Colbea - Case Study
Summary
Provided a financial operations vision for this leading enterprise agency. Married core control and compliance functionality with additional strategic clarity to support the successful implementation of a new business model.
Introduction
Colbea (Colchester Business Enterprise Agency) is a not-for-profit organisation that provides support, advice, training, office space, and networking to businesses.
Our brief was to identify the future state of their finance operation, including the required finance roles, to support their new strategy. We recommended next steps to achieve their goals.
Our Approach
We immersed ourselves in the company culture to understand their core values. We spent a lot of time at both Central and the North business centres building strong relationships with stakeholders across the business.
This project was a true collaboration between consultant and client, kicking off with a period of discovery and scoping with Colbea's Chief Executive. We used this to unpack their future business model, define their requirements and set expectations for reporting and external compliance.
The next phase was a review of their financial structure, processes and reporting framework. We conducted interviews with those involved with financial operation to capture:
-
Team roles and responsibilities.
-
Personal strengths, weaknesses and aspirations.
-
Components of the accounting and bookkeeping processes.
-
Capacity for automation.
Finally, we collated the various components, information and analysis of market rates for resourcing finance professionals. The helped bridge the gap between the existing and desired financial operation.
The Outcome
We met with the Chief Executive to deliver the report. We explained our vision for a future financial operation that strengthened financial governance, provided financial clarity, facilitated strategic board decisions, and supported with subsequent cost efficiencies.
We are establishing a long-term relationship with Colbea and continue to provide consultancy support on their projects.