How can companies in the infrastructure sector meaningfully grow their top line? Chris Thomas, Isle’s head of innovation and enterprise explains how growth engineering can help accelerate change and help businesses thrive.
Generally, companies expand their offerings through developing and launching new products and services, or by trying to access a new market or geography. Depending on what kind of company it is, they may do that by looking internally at their own research and development processes, or they might choose to look externally to identify a promising company to acquire or new market to enter.
That is where taking a holistic growth engineering approach comes in. It is not just about companies growing their top line by delivering market strategies, it is just as vital to support the internal transformation that is often required during the process – whether by aligning governance and organisational structures around new product campaigns or helping with post-merger integration following an acquisition.
So, when a company is taking a risk by trying to move into an area they have not previously worked in, it makes absolute sense to find a specialist team that understands it inside and out. This approach accelerates their path to success and helps them avoid the pitfalls.
Since its formation Isle’s business has focused on working with our clients to develop and deliver innovation. We have a cross-functional team of people both in the UK and globally with the focus and experience to help organisations grow and transform to meet their societal, environmental and/or commercial goals – this is growth engineering.
Many of the companies we work with are acquisitive and want to buy promising companies, others are looking to build something in house; in both cases they want to know who their competitors are and what they are doing.
To support this, Isle begins work by carrying out an extensive scan of both the market and the key players, as well as providing information and insight into where the growth areas are within the water and wider infrastructure sectors.
This knowledge is crucial in instilling greater internal and external confidence in the company’s investment and growth strategies.
Dedicated growth engineering teams support companies in designing value propositions, developing business models, testing them with customers and getting feedback, before helping build a go-to-market strategy and business case to make the vision a reality.
The infrastructure sector is facing unparalleled challenges. The impact of the climate crisis, population growth and increasing public and legislative scrutiny means the sector must respond with increased vigour to meet these demands. Challenges like net zero are complex and multi-faceted which means companies need a portfolio of solutions and cannot do it alone. Growth engineering helps the supply chain design and tailor solutions for the sector, making them easier to adopt.
By enabling the supply chain to meet the market’s needs, the growth engineering team at Isle is proud to play a part in accelerating innovation and helping to bring about the changes that will make a meaningful difference to the environment and wider society.
