Egremont Group lauded for top HR consulting work

London-based consultancy Egremont Group has been named UK’s top HR consultancy of the year by a leading HR publication. Egremont was lauded for a business wide cultural transformation project it helped Southern Water to deliver.

With utilities firms coming under pressure to improve their customer experience, Southern Water recently decided it was necessary to undergo a cultural transformation. In order to help turn around the business and meet the challengers set by Ofwat – the body responsible for economic regulation of the privatised water and sewerage industry in England and Wales – over the coming five years, Southern Water Tapped Egremont Group to help understand, design, mobilise and implement the cultural changes.

The plan focused on putting customers front and centre of the company, while developing Southern Water staff for long term success. Egremont worked with the business to develop a new model and roadmap to success that goes beyond the theory, brought to life in a practical way.

Commenting on the impact of the project since its completion Rob Barnett, Managing Director, Southern Water said, “The organisation is set up to be much more successful. Some of the historical issues have been dealt with, we’ve had good financial return with many millions of savings and efficiencies, but for me more importantly we’ve built enduring capability that will allow us to drive multiple benefits in the future.”

Following the firm’s work with Southern Water, Egremont has been singled out for praise regarding the engagement. Following the completion of the project, the fast-growing consultancy was nominated as a finalist for the Personnel Today awards, a competition which recognises top HR performances over the past 18 months in the UK. Egremont Group was subsequently named the winner of its category, in front of 900 HR professionals who gathered for a ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane in mid-November.

Egremont were hugely praised by the judges for their services for Southern Water and were particularly impressed that this work not only delivered tangible business benefits but also developed the utility’s capability to sustain and embed changes. One subsequently highlighted the firm’s work as “an excellent piece of consultancy.”

Sean Connolly, CEO of Egremont, said, “This award comes at the end of a fantastic year for Egremont, where we have produced some excellent work for our clients. The Southern Water project demonstrates the very essence of best practice in HR consultancy and we are proud to have been recognised for our expertise in this area. At Egremont we work with our clients to achieve breakthrough transformation by bringing out the very best in their people, coaching them to design new ways of working that will improve performance, drive down costs and ultimately ensure future business success.”