Chris Carlisle · 7 September 2026 · 4 min read
Most leadership teams can easily tell you what they spend on people, technology, and suppliers. What is much harder to calculate is how much of that investment is lost in the gap between strategic ambition and daily exe…
Daniel Dunlop · 7 September 2026 · 2 min read
We worked with an organisation that needed to find £500k of EBITDA from its back-office operation. On paper, the numbers immediately pointed towards headcount. There were 45 people working across nine sub-functions, wit…
Gareth Greppellini · 24 June 2026 · 5 min read
In the second part of this two-part series, we identify the structural taps that lock-up your internal capacity, and what you can do about them. Once you recognise the mathematical velocity required to protect your ma…
smart/tasking · 19 November 2025 · 3 min read
The search for productivity can often feel like a race to adopt the next digital tool. AI, automation platforms, new dashboards, new tech stacks - they promise efficiency, clarity, and scale. But there’s a problem with…
smart/tasking · 30 July 2025 · 3 min read
We recently read HSBC innovation banking’s piece on the art of pivoting , and it got us thinking. As businesses push into the second half of the year, we know that many leaders will be questioning their current approac…
smart/tasking · 30 July 2025 · 2 min read
If it’s taking you weeks, it should take days In every business, there’s always at least one project that’s taking far too long. Not because it’s technically complex, but because ownership is murky, visibility is low,…
Sophie Pentony · 11 February 2025 · 3 min read
When businesses think about optimisation, the focus often falls on tools, processes, and systems. But the real engine of optimisation lies in the people who make those processes work: your employees. Without their buy-i…
Paul Dunlop · 4 February 2025 · 3 min read
Beyond the AI hype: Business Optimisation that delivers real results Feb 4, 2025 2 min read AI is everywhere. It’s in our inboxes, our meetings, our marketing. It’s promising the world a whole lot - but let’s be honest:…
smart/tasking · 24 December 2024 · 3 min read
In business, the information you get from data is everything. Without it, decisions become guesses, strategies turn shaky, and success feels like a shot in the dark. But truth in data isn’t automatic - it takes work to…
Paul Dunlop · 14 November 2024 · 2 min read
Designing a great customer service from the ground up Nov 14, 2024 2 min read smart/consult & smart/bench case studies The client Our client, a combined utilities provider, aimed to provide a seamless customer experien…
