I’ll go in and carry out a quick scan, which would generally take two days to evaluate the current state of the business. It’s about identifying culture and people’s behaviour, which is very important.

So, there will be a series of formal interviews with employees as well as the management team. I do use practised tools and techniques, but it’s also about listening to people, talking to people. And for me it’s about equality as all employees should be supported and valued to optimise their potential.

Lean philosophy focuses on reducing waste and adding value. Reducing waste can be tangible – as in physical waste – but it can also be processes. So, for example, it can improve efficiency by preventing duplication, which takes you into other areas too, like structure and role responsibility – ensuring people know what they should be doing and having the right people in the right place at the right time.

Lean thinking and systems integration deliver real return on investment, but it shouldn’t be confused with mean thinking.

Yes, there’s a company locally in Norwich who manufacture high value, high quality, high speed slicing machines, and in 2015 were acquired by an American corporation. They called me in to review and improve their aftersales spares delivery performance, as they were receiving too many complaints following acquisition and a complex carve out from the previous owners – mostly to do with the availability and the speed of delivery.

I’ve been working with that company now on a part-time basis for a couple of years and I’m pleased to report that there was an improvement in year one alone of 49% on spares delivery performance in the USA and for the rest of the world, a 40% improvement over last year.

Over the previous year I helped achieve these results through the introduction of key performance measures, improved communication and aligned teamwork focused on both strategic and operational objectives. When we hit the targets I bring in cakes and fruit for all employees to celebrate, which is something I do monthly to reward everyone in the achievement of targets – it is important to value employees and share success!

It can be a few things. You always have to look at the management team’s experience, and identify the talent of the people who are able to lead. Generally, it’s about bringing some fresh blood and new ideas to mix with the existing experience and knowledge. In recent years, headcount has been reduced in many businesses so resource limitations often prevent a ‘can-do’ innovative culture. Businesses need to avoid being complacent and this is where lean over mean thinking pays dividends.

Firstly, I would say it’s great that they’re talking to me because it shows they have a willingness to change, and that’s the first obstacle to overcome. There’s often a fear of change. But I’m not into change for change’s sake. However, nowadays standing still is not an option and most business owners recognise the prize that is on offer if they’re courageous, whilst mitigating risk.

PRINCE2 (projects in a controlled environment) has seven principles with the golden rule to remember; there must be a continued business justification with return on investment.

Job satisfaction for me is when I see people achieve more than yesterday and we share that success. It doesn’t have to be a big change overnight. People may think the vision is daunting, but when broken down into bite size chunks, we are able to achieve our goals through realistic objectives. It’s really important to keep it simple.

It’s also important to have a formal plan as opposed to something that’s in someone’s head. We will hit some obstacles and we will work around them, but it makes it all the more rewarding when we get the results that we wanted.

I’m currently working with a number of clients and I have to wear a different hat each time I go to a client. I spend time preparing the night before I visit the client, so I’m clear on where we were at my last visit, to make sure we get the best out of the time that I’m about to spend with them. So, I would say that’s the most challenging part of my job, to keep swapping hats.

I’ve worked with Jason on HR recruitment in the past and his expertise and service is of great value. He delivers his promise. And I’ve worked with Mary who’s a real people person, so we have a real common ground. She’s sincere and genuine which is important to me.

Next year I’ll be clocking up 28 years of marriage so that’s a significant milestone that I look forward to celebrating with my wife, Helen. I’m especially proud of my son Alex, who’s now 21 and as a child represented Great Britain in alpine ski racing. For myself I was also proud to complete my first 100 mile cycle ride last year for the NNAB charity.