Case Studies
Engagements, measured against where they started.
Real programmes with baselined numbers. Where a client cannot be named we describe the work without them, rather than inventing a logo.
180+
Engagements delivered
94%
Clients who return
12
Countries
0
Abandoned programmes
Selected work
Six engagements in detail
Each links through to the sector page covering how we work in that industry.
Core ledger migrated with no maintenance window
A nine-month parallel run moved a retail bank off its legacy ledger with automated reconciliation throughout. The close window fell from overnight to two hours.
Forty per cent less clinical documentation time
Redesigning the clinical note workflow around single-entry capture removed duplicate data entry across four downstream systems in a hospital group.
OEE up 23 points across three production lines
Automatic downtime capture replaced clipboard logging and revealed that a third of recorded changeover time was actually material starvation.
Twelve times peak traffic with no degradation
A re-platformed storefront with performance budgets enforced in CI, load-tested to twelve times the previous peak before the trading event.
Counter visits halved for six high-volume services
Services redesigned around the applicants who previously had to attend in person, with assisted digital routes deliberately retained.
Deploy frequency tripled in a single quarter
Rebuilt the release pipeline for a Series B SaaS company and eliminated the flaky test suite that had made every deployment a judgement call.
Measured outcomes
Every figure against the baseline it improved on
A result without a stated baseline and a verification method is a claim. These are the numbers, where they came from, and how they were checked.
| Engagement | Baseline measured | Result at handover | How it was verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core ledger migrationFinancial services | Overnight close window, 8–11 hours | Two-hour close window | Nine-month parallel run with automated reconciliation |
| Clinical documentationHealthcare | Time-and-motion study across four wards | 40% less documentation time per shift | Repeat study on the same wards post-rollout |
| Production line telemetryManufacturing | Clipboard downtime logs, three lines | OEE up 23 points | Automatic capture reconciled against manual logs |
| Commerce re-platformRetail | Previous trading-event peak | 12× peak with no degradation | Load test before the event, telemetry during it |
| Cloud estate optimisationTechnology | Twelve months of billing data | 38% run-cost reduction | Unit-cost dashboards sustained over two quarters |
| Security posture upliftPublic sector | Validated findings, ranked by exploitability | All critical findings closed | Independent re-test on completion |
Core ledger migration
Financial services- Baseline measured
- Overnight close window, 8–11 hours
- Result at handover
- Two-hour close window
- How it was verified
- Nine-month parallel run with automated reconciliation
Clinical documentation
Healthcare- Baseline measured
- Time-and-motion study across four wards
- Result at handover
- 40% less documentation time per shift
- How it was verified
- Repeat study on the same wards post-rollout
Production line telemetry
Manufacturing- Baseline measured
- Clipboard downtime logs, three lines
- Result at handover
- OEE up 23 points
- How it was verified
- Automatic capture reconciled against manual logs
Commerce re-platform
Retail- Baseline measured
- Previous trading-event peak
- Result at handover
- 12× peak with no degradation
- How it was verified
- Load test before the event, telemetry during it
Cloud estate optimisation
Technology- Baseline measured
- Twelve months of billing data
- Result at handover
- 38% run-cost reduction
- How it was verified
- Unit-cost dashboards sustained over two quarters
Security posture uplift
Public sector- Baseline measured
- Validated findings, ranked by exploitability
- Result at handover
- All critical findings closed
- How it was verified
- Independent re-test on completion
How we report
What makes a case study worth reading
Measurement
The baseline is captured before we touch anything
A result is only meaningful against a number that existed before the work started. We insist on measuring the current state first, which occasionally shows that the process we were hired to fix is already efficient — and we report that too.
- Baseline agreed with the sponsor before design begins
- The same measurement method used before and after
- Instrumentation built into the new process, not bolted on
- Results reported with the raw data, not only the headline
Honesty
The difficult parts are in the write-up
Every engagement on this page had something go wrong. A case study that reads as an unbroken success is marketing, not evidence — the useful part for a prospective client is what surprised us and what we changed in response.
- What we got wrong, and when we found out
- Scope that was cut and the reasoning behind it
- Estimates that moved, with the revised confidence range
- Initiatives that missed their target, reported not re-scoped
Verification
References you can actually call
Most of our work sits under NDA, so the studies here are anonymised by sector. What we can do is arrange a direct conversation with a client in your sector and of your size, without us on the call.
- Reference calls arranged for shortlisted engagements
- Named references in your sector where the client agrees
- Full write-ups shared under mutual NDA
- We do not attend the reference call
Questions
Fair scepticism about consultancy case studies
You should be sceptical. These are the questions we would ask.
About these studies
Why are the clients anonymised?
Most of our work is under NDA, and in regulated sectors the client often cannot be named even where the engagement went well. Rather than publish a shorter list of nameable logos, we publish the engagements that are most useful to read about and arrange direct references for the ones you are seriously evaluating.
Are the numbers independently verified?
They are measured with the same method before and after, agreed with the client sponsor, and in most cases signed off by them as part of the closing benefits review. They are not audited by a third party. Where a figure comes from a client's own system rather than ours, we say so in the full write-up.
Can we speak to one of these clients?
For engagements you are seriously evaluating, yes — we will arrange a call with a client in a comparable sector and size, and we will not be on it. That is usually more informative than any document we could write, which is rather the point.
What is not here
Do you have engagements that failed?
We have engagements that were stopped at a gate, which is different and is designed in. Two programmes in the last three years ended at the diagnostic stage because the findings did not justify the work — in both cases the client kept the findings and we billed only the diagnostic. We consider those good outcomes and we will talk about them on a call.
Why is there no logo wall?
Because a logo tells you a company bought something from us, not whether it worked. The engagement detail and a reference call answer the question a logo is standing in for, and we would rather spend the page on those.
Want the full write-up?
Detailed versions — including the parts that went wrong — are available under NDA, and often with a reference call.