Paul Ruggier joins UK partner team of First Consulting
First Consulting has strengthened its partner team with the hire of Paul Ruggier, who will focus on further expanding and developing its UK business.
Ruggier is a senior business transformation and operational excellence leader with expertise gained from supporting major multinationals such as HSBC, Generali, GE Capital, Xchanging, Deutsche Bank, BAE Systems, Lloyd’s of London, Texaco Chevron and Procter & Gamble.
Throughout his career, Ruggier has led and advised on numerous large transformations across multiple industry sectors. At HSBC, he led an Operations Transformation Capability and Process Excellence programme, helping the bank’s 40,000 Operations staff across 50 countries deliver over $150 million P&L savings in a year. At Generali, he led the implementation of Process and Robotics and AI which delivered a significant contribution to achieving its €1.5 billion OpEx target.
Meanwhile, at GE Capital Europe, Ruggier initiated and led Six Sigma for all 27 businesses inits across 16 countries, against the backdrop of a new business acquisition every 10 days, on average. A founding member of Xchanging (now part of DXC Technology), Ruggier helped float the firm on the London Stock Exchange within seven years of launching, with a market capitalisation of £660m. The company grew to 8,000 employees and €1 billion in annual revenue.
Jon Nelmes, founding partner of First Consulting UK, is pleased with the addition, stating, “We are delighted to have been able to secure Paul as part of our team, a true global leader in the field of process excellence, who brings a wealth of experience that I know will greatly benefit our clients.”
Ruggier has lived and worked in the UK, USA, France, Germany, Italy and worked extensively in India, China, Hong Kong, Mexico and South Africa. He specialises in productivity improvement / cost savings, Lean Six Sigma, Agile, automation, robotics process automation and cultural change – “a strong match to many of the core capabilities of First Consulting,” said Nelmes.
Commenting on his decision to join First Consulting, Ruggier said, “First Consulting focuses on my ‘sweet spots’ of process, technology and implementation. I also live by the core values, and I particularly relate to 'no-nonsense' and 'daring'; I have a very pragmatic approach, saying it as I see it, questioning the status quo, challenging preconceptions and driving programmes through understanding, providing enablement and keeping everyone on board, motivated and delivering exceptional results.”
Launched in the Netherlands, First Consulting has set bold growth ambitions. Backed by private equity group Waterland, the firm aims to grow into a 1,000-strong Western European consulting firm in the coming five years, with an aim of building a team of 300 consultants in the UK. First Consulting currently has close to 300 consultants in the Netherlands, the UK and Germany.