Case studies
These examples illustrate how interim executives bring specialist expertise to facilitate significant change. Each assignment plays to the interim's strengths and previous experience - minimising risk and leaving lasting value.
From time to time, interims fill an unexpected gap in a management team - but the majority of assignments are planned to help an organisation adjust to changing circumstances and new challenges.
Integrating an interim management team to stabilise a plant relocation
A Tier One supplier had historic quality problems in an old plant in an inconvenient geographical location. The long term plan meant closure and transfer of production but in the meantime, output from this plant was critical to component production elsewhere. The location and lack of long term future meant that attracting and retaining management talent was a serious problem.
AshtonPenney Interim provided a small team of interim executives covering manufacturing, logistics and HR to stabilise the situation, monitor and manage morale issues and ensure an orderly transfer of production.
Introducing change across new European operations
The UK subsidiary of an international automotive components supplier planned to bring the production of a component traditionally supplied by a third party in-house. Manufacturing was scheduled to take place in Eastern Europe. A senior programme manager was required to start the process from patent registration through R&D to pre-production before overseeing the preparation and implementation of the new manufacturing plant.
Ashton Penney provided an internationally experienced, multi-lingual chief engineer with the requisite management and technical experience. He moved for a medium term contract from Europe to the UK, periodically spending time in Eastern Europe preparing for volume production. This would have been a difficult role to sell to a 'permanent' executive.
Introducing new skills to the HR team
A large US automotive company with several UK plants had an urgent need to move a senior HR manager from a plant based role to a Head Office function. The plant role required significant industrial relations experience - in short supply. There was good quality HR experience in generalist terms but with a significant lack of IR skills.
An Interim HR manager who gained his skills in the 1970s UK automotive industry and who had subsequently decided to pursue an
interim career was placed to fill the gap, address the pressing HR issues and mentor the in-house HR Officers before moving on.