Why I love working with 'difficult' clients

21 October 2025

Anyone who has worked in consulting has encountered challenging clients. If you think you might be one, don't worry - I'm not naming names.  And I'll admit, the title is a bit clickbait-y.  What I really mean is that I value clients who are prepared to challenge me rather than accept everything I say without question.

 

Here's why challenging clients make the best partners:

BETTER OUTCOMES THROUGH ENGAGEMENT

When clients actively participate in the process, the final solution is better tailored to their organisation's needs.  No consultant can ever claim to understand an organization as deeply as someone who lives and breathes it daily.  The phrase ‘that won’t work here’ should always be fully considered by all sides

 

FRESH THINKING FROM ALL SIDES

Client pushback often sparks new ideas - both from them and from me as and potentially a better solution than originally envisaged.  This requires flexibility from everyone but isn’t this a key success

 

YOUR BIGGEST CRITIC CAN BECOME YOUR STRONGEST ADVOCATE

I never expect universal approval from day one. Some people will always resist change and the people, including consultants, who bring it, for both rational and / or emotional reasons. But when you take the time to demonstrate not just what you're doing but why it makes sense, winning over a sceptic is incredibly rewarding.  Perhaps that's the coach or mentor in me talking.

 

HONESTY SAVES EVERYONE TIME

I deeply respect people who say what they think.  Even when we have opposite viewpoints, honest communication creates a foundation of mutual respect.  I can work with anyone who shows that respect and will reciprocate.  I'll always try to find solutions that work for them too.

 

CHALLENGE KEEPS IT INTERESTING

I'll be honest - I hate being bored.  A good challenge energizes me. If there are obstacles to overcome, that’s great. I'm here for it.

 

The best clients I've worked with - and some have been the best people I have worked with in my entire career full stop - are those who see consultants as integral team members while still holding us accountable.  They're comfortable being themselves and aren't afraid to push back when something doesn't feel right or they have an idea.  That's not difficult. That's teamwork.

 

Why use a consultant?

15 October 2025

I must be transparent here - I am a consultant who genuinely enjoys this work and intends to continue in this field so I might just be a little biased here!   That said, there are many compelling reasons why engaging a consultant makes sense, IF it's done in the right circumstances and in the right way.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines a consultant as:

          “someone who advises people on a particular subject”

This definition highlights the crucial distinction between a genuine consultant and temporary staff - you're investing in specialist knowledge and expertise, not just filling a resource gap

This distinction really matters.  Consultants naturally challenge existing approaches, drive innovation, and pursue improvement.  For many of us, improving things is part of our DNA.  This means we're prepared to address difficult issues and tackle challenging tasks that are essential for project success

However, this means we aren't suitable for every situation.  We excel in time-bound initiatives where specific outcomes need to be achieved, after which our involvement naturally ends (although I do like to keep in touch and am always happy to answer any questions and queries you may have)

 

When should you engage a consultant?

1.  You Need Specialist Knowledge

When your team lacks specific expertise that a project requires, but doesn't need to develop that capability permanently, a consultant can bridge this gap efficiently

2.  For Flexibility

For one-time requirements where the cost and administrative burden of hiring permanent staff would be disproportionate or impractical e.g. a contract procurement that only happens once every few years

3.  Risk Mitigation

Experienced consultants bring lessons learned from similar projects across multiple organisations, helping you avoid common pitfalls and accelerate your own learning

4.  To Bring Objectivity

External consultants operate outside your established practices and internal politics, enabling them to identify the right solutions based purely on merit

5.  Value for Money

While consulting fees can appear substantial, they're typically more cost-effective than alternative approaches.  In my experience, the value delivered consistently exceeds the investment by a factor of 10 or more - often significantly more.

Engaging a consultant can deliver excellent results and value.  Key is ensuring you have a solid business case for the engagement and selecting the right consultant for your specific needs

Including SMEs In Your Supply Chain: A Practical Guide

07 October 2025

Why SMEs Matter

Including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in your supply chain can deliver significant advantages: diversity, innovation, alignment with CSR / ESG goals, and potentially better value through lower operational overheads. Social enterprises within the SME sector can also strengthen your ESG credentials

However, successful SME integration requires careful consideration based on your organisation's specific needs and the services being sourced

Core Evaluation Criteria

Whether dealing with SMEs or large suppliers, buyers should always assess four core capabilities:

• Value - Pricing that reflects true cost-effectiveness

• Quality - Consistent delivery standards that meet your requirements

• Assurance - The ability to operate safely, legally, and compliantly

• Reliability - Service delivery when and where needed
  

The key is supplier confidence: can the supplier consistently deliver the right service at the right price?

What SMEs Want

Remember that successful partnerships are reciprocal. SMEs seek:

• Genuine Opportunities  - Real chances to win work, not tokenistic exercises where they invest time and resources in bids with no real success prospects

• Fairness - Procurement processes that don't automatically disadvantage smaller players through unrealistic requirements or turnover thresholds

• Commercial Certainty - Assurance of payment and reasonable risk allocation, recognising SMEs have limited capacity to absorb risk or late payment

Actions for Buyers

While the primary goal remains optimal procurement outcomes, the following approaches can create meaningful SME opportunities:

• Clarity About the Opportunity - Transparency about contract scope, value, and requirements enables SMEs to make informed bid/no-bid decisions, preventing wasted resources

• Built-in Tier 2 Integration - Consider structuring specifications to promote or mandate SME involvement in specific areas. This can create benefits across all tiers while maintaining main contractor flexibility. (This is my preferred approach and experience shows it's effective but direct supplier nomination should be avoided as it increases client risk).

• 'Meet the Buyer' Events - Organised networking between SMEs and main contractors can create opportunities beyond individual contracts

• Allow Consortia - While there is more complexity, well-structured consortia can provide SMEs and clients with the scale advantages typically associated with larger suppliers

SUMMARY

1.   SMEs must demonstrate a compelling business case without expecting preferential treatment

2.  Buyers should understand the agility and innovation advantages SMEs may provide

3.  The right SME can offer substantial value in suitable contexts, but sometimes a large supplier is the right solution

CV Maintenance: A Consultant's Necessary Evil

September 2025

As a consultant, there are many tasks that come with the role but updating my CV ranks among my least favourite.  Yet it's such an important sales document it simply has to be done. And here's the thing: it's never just one CV.  You need multiple versions, each serving a different purpose.

 

1. THE LONG CV showcases all my key experience and successes, demonstrating both what I've accomplished and what I'm capable of. The constant worry? Have I included so much detail that readers lose interest halfway through and forget how brilliant I am?

 

1. THE SUMMARY CV distils everything into a single, powerful page. But I'm always second-guessing myself: have I omitted that crucial piece of experience that would land me that fascinating role I'm eyeing? (For me, interesting work trumps day rates every time.) Or worse, have I left out something that could help win a project that benefits not just me, but an entire team?

 

1. THE PEN PORTRAIT condenses my entire professional identity into just a paragraph or two. Get this wrong, and it reads like I've never done or accomplished anything of note—which is, honestly, ridiculous!

 

THE ULTIMATE IRONY

Here's what's genuinely amusing about this whole exercise: I rarely use these "standard" CVs as-is.  They only come out when someone urgently asks, "Can you send me a CV now?"  Otherwise, I'm customising them for specific roles, clients, and corporate cultures.

But here's why I need to maintain them anyway - they're massive time-savers.  Having these different versions ready means that I can quickly adapt rather than start from scratch each time.  It's a strategy I recommend to every consultant.

Just how Linked are Coaching and Consulting?

September 2025

Alongside my consulting expertise, I'm also a qualified executive coach—but perhaps not for the reasons you might expect. While I do offer coaching services when I believe I'm the right fit for the role, my primary motivation for obtaining this qualification was to enhance the complementary skills it brings to my consulting practice, allowing me to deliver even greater value to my clients.

The synergy between these disciplines runs deeper than many realise. Both coaching and consulting share fundamental requirements that are critical to achieving successful outcomes:

1.  BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS

Whether working with key stakeholders in consulting or establishing rapport with a coaching client, the foundation remains the same: trust, clear boundaries, and open, honest communication must be established from the outset. These elements are essential for success in either field

2.  UNCOVERING THE TRUE OBJECTIVES

Both areas require cutting through initial assumptions to identify what clients really need. In consulting, a seemingly straightforward brief like ‘reprocure our facilities and estate services’ often lacks clarity around scope and success metrics. Similarly, coaching clients frequently present symptoms rather than actual causes. This discovery process often leads clients to refine and improve their original goals leading to better outcomes

3.  RAPID AND ACCURATE INFORMATION GATHERING

Both coaching and consulting rely on knowledge - once you have this you can move forward more effectively whether it is because you better understand the person you are coaching or the organisation you are advising. This is because you are giving support and / or guidance based on fact rather than supposition which is more likely to be wrong!

4.  WORKING WITHIN DEFINED TIMEFRAMES

Neither coaching nor consulting thrives with a ‘we'll get to it eventually’ mentality. Clear timelines and deliverables are essential, but so is building in flexibility. People change, organisations evolve, and external factors can create new realities that require flexible approaches

5.  CREATING MEANINGFUL IMPACT

The reward in both fields is knowing you've made a real difference. Whether helping an individual advance their career through guidance and support (remembering that coaches facilitate rather than provide solutions) or enhancing an organisation's effectiveness, profitability, ethics, or sustainability, the satisfaction benefits everyone involved.

The foundation of success in both coaching and consulting lies in truly understanding your client - whether individual or organization - and applying your knowledge thoughtfully rather than defaulting to generic, one-size-fits-all approaches.  This approach ensures meaningful outcomes for all parties.

The Art of the Specification

September 2025

In procurement, few elements are as critical—or as frequently mishandled—as the specification. Despite its pivotal role in determining contract success, specification development often falls victim to shortcuts and assumptions that undermine the entire process.

Common Specification Pitfalls

1.  A copy and paste mentality

Existing specifications are recycled with only superficial changes—names and locations updated while fundamental requirements remain misaligned with actual needs.

2.  Inexperienced developers

Junior or inexperienced staff are tasked with specification writing without adequate support. While involving them in the process has huge developmental value, expecting them to capture complex organisational needs and nuances sets both them and the client up for failure. Also, don’t think that AI can write the spec for you – it can’t grasp the subtleties and details that make the difference in a people focused service (yet!)

3.  ‘One-size-fits-all’ thinking

Success stories from other organizations are transplanted wholesale, ignoring the unique context, culture, and requirements that make each client distinct.

4.  Rigid adherence to specific models

Entrenched approaches—"we only use input specifications" or "we must have a single supplier model"—prevent consideration of what actually serves the organisation best.

Five essential principles for effective specifications

1.  Assign the right authors

Deploy people with the genuine knowledge, experience, and capacity to understand your organisation's true needs. Whether internal or external, the specification writers must possess both the expertise and time to do the job properly.

2.  Make it uniquely yours

Resist the temptation to copy what others do or what you've done before. Assess your current needs and future aspirations honestly. Your specification should reflect your organisation’s specific context, challenges, and goals.

3.  Build in flexibility and adaptability

Provide enough detail for service providers to understand deliverables while maintaining flexibility for innovation and evolution. The best specifications enable providers to use best practices, introduce beneficial innovations, and adapt alongside your changing business.

4.  Plan for Implementation

Particularly crucial when introducing significant service delivery changes, your specification should detail mobilisation expectations, including performance measures and transition requirements. Always consider how the new service will integrate with existing operations.

5.  Consider your bidders

Structure your specification to make responding as straightforward as possible. Use clear sections, unambiguous language, and logical organization. Support this with a robust Q&A process that eliminates confusion before pricing begins.

The Collaborative Approach

Effective procurement isn't adversarial — it's about creating conditions where motivated Service Providers can deliver optimal value while meeting genuine organizational needs. When specifications are properly crafted, they become the foundation for arrangements that serve building users effectively while remaining financially sustainable and are beneficial to all parties.

The investment in getting specifications right pays dividends throughout the entire contract lifecycle. Take the time to do it properly.

For further guidance on procurement and specification development, please get in touch.

The Future of Facilities Management: A People-First Approach

August 2025

I've been diving deep into developing a training course on the future of facilities management and how professionals should navigate what's coming next. It's quite an undertaking, considering the rapid pace of change we're witnessing.

My research has taken me through evolving workplace dynamics, sustainability imperatives, mounting cost pressures, artificial intelligence, and countless other transformative forces reshaping our industry.

Yet through all this complexity, one fundamental truth emerges: EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO PEOPLE.

No matter what technological advances we implement or infrastructure changes we make, success hinges on understanding and serving the people connected to our buildings:

• The occupants who work within these spaces daily
• The visitors and customers who experience our facilities
• The stakeholders who fund and invest in these assets
• The technicians and service providers who keep everything running
• The managers and leaders who make strategic decisions
• And crucially – you – never forget yourself

Whether you're evaluating new suppliers, designing a workspace, delivering services, or implementing the latest smart building technology, the human element must guide every decision.

The facilities management landscape will continue evolving at breakneck speed, but this core principle remains constant: we are people delivering for people.

Interested in exploring these ideas further? I'd welcome the opportunity to discuss the future of facilities management, share details about our training program, or speak at your next industry event. Let's connect.  

The Importance of  Whole Life Learning

August 2025

My main job is as a management consultant specialising in property, facilities, procurement and change but I do other things as well including coaching, training and assessment even though I often spend more time on it than I should.

However, there is a really good reason for this, I love it! I get a real buzz out of helping people progress in their careers whether marking an assessment or giving the benefits of my knowledge at a training course. It is especially good when someone makes me think and expands my own knowledge as the more you learn, the more you realise you still have to learn!

One of the big challenges of training is to make the courses interesting and fun, which can be a stretch in some of my topics such as risk management, but by using innovative techniques and pushing interactivity, you can get people interested in the driest of topics. I mean, how many trainers actually ask you to get your phones out in a training course!

If you want to discuss training or coaching with me or would like me to speak at your conference, please get in touch

The right look for your support services

July 2025

When specifying a facilities management service there are two key phrases that should always be considered “if it looks right, it is right” and “you only get one chance to make a first impression”

So why is this important?
Support services such as facilities management are enabling services that most people who benefit from simply don’t see, understand or fully understand. This means that they need confidence that the service they receive is safe, legally compliant and of a high quality.

So, for example with their facilities management service, if they see well-presented operatives with clean vans and well-arranged worksites delivering it, they will feel this unless events prove otherwise. Alternatively, if someone arrives looking unprofessional, and that doesn’t mean a cleaner wearing a suit and tie!, they have to prove their abilities in a way that a well presented operative wouldn’t.

This approach should also be extended into all of your communications including signage, documents and updates such as news releases and reports so that, almost subliminally, the message that people are in good, well run space is reinforced which increases end user satisfaction

So how do you make this happen?
1. Build presentation and communication into your delivery specifications
2. Develop a brand for your facilities management and other support services so it is consistent (it doesn’t have to be a name or logo)
3. Communicate in an open and honest manner wherever possible even if it means explaining why someone is saying no
4. Make sure your brand is used consistently by everyone – no Comic Sans or clipart no matter how well intentioned!

If you want to discuss any aspect of service procurement, specification or branding please get in touch

Delivering "Understanding FM Support Services Operations" Training

July 2025

Good to have delivered another successful training course with my friends at Quadrilect. This one was on "Understanding FM Support Services Operations"

The course gave an insight in what needs to happen to allow people to manage facilities in a way that delivers a great service, great value and, of course, a safe and legally compliant environment. It also helps people gain facilities management qualifications and helps me to understand what matters to a wide range of people

From a personal perspective I get a real buzz from helping people progress in their careers.

If anyone wants to discuss training, coaching, consulting or knowledge sharing, please get in touch

Delivering "Operational Management" Training

June 2025

It was really rewarding yesterday to deliver some training for Quadrilect yesterday where my particular area of focus was on risk and minimising it for building occupiers and their facilities managers.

It is always enjoyable to meet with a range of people from different organisations and backgrounds as I often feel that I learn as much from them as they do from me - well almost!

For those who have never been to one of my training sessions I always try to make them interesting, no matter how dry the subject, by using interactive tools and techniques with this particular course ending with a quiz that always gets very competitive!

Sharing knowledge is great fun and positive for our industry

Delivering Success in Contract Mobilisation

February 2025

I have just led the successful mobilisation of one of this year’s largest facilities management contracts ( worth hundreds of millions of pounds) covering a large and diverse estate for a diverse organisation as part of an Incendium Consulting Ltd. team

Whereas I am not going to say this has been easy or straightforward the following five steps have been key to success:

1. Great People

By having the right people working with and for me, we have been able to deliver the right tasks to the right standard at the right time

2. Working with the Service Provider

The Service Provider also wanted a successful mobilisation and a great platform to build on during the life of the contract therefore understanding what matters to them, their risks, issues and concerns was key. In this case the Service Provider exceeded my expectations

3. A robust specification with strong milestones

I took great care to define the requirements for mobilisation and ensure they were issued in the tender so the Service Provider knew what to expect during mobilisation and therefore could resource and cost it appropriately with no surprises for anyone. This meant that expectations were managed and timescales fixed although a degree of flexibility was allowed meaning several milestones were finished early – which I was not expecting! The fact that payment for mobilisation was entirely linked to milestone completion probably helped too!

4. Great client support

My client understood just how important mobilisation was and that it definitely was not an afterthought. This meant I had sufficient resourcing (with some amazing people) and great executive sponsorship which allowed rapid decision making when needed

5. Communication

This is probably the biggest single success factor as mobilisation does not take place in a vacuum. People need to know how a new contract will affect them, the service they receive and to feel part of a process rather than it is simply being imposed upon them. By using a ‘there is no such thing as a silly or trivial question’ approach people were confident to raise, issues, concerns and comments with me with the understanding they would always be considered. This was really beneficial for me too as it gave me some amazing ideas that really improved the mobilisation process

In summary, I have been privileged to work with some great people and obviously I could not have mobilised a contract like this without a great team and supportive stakeholders.

If anyone wants to discuss mobilisation or has any questions please get in touch

A bit of fun - my NASCAR connection

January 2025

This post is just a bit of fun.

My business is called Spingate, it’s actually named after a house and beyond that we have no idea what it means. However, when you type the name into Google (or Bing or any other search engine) you get two results:
· My company (or companies)
· The 2013 Federated Auto Parts 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on September 7, 2013, at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, United States

Could you get more different than a company based in England offering a range of class leading management consulting and property solutions (well I would say that!) and car racing? Not really.

So firstly, I got there first with the name! having established my company several years before the race but as Wikipedia notes: “The race was marred by a controversial finish, after evidence surfaced that two teams were found to have manipulated the outcome of the race and Chase positions in the final ten laps. NASCAR ultimately determined that Michael Waltrip Racing, Penske Racing, and Front Row Motorsports were involved in two separate, but intertwined, incidents, first by Clint Bowyer intentionally causing a caution with less than ten laps remaining in the race, and on the ensuing restart, having Brian Vickers pit after a restart from caution so that Martin Truex Jr. would clinch a Wildcard berth over Ryan Newman, and the second was collusion where Penske's Joey Logano earned the final guaranteed berth over Jeff Gordon after passing Front Row's David Gilliland. Both situations were intertwined together because of the tenth place and wild card situation. This scandal became widely known as Spingate”

So, there you have it. No great technical insights or anything that changes the world but it does show how we can be one degree of separation from wildly different things.

And NASCAR is great to watch if you like car racing!

Happy New Year and best wishes everyone

The importance of a good mobilisation team

September 2024

I am currently leading the mobilisation of a large facilities management contract, something that many who have carried out will know can be a really difficult and challenging process but one that is so important as it acts as a foundation for and sets the tone for the whole of the contract throughout its life

The main factors in the success of a mobilisation are firstly planning and making sure that what you want in the mobilisation is as clearly specified as the maintenance of air conditioning or how you want a building cleaned but also having the right team is essential

On my current project, I am very fortunate to be working with some great people with my client, my service provider and Incendium Consulting who are committed to making sure that the right service will be delivered at day one and between us we have worked closely to ensure that we all know what is needed and how we can deliver it. This makes such a difference and reduces risk significantly

How important is coffee in the workplace?

August 2024

Anyone who knows me will probably have never have seen me without a bucket of strong decaf in my hand but as we all know one person does not a demographic make!

I would argue that it is more important than you would think as it’s one of those little details that can make an office or other workplace more attractive thus helping to increase productivity and staff retention. Is it the key factor? – of course not, there are many elements that matter more such as salary and the workplace itself – would you rather work in a dump with great coffee or a beautiful building with only adequate coffee?

However, as the cost of coffee is low – even your favourite gourmet coffee handmade by a barista in your coffee shop only costs a few pence in product costs as most of the costs are in the staff and the property – so people seeing their favourite high street brand or thinking ‘this is better than the coffee shop down the road’ makes a real difference and is a real quick win along with not just providing the cheapest nastiest pens in the stationery cupboard!

In summary this is just an example of how little things can add up to make a difference so don’t forget the little things as they all add up!