When a major UK newspaper organisation - with over 200 titles - had identified an urgent need to review its business processes, it turned to Practicus to centralise and consolidate.
This group had grown through acquisition, resulting in systems and business processes that were siloed and inefficient. Critically, online advertising revenues were beginning to eclipse traditional sources in the market and this business was ill equipped to take advantage.
Practicus was engaged to design and implement cost saving solutions to provide the ‘to be' organisational design. Working in an ambiguous environment with highly differing agendas and a strong resistance to change, this was a hugely challenging assignment.
Logistics & Distribution
The business was split into six regional business units. Each had responsibility for its own logistics and distribution. A Practicus Project Manager was put in place to identify opportunities for sharing best practice and, ultimately, to create a single logistics organisation for all six regions.
We reviewed each regional operation, implemented best practice and delivered early success. We then moved on to develop a corporate logistics operation. Early in the process it became clear that each region was resource heavy but efficiency poor. By introducing routing and scheduling software, we were able to reduce distribution costs by 25% without losing flexibility for peak periods.
Call Centre Outsourcing
To keep costs to an absolute minimum for regional titles, Practicus centralised and consolidated their call centres. We put in place a Business Change Project Manager with specific experience in streamlining call centre processes and transitioning to an outsourced offshore provider. Ultimately, the cost savings generated have supported the move to make these previously ‘pay for' regional titles free to the consumer - boosting circulation and advertising revenue.
PMO Our client within the newspaper group soon found that his portfolio of projects was increasing due to the success of the initiative with Practicus. As a result Practicus provided a Program Office Management specialist to help support governance, financial controls and project reporting across the change initiative. They added necessary additional rigour to the project governance standards. Importantly, they also helped to mentor permanent employees who were not Project specialists but who had been seconded from within the business. The upskilling of permanent staff around business change is part of Practicus' approach to ensuring a sustainable legacy within client organisations.
Publishing System Upgrade
Unifying editorial processes and systems across individual titles would be key to embracing new channels to market and revenue streams. A Senior Practicus Project Manager was engaged to develop and implement the pilot, covering around 20 titles across two of the organisation's major regional hubs.
Key to a successful outcome was not only ensuring a sound technical implementation but also engaging the hearts and minds of the editorial staff across the organisation. On some titles, staff had been working in the same way for decades. This pilot was a great success and the new editorial system was rolled out across the group.
You can gain more information on our work with this organisation and on similar initiatives by contacting us
