| Early last year Serco, the company that manages | | | | jobs." |
| NPL on behalf of the Government, won an important | | | | Bartlett took on an additional role during the first six |
| new contract with the DTI. The head of NPL's | | | | months of his assignment - helping establish as a |
| biggest division, Engineering and Process Control, | | | | separate business the knowledge transfer activities |
| went off at short notice to run it, leaving the | | | | that had until then been part of Engineering and |
| organisation with a big hole. | | | | Process Control. |
| "We knew it could take up to six months to fill that | | | | "NPL understood the potential of the knowledge |
| hole, and after my less-than-successful attempt to fill | | | | transfer business, but setting it up as a separate |
| it for a while - in addition to my day job - I realised | | | | division gave it real focus. It should turn over around |
| we needed to bring someone in to run the division full | | | | £7m this year, and that could triple over the |
| time until we found a permanent replacement," says | | | | next three or four years," he explains. |
| NPL Managing Director Steve McQuillan. | | | | In October, NPL appointed a new full-time managing |
| He turned to Impact Executives for help. "Serco has | | | | director for Engineering and Process Control. But in |
| an agreement to work with Impact Executives, but | | | | the meantime the business development director for |
| our HR director had also worked with them in the | | | | NPL had gone on maternity leave, and McQuillan |
| past and rated them," says McQuillan. | | | | asked Bartlett if he would step into that role until she |
| The person Impact Executives fielded was Mike | | | | returned in April. |
| Bartlett, an engineer with over 25 years' senior | | | | "The great thing about Mike is that his wide |
| management experience, most of it at chief | | | | experience means he can slot into any role in the |
| executive and director level in companies engaged in | | | | organisation and be immediately effective, leaving me |
| design, manufacturing and export. He took on the | | | | free to do my job," says McQuillan. "It is not just a |
| role of divisional director of Engineering and Process | | | | question of back-filling: he really moved the strategy |
| Control in March, with a seat on the executive board | | | | and the business development activities of |
| of NPL, initially for a period of three to six months. | | | | Engineering and Process Control forwards, allowing |
| His remit was to build on the commercial income in | | | | the division to step up a gear. And he is still proving |
| the business, which specialises in science research, | | | | his worth as executive director of the knowledge |
| and improve the performance and management of | | | | transfer business, helping them change their structure |
| the division by coaching the leaders. | | | | and strategy." |
| Bartlett explains: "Engineering and Process Control has | | | | Bartlett is also proving his worth in the business |
| a £25m turnover and 200 staff, and was not | | | | development role. "I am focusing on refining our |
| making the level of commercial income it hoped to | | | | strategy and developing tactics for the key market |
| achieve. My first task was to take control the | | | | sectors we should be operating in," he says. "As part |
| performance and cost base, so I strengthened the | | | | of that I will be helping to roll out what we did in |
| fundamental concepts like business planning, risk | | | | Engineering and Process Control across the rest of |
| analysis and full-year forecasting, while focusing the | | | | the organisation, and reconciling the aims of the |
| business development activities of Engineering and | | | | individual divisions with the central corporate aim." |
| Process Control forwards, allowing the division to | | | | "Mike has allowed us to move forward far faster |
| step up a gear." | | | | than we would otherwise have done," says McQuillan. |
| The bigger, more strategic task was to pursue | | | | Like all good interim managers, Bartlett is a strong |
| further commercial opportunities: the business relied | | | | people person, very flexible, versatile and adaptable - |
| on the DTI for 60% of its funding, but that funding | | | | strengths exemplified in his willingness to fill, at short |
| is being gradually reduced. Bartlett created business | | | | notice, the role of part-time Chief Executive of the |
| growth champions in the different science teams, | | | | Centre for Advanced Software Technology at |
| matching them up with business development people | | | | Bangor University (also run by Serco) on a |
| so that together they could go out into the | | | | two-day-a-week basis until the end of February. |
| marketplace to identify and work out how to meet | | | | "I relish the uncertainty and the opportunities involved |
| commercial needs. | | | | in being an interim manager," says Bartlett. "You get |
| His approach worked well. New planning and | | | | to know all sorts of interesting businesses and |
| budgeting disciplines meant that the division finished | | | | people. While every business, situation and culture is |
| the year in profit, and the senior team responded | | | | different, the problems tend to be the same. So you |
| enthusiastically to the new market-facing positioning | | | | adapt your approach to what is essentially the same |
| and the new management structure which focused, | | | | job time after time. It always works, which is very |
| says Bartlett, on "getting the right people in the right | | | | satisfying. |