News & Insights

Explore our collection of expert insights, practical how-to guides, engaging videos, and simple visuals aimed at making complex problems easier to understand.

  •  

    The meeting that changed how suppliers saw each other

    For three years, competing suppliers collaborated openly inside a carefully built COE. Then a single procurement decision undid almost all of it. Here's what we built, what broke it, and what it means for your programme.

    Jools Barrow-Read

    Founder

  •  

    When your programme goes dark

    When managers can't find your programme, they don't use it. Here's what happened when a mid-market business lost programme visibility — what we did about it, and why MSPs running large enterprise programmes should pay attention.

    Jools Barrow-Read

    Founder

  •  

    The documentation gap that MSPs can turn into a differentiator

    Documentation gaps are endemic across MSP-managed programmes. Most clients don't know what they don't have access to. The MSPs who get ahead of this — proactively, not reactively — create a genuine competitive advantage. This is what that looks like.

    Jools Barrow-Read

    Founder

  •  

    Why managers bypass approved channels — and how to fix it

    Managers bypassing approved hiring channels is rarely an attitude problem. It's usually a clarity problem. Here's how listening to what managers actually needed led to something built to stick.

    Laura Handley

    Strategic Operations Director

  •  

    The integration principles – connecting the dots across your extended workforce

    Your extended workforce doesn't operate in the silos your org chart creates. But most organisations manage it that way — fragmenting data by contract type, optimising budgets department by department, and handling supplier relationships in category silos. These three principles show you where the connections matter and why governance that spans organisational boundaries delivers better outcomes than perfect governance within silos.

    Jools Barrow-Read

    Founder

  •  

    Is your extended workforce missing a conductor?

    We built a strategic PMO for a global healthcare enterprise in 2015. Programme adoption went from 40% to 94% in 3 years. PMI shortlisted it for PMO of the Year in 2019. That was ten years ago. Most extended workforce programmes still don't have this infrastructure. And that's costing businesses real decision-making capability.

    Jools Barrow-Read

    Founder

  •  

    Foundation principles – where strategic extended workforce governance starts

    These 10 principles are the non-negotiables for effective workforce governance. They matter as much for extended workforce management as they do for permanent workforce management. They apply regardless of your delivery model or programme maturity. You don't implement all 10 on day one. Start with the building blocks that address your current challenges, then evolve as you learn. Over-engineered governance fails as often as no governance. The goal is lean frameworks that grow with your programme.

    Jools Barrow-Read

    Founder

  •  

    Seven systems. Zero visibility. One very expensive problem.

    Most organisations can't answer basic questions about their extended workforce. Who's engaged, through what, at what cost, and who's accountable. That was always a problem. From April 2026, it becomes an expensive one.

    Jools Barrow-Read

    Founder

  •  

    Umbrella company reform and why it matters for HR

    When HMRC introduces joint and several liability for umbrella company tax failures in April 2026, many organisations will discover they have a significant blind spot. Nobody is actually accountable for their extended workforce. This article explores why this represents an opportunity for HR to lead, and how to start those conversations internally.

    Jools Barrow-Read

    Founder

  •  

    Why vendor neutrality is the most valuable thing you’re not buying

    Most organisations believe they're getting independent advice on their extended workforce. Many aren't. This article unpacks what genuine vendor neutrality means, how compromised independence shows up in practice, and why the April 2026 reforms make this conversation more urgent than it's ever been.

    Jools Barrow-Read

    Founder