Consortia development

We can help facilitate genuine collaboration, whether it takes the form of consortia, clusters, partnerships or networks.

Bringing partners, or even competitors, together can be a tough and intense process of ‘forming’ and ‘storming’ before the ‘norming’ and ‘performing’ takes hold. An independent and honest broker can be a useful mechanism to focus everyone’s efforts and energies on achieving common goals.

Too often ‘working in partnership’ really means a ‘marriage of convenience’. Organisations come together where they find common ground in the problems they face, however, they never really connect and mesh their talents and resources to achieve great things.

In our experience, co-operative approaches founded upon openness, trust and shared goals, can develop into sustainable win-win solutions for all parties that extend far beyond initial expectations.

We have supported organisations such as The BEST Network, a contracting consortium of 80 third sector employability and training providers, to successfully establish and access large public sector contracts delivered through its supply chain.

We can help emerging partnerships and consortia in the areas of:

  • Shared vision and purpose – start with the right foundations
  • Consortia formation – models and structures
  • Good governance practice – for effective consortia management
  • Capacity building – optimising your performance and developing members
  • Managing risk – moving forward with confidence
  • Winning contracts – converting hard work into new business
  • Contract delivery – systems and processes, operational fit and coherence.