• These case studies illustrate the type of work Kate is known for: stepping into complex, regulated and high‑consequence environments to restore discipline, enable performance and profitability. Kate’s approach is pragmatic, outcome‑led and commercially focused, working with boards, CEOs and executive teams to deliver sustainable organisational performance.

  • Industry: Home services / trade services (start‑up, acquisition‑led growth platform)

    Context: The organisation was established as a newly formed growth platform, built through the acquisition of multiple trade and service businesses. Each acquired entity operated with its own structures, systems, culture and employment practices, resulting in duplication, rising cost and increasing operational complexity. As a start‑up with private shareholders, the business needed to integrate at pace while continuing to grow and actively pursue further acquisition opportunities.

    Kate’s role: Kate led the workforce, operating model and cultural integration across the acquired businesses. The focus was on establishing a single, scalable operating culture early, rather than preserving legacy practices. This involved simplifying structures, clarifying accountability, aligning leadership expectations and embedding consistent people, safety and performance disciplines across the platform.

    In parallel, Kate worked closely with the executive team on acquisition activity, contributing to due diligence, workforce risk assessment and integration planning, as well as supporting the identification and evaluation of additional target entities. Particular focus was placed on operating scalability, workforce cost structure and post‑acquisition integration effort.

    Outcomes:

    • Multiple acquired entities integrated into one operating model and leadership framework, reducing fragmentation and internal friction

    • Employee engagement improved materially within the first 12 months, providing an early indicator of operating stability in a high‑change start‑up environment

    • Structural duplication removed, delivering meaningful reductions in workforce cost and improved operating leverage

    • Integration achieved while maintaining service continuity across frontline teams

    • Workforce and operating insights strengthened the organisation’s capability to scale through further M&A, improving confidence in future acquisition activity

  • Industry: Regulated infrastructure and oil & gas

    Context: The organisation was establishing new operations in a highly regulated, safety‑critical environment within the infrastructure and oil & gas sector. As a greenfields operation, there were no legacy governance, workforce or operating frameworks in place, yet regulatory, investor and counterparty expectations were equivalent to those of a mature, listed entity. Governance needed to be credible from inception, without constraining operational readiness or creating unnecessary overhead.

    Kate’s role: Kate was responsible for establishing workforce and governance foundations capable of supporting safe, compliant operations from day one. Rather than building a traditional HR or compliance function, the focus was on clarity, accountability and operating discipline appropriate to a high‑consequence environment.

    Kate worked closely with executive and operational leaders to define role accountability, leadership expectations, and to embed safety, workforce and governance controls directly into how the organisation operated.

    Outcomes:

    • Workforce and governance foundations established prior to operational commencement, supporting a safe and compliant start‑up

    • Regulatory and safety expectations embedded into BAU operations rather than managed as parallel compliance activity

    • Leadership teams operating with clear accountability, decision authority and discipline from inception

    • The organisation commenced operations with credible governance foundations, reducing regulatory risk and enabling future scale

  • Industry: Large‑scale retail / consumer services

    Context: The organisation undertook a major enterprise operating model transformation to respond to evolving customer needs. Meeting these expectations required significant changes to how the workforce was structured.

    The challenge was to shift the operating model in live conditions across thousands of roles and multiple leadership layers while maintaining service quality for customers and operational continuity for the business.

    Kate’s role: Kate played a senior role in translating the operating model design to execution. Working closely with executives and senior leaders, she enabled leaders to take ownership of key changes and stewarded the change management process.

    Particular attention was paid to ensuring frontline leaders understood how the operating model connected directly to customer experience and delivery expectations.

    Outcomes:

    • Enterprise operating model changes implemented across a large, decentralised organisation

    • Clearer accountability and decision‑making embedded across leadership layers, aligned to customer outcomes

    • Improved alignment between structure, roles and customer‑led execution expectations

    • Operating model change delivered at scale and under live operating conditions, without material disruption to customer service

  • Industry: Insurance (regulated financial services)

    Context: The organisation had experienced multiple consecutive years of financial losses and required a reset that would support sustainable performance improvement rather than short‑term correction. The focus was on strengthening the depth and effectiveness of the operating model.

    The objective was a return to profitability, supported by stronger bench strength, clearer accountability and consistent execution across the enterprise.

    Kate’s role: Kate led enterprise‑level work to strengthen leadership and technical capability as a core element of operating model evolution. This went beyond structural alignment to focus on how capability was built, governed and applied at scale.

    She sponsored and embedded capability frameworks across critical disciplines, improving role clarity, development pathways and succession depth for both leadership and technical roles. These frameworks were directly tied to performance expectations and decision authority, increasing accountability and consistency.

    In parallel, Kate increased the depth of operating model implementation strengthening executive and management operating rhythms, clarifying accountabilities, and reinforcing governance disciplines.

    Outcomes

    • The organisation returned to profitability after several consecutive years of losses

    • Leadership and technical bench strength materially improved through embedded capability frameworks

    • Greater operating model depth strengthened decision quality and execution consistency

    • Clearer accountability and performance discipline embedded across leadership layers

    • Performance improvement sustained through stronger capability and operating foundations

  • Industry: Regulated financial services

    Context: The organisation was operating through sustained change in a regulated environment, with employee engagement identified as a key indicator of organisational health and execution capacity. Engagement had deteriorated, creating a risk to leadership effectiveness, workforce stability and delivery momentum.

    The objective was to achieve measurable engagement recovery, without pausing or diluting ongoing transformation activity.

    Kate’s role: Kate led the engagement reset as an operating and leadership discipline issue, rather than a standalone culture initiative. Engagement data was used diagnostically to identify the specific conditions constraining confidence and performance, including leadership clarity, decision follow‑through, workload pressure and workforce capability alignment.

    Kate worked directly with the executive team and senior leaders to focus effort where engagement and performance intersected most strongly. Actions were prioritised based on their impact on execution, accountability and day‑to‑day leadership practice, rather than generic engagement activity.

    Outcomes:

    • Material uplift in employee engagement within 18 months, reversing prior decline

    • Recovery from negative customer NPS across a 12 month period

    • Improved engagement achieved during ongoing change, not after conditions stabilised

    • Workforce confidence stabilised, supporting delivery momentum and talent retention

  • Industry: Heavy manufacturing / explosives

    Context: The organisation operated in a safety‑critical, tightly regulated environment and was under heightened regulatory scrutiny following a series of incidents and deterioration of regulator confidence creating a material risk to licence to operate.

    Kate’s role: Kate sponsored and led enterprise‑level workforce, safety, leadership and governance remediation alongside site and operational leaders.

    The focus was on restoring operating discipline and introducing commercially sound governance. High‑risk roles were clarified, accountability strengthened across safety‑critical activities, and leadership expectations reset.

    Kate worked directly with regulators to rebuild trust and translate regulatory requirements into practical, auditable actions embedded into day‑to‑day operations, while stabilising workforce confidence during the reset.

    Outcomes:

    • Regulatory scrutiny stabilised, with no loss of licence to operate

    • Employee engagement improved materially following an extended period of decline

    • Sustainable safety, leadership and workforce controls embedded as BAU rather than temporary remediation

    • 40% reduction in quality incidents following intervention