Regional Building Materials Group

Capturing the value of scale while preserving local autonomy

The challenge

The group had grown substantially through acquisition. Its operating companies benefited from local autonomy, but the complexity of its federated structure was eroding margins.

The challenge was to capture the commercial advantages of the wider portfolio while preserving the independence that enabled each business to operate effectively.

Our approach

We built a comprehensive picture of expenditure across the portfolio, establishing which activities would benefit from coordination above operating-company level and which should remain locally managed.

This identified substantial savings through group-level renegotiation of back-office operating expenditure. Direct purchasing largely remained with the operating companies, supported by targeted, coordinated interventions where specific costs presented a clear opportunity for wider action.

We then mapped out the delivery structure and ongoing responsibilities needed for the client to implement and sustain the approach itself.

The outcome

The group gained a bespoke procurement and supply-chain capability that combined portfolio-wide commercial leverage with operating-company autonomy.

It provided support and coordination where they added value, while leaving local businesses in control where their knowledge and independence mattered most.