I’m Alastair Thomson, and I’m a cost reduction and profit improvement specialist.
I support business owners and senior executives to grow sales revenues, reduce operating costs, make more profit, and build positive cash flow.
My approach is based on three key building blocks:
PLAN: Where are you going? Build an ambitious plan that sets you apart from the crowd
PERFORM: Make sure everyone in your business delivers the results you need
PROFIT: Accelerate growth in sales, profits, and cash flow
In 25+ years in corporate boardrooms as a CFO, CEO and Chairman, I delivered growth in sales, profits, and cash flow in manufacturing, B2B, and B2C businesses across a wide range of sectors, ranging in size from scrappy start-ups all the way up to (at the time) the 23rd largest business listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Finding “hidden profits”
My speciality was in spotting undiscovered opportunities to grow sales, profits, and cash flow fast.
In my career as an accountant, I was fortunate in being able to move from sector to sector because technical accounting skills are much the same everywhere. So I had plenty of practice identifying those hidden profit opportunities.
That’s because I brought something different. More often than not, when I started a new job, I was the only senior person who hadn’t worked in that industry most of their life.
People worked hard, but they did what they’d always done them because everywhere they had worked in that sector had done exactly the same. They couldn’t imagine another way, even when those “industry standard practices” held back their ability to sell more and make more money.
So, when I came along and asked why something was done in a way that seemed more difficult, more expensive, or less value-adding than I’d seen similar tasks carried out elsewhere, that usually opened the door to dramatic sales growth and performance improvement.
Over time, I developed and consolidated those experiences into the Plan-Perform-Profit methodology I now use to help business owners and senior executives find where the opportunities to dramatically increase sales and reduce costs are hiding inside their businesses.
Results
If you want results like these, let’s talk.
➡️ 2-3x business growth in three years or less in manufacturing, B2B, and B2C services
➡️ Reduce operating costs by up to 56% while accelerating sales revenues
➡️ Made workforce 2.58x more productive by streamlining production and re-aligning cost base, producing almost 3x more revenue with no more people
➡️ Rapid sales growth through service excellence – leading to Management Today Service Excellence Awards, National Customer Service Awards, Supplier of the Year Award from major FMCG/CPG brand
➡️ Delivered high levels of employee engagement and advocacy, leading to Top 100 Places to Work in the UK Award three years in succession
➡️ Cash flow management – restructured financial support to avoid significant cash outflows across the cash cycle to minimise borrowings
➡️ Accelerated monthly reporting from 3 weeks after month end to 3 days, speeding up board decision-making in a challenging market
If you’d like know more, book your free 1:1 Hidden Profits Strategy Session. We’ll take a look at your business together, identify where the biggest opportunities for rapid sales growth or cost reduction are hiding, and leave you with a personal 90-Day action plan to boost your business profits and cash flow.
Get in touch here and tell me a bit about your business. I’ll be in touch, normally within 24-48 hours, to arrange your free 1:1 Hidden Profits Strategy Session.