte. Not only her skills but her drive, her passion and her style. She's capable of managing a very complex project in a calm and disciplined way that deliver terrific results without generate additional stress in the organisation. She works as the ideal business partner perfectly understanding the key objectives and designing the most effective process to get things done avoiding pitfalls and disruption in the delivery of the business as usual. Together we managed to completely step change the way of working of our teams for 2020 without adding additional people to the mix. I definitely endorse her and recommend her fully.
CMO, Gianluca De Tondo, Heineken Global
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Charlotte was a joy to work with and had an immediate impact on our business. During a period of change and growth, Charlotte brought a guiding hand and provided solid advice as someone who has managed a very large agency. She gave an operations perspective which meant she identified quickly where we could implement change, systems and processes to improve our efficiency and effectiveness. She brings knowledge, ideas, structure, a focus on performance with a friendly, easy-to-like approach.
Gemma McGrattan, Founder, Synergy
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As an adviser to the board of a leading internal comms agency, we required an in-depth under the bonnet operations audit to help us to structure the business for the next stage of growth. Charlotte undertook this using her 3P approach and very quickly identified the changes required. Her presentation to the board was concise and effective, whilst being sensitive to the commercial and cultural impact on the agency.
Mark Probert, Managing Partner, Cactus
Charlotte was by far the most inspiring, insightful business leader I have ever worked with as an agency partner. She provided challenging insights, pushed creative boundaries and really inspired us as a client.Without a doubt, I would recommend Charlotte to any client wishing to develop and grow their brand. You can be reassured your brand would be in the most driven hands!
Andy Barratt, Managing Director, Ford of Britain
PUSH OPEN THAT DOOR!
If you're committed to recalibrating your operations for efficiencies, margin growth and happy motivated teams, I'd love to hear from you!
Please get in touch for an initial chat.
07772580290