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Because Great Results Don't Just Happen

This year I've been working with Simon McCandlish, the Director of Pharmacy and Healthcare at Boots the Chemists, and have helped him and his team develop a new strategy for growth. I'm delighted and grateful that Simon has taken the time to share his reflections on the experience.

For the past few months I have been helping Nelsons Natural Healthcare to identify major new sources of sales and profit growth. I'm grateful to UK Managing Director, Mark Turrell, for sharing his assessment of the results we have achieved.

Dr. Alan Weiss conducts a global mentoring program for independent and boutique consultants and in 2008 Alan inducted Stuart Cross into the Million Dollar Consulting Hall of Fame. Stuart is the first British consultant to achieve this honour and is one of only thirteen such consultants worldwide. Dr Weiss himself holds multiple awards in the consulting and speaking professions, including the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Press Institute and the Professional Speaking Association Hall of Fame®.

"Morgan Cross epitomise what good consulting is all about. I would recommend Morgan Cross to any company looking for creative solutions to challenging strategic issues."

"Not only have you been able to give me valuable support, ideas and advice through the course of this project, but you have also been able to rapidly gain the trust, support and respect of my executive team, helping us all to focus and act on the key issues and opportunities facing this business. It's great to work with a consultant that not only understands and meets our business needs, but who can also tailor their approach to the dynamics of a particular team and organisation. I'm delighted with the results that we've been able to achieve so far and see this as the start of a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship."

"We chose Morgan Cross to help us because of their strategy expertise and also because of their ability to involve managers and directors effectively in the work. Stuart used his excellent strategic skills to help us create a new agenda that will drive significantly higher levels of growth for the business."

“Stuart delivered against my high expectations. Our leadership team unanimously believe that Stuart’s involvement has been instrumental in helping us develop a set of strategies for growth that are ambitious, robust and fully-owned by each divisional executive. I would definitely recommend other leaders looking to develop compelling and robust strategies for their companies or organisations to speak to Stuart.”

"Stuart rapidly identified material profit growth opportunities for our UK business. He is focused on results, commercially pragmatic and delivers a lot of value - quickly!"

"Stuart has a first rate strategic mind and has that rare ability to hold Executives' feet to the fire on key issues without provoking everyone to throw their toys out of the pram."

"I am very happy to recommend Morgan Cross Consulting. Stuart brought a new perspective and his interventions showed strategic vision, added value and were insightful. He carried out the brief professionally and enthusiastically, meeting all our deadlines and quickly finding empathy with our team"

"Stuart's drive and energy, combined with his in-depth knowledge, is the perfect recipe for success. A pleasure to work with."

"Stuart provided focus, structure and acceleration to our search for major new business ideas. From the start Stuart helped us identify many potential opportunities and then worked very quickly with business stakeholders to identify those ideas with greatest potential and the best fit to our current capabilities. He challenged all of us in a balanced way resulting in a set of priorities which were not prejudiced by anyones' 'pet projects'. We are now ready to drive the detailed development of some big opportunities, but without Stuart's help we would still be trying to agree a priority list."

“Historically, our strategies and high-level plans have been developed by a small group of directors, distant from the some elements of the business. Stuart’s integrity, openness, pragmatism and professionalism enabled us to involve over 50 senior executives and key managers in a way that has transformed their level of engagement with the company’s future strategy. I now have real confidence that we have the strategic clarity, the specific plans and the executive ownership that will enable us to drive dramatic and sustainable growth for our business.”

"At ?WhatIf! it's usually us that gets hired to ask the smart questions and think strategically. When we worked with Stuart he was the one asking the brilliant questions. Even our smartest client deferred to his sense of wisdom. A class act!"

"Having worked with many consulting firms it's clear that Morgan Cross are not only good value in the long run, but they also provide immediate value. They have a refreshing approach where home truths are told quickly and constructively and are rapidly turned into actionable opportunities."

"Stuart, thank you for all your help in our 'creatology' session. The pre-work made sure we all got the most out of it and you made us think in a different way. You helped to create a real breakthrough! We now have a fantastic pipeline of innovative products to drive future growth. I look forward to working with you again on a different project."

"Stuart shone at our series of evening events for those working at all levels in the Food & Grocery Industry. From the outset he was professional and a pleasure to work with, clearly meeting the brief and delivering. His sessions kept a perfect balance of being well structured but flexible enough to ensure those attending felt their own objectives had been met and that the session had incorporated their own experiences as examples to bring his concepts to life. His style was informal and approachable yet he clearly demonstrated his expertise on the subject which really engaged the audience. The feedback from the event has been extremely good and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him as a speaker/trainer."

"Stuart, your presentation left delegates on a high. I must also congratulate you on the pre-Conference activity you undertook, making for an excellent package. Delegates commented throughout the day that the two inspiring presentations were yours and Saatchi&Saatchi's, which I am thrilled you recommended. I look forward to working with you again in the future."

"Stuart’s energetic and compelling approach is packed full of big insights, presented in an instantly graspable way. Stuart has that rare combination in consultancy: real intelligence, deep experience and a light touch in bringing concepts to life"

"Stuart, thank you for delivering such a useful and stimulating message to our association last week. You had instant credibility as a result of the research you did in advance of the session, and you gave our members new and reinforcing insights which they can turn into immediate action."

"I've worked with Stuart many times and found him extremely knowledgable about his subject - strategic thinking. He comes across as a really good guy, helpful, honest and open in sharing his experiences and very engaging with a very diverse group of delegates. Stuart has the gift of simplifying and removing the mystery around strategy and shares with delegates a wide range of practical tools."

"I am writing to give you some feedback on the impact you have had on the Avon Kazakhstan management team following our attendance at your Strategy Development workshop. After the session with you I felt reassured about the importance of strategic planning and thinking and received helpful tools and approaches to create a strategy for our market. Back in Kazakhstan we used the tools within a very creative and successful process that resulted in a strategy we all believe in. Thank you for providing us with practical and useful approaches that we could implement in real life!"

"I write to thank you for the recent lecture you gave the MBA class on business strategy. It was a resounding success. Your combination of intellectual wisdom and common sense business savvy struck exactly the right note. I very much hope you can join us again in the future."

"I am writing to thank you so much for coming to give your presentation to the MBA's. Both the formal and informal feedback from the students was extremely positive. They were impressed by how much they learned and really enjoyed the session - it was clear that your presentation had exceeded their expectations. I hope you won't mind my inviting you back in the future."

"Stuart, please accept my sincere thanks for fulfilling your brief so creatively. You showed a deep understanding of the strategic management process. You also showed that concepts are not enough: insight, creativity and sound relationships are needed to help managers develop and deliver a workable and winning strategy. I would happily recommend you to other business schools or groups of managers looking for practical and insightful ways to improve their approach to strategy management."

"The Morgan Cross Strategy Directors' Forum is unlike any other event I attend. For starters, it's a roundtable discussion that encourages involvement. Second, it is focused solely on strategy directors. And third, It provides me with provocative but pragmatic ideas I can use, rather than formulaic text book thinking. I would happily recommend other strategy directors to attend future sessions."

"It was a stimulating opportunity to engage with others facing similar issues in strategic management. There aren't many Strategy Directors around, so this is a very helpful and insightful forum!"

"I found the Strategy Directors' forum a worthwhile and stimulating event. The insights were a refreshing contrast to the notion of strategy as a rigorous and analytically based discipline, and have made me think about strategy development in a different way."

"The e-zines of Morgan Cross are truly a pleasure to read. I recommend everyone who is ambitious to get great results and clever approaches of how to manage your business to sign up now. You will be delighted and learn every time you read one, and it also makes you smile!

"I find the Great Results e-zine a thought provoking interjection in what can all too often be a 'heads-down-and-get-on-with-it' life at work. The messages contained within it make me reflect and pause and sometimes make me smile as I identify with the parallels within it. The topics vary so I am always tempted to open the message - much more so than other similar sites. Keep them coming!"

"Great Results works for me because of the useful scenarios and business analogies featured each time. They're relevant, easy to relate to and readily transferable to every day situations."