Overview

Our global experience in strategy development is both broad and deep and extends to the highest levels in the industry.

We have advised professional investors, telcos, vendors, governments, regulators, and enterprises across a range of areas inclusive of business innovation, cost management, financial performance and modelling, investment appraisals,  strategic reviews, and transformation.

Business strategy

As organisations approach the need for change or the development of new opportunities, the starting point is often a cross-functional blend of commercial and technical ideas which may lack form, business case, or conviction. Strategy development is required to develop commercial ideas and bring form and structure, whilst assessing risk.

Our work has included strategy and execution on entirely new business units, external review of investment and programme plans, development of detailed financial plans and tools, and programme risk reviews.

Financial modelling and analysis

Quantitative modelling and rigorous financial analysis are cornerstones in professional strategy and policy work. However, analysis without insight and experience can yield poor results.

We have advised clients extensively in the development of both bottom-up and top-down regulatory cost models, and also in private strategy analyses. By blending our expert sector and technology knowledge with broad capability in business analysis, we are able to offer our clients results backed up not only by quality modelling, but also by sound judgement and proven industry experience.

Performance improvement and operational excellence

Performance improvement needs may exist at corporate or divisional levels and can include both technology-enabled and procedural improvements to business operations.

Plum has advised clients in numerous areas of operational practice; our staff have experience in working with senior leadership teams in telcos in developing good practice across demand management processes, and we have advised on operational excellence, contracts, process development, and both financial and operational benchmarking in transformational programmes and industry deals.

Risk review and investment appraisal

Independent review in development of new ventures and deals can be critical in managing and mitigating risk.

Our experience includes supporting clients in the development and review of financial plans, with a solid underpinning knowledge of technologies, industry practices, and cost structures. We have also supported numerous large programmes from a risk management perspective, where ongoing risk analysis and action planning can form a critical element in overall programme governance.

Financial effectiveness and cost management

Financial performance can be driven by many factors including strategic alignment of projects, complexity of directionally correct change programmes and legacy operations, operational efficiency, and sourcing and contracting.

We have advised clients in independent reviews of large strategic transformational engagements and investment planning, activity-based cost forecasting, and strategic alignment.

Contact

Grant Forsyth

Grant Forsyth

Grant Forsyth brings strong commercial experience to the development and application of strategy, policy, and regulation in telecommunications and the internet, having led successful in-house teams in the UK, New Zealand and globally. In these roles he has delivered significant value through improved quality of service including the first-ever regulated QoS in the UK, expanded regulated access options, self-regulated policy on the open-internet that balances the interests of access and content providers including the interconnection of CDNs, and policy responses to the transition from copper to fibre in the access network. His pragmatic application of competition law and regulation to challenges in numerous jurisdictions contributed to his serving as a member of the Board of ECTA (European Competitive Telecommunications Association) and policy council of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).

Grant holds a Post Graduate Diploma, EC Competition Law, from Kings College London; Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Auckland and a MSC in Engineering (MSCE) from the University of Washington, Seattle.