Hollis targets £100m turnover with succession board
Hollis has created a new board structure as it focuses on succession planning and doubling its turnover in the next five years to £100m.
The consultancy, which is one of the top 50 largest employee-owned businesses in the UK, has a team of 500 working out of 22 offices in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany and last year reported a turnover of £54m.
Following the appointment of former Cushman & Wakefield UK chair Digby Flower as interim chief executive in September last year, a number of new positions have been created to help grow the business. These include chief operating officer, chief financial officer, chief technology officer, chief people officer, head of commercial and clients and six regional managing directors.
Hollis has created a new board structure as it focuses on succession planning and doubling its turnover in the next five years to £100m.
The consultancy, which is one of the top 50 largest employee-owned businesses in the UK, has a team of 500 working out of 22 offices in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany and last year reported a turnover of £54m.
Following the appointment of former Cushman & Wakefield UK chair Digby Flower as interim chief executive in September last year, a number of new positions have been created to help grow the business. These include chief operating officer, chief financial officer, chief technology officer, chief people officer, head of commercial and clients and six regional managing directors.
Flower said: “Our people are our business and Hollis is awash with incredible talent and leaders who have helped the business grow considerably while still being structured as an SME.
“My role is to change that mindset and structure so that we can scale the business even further. Our aim is to double our size and become a £100m-turnover business within the next five years. To do this we have created a new board structure from within the company. The majority of the team have been here since starting as graduates or in the early stages of their careers, the ‘Hollis Way’ is part of their DNA, and it is essential we retain this culture that sets us apart from others. This will also help maintain business as normal for our clients.”
The new Hollis board is made up of 12 core positions:
Interim chief executive, Digby Flower
Chief operating officer, Tom Willcock
Chief financial officer, Ian Thompson
Chief technology officer, Kerry Macleod
Chief people officer, Mel Olrik
Head of commercial and clients, Mark Hampson
Regional managing director – London and South East, Ash Winter
Regional managing director – South West and Wales, Will Pasco
Regional managing director – Midlands, Chris Sullivan
Regional managing director – North, James Audsley
Regional managing director – Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland, Vikki Aitkenhead
Regional managing director – mainland Europe, Jamie O’Brien
In addition to the new board structure, each of the new regional managing directors will be putting in place regional leadership teams from within the business, which will include representatives from the four consultancy areas, supported by its 27 existing service heads.
Founded more than 30 years ago by John Woodman, Hollis has grown from a three-person team of dilapidations specialists to a 500-strong team with specialisms in building surveying, engineering, sustainability and energy consultancy, cost management and project management. It also has one of the largest dedicated ESG and solar consultancy teams in Europe.
Founder and chairman Woodman said: “For the last few years we have been working on establishing a sustainable succession plan that will not only secure the future of the business but set it up for significant growth. This started with the move to being an employee-owned business two years ago. The creation of this new board continues this development and brings through the next generation of business leaders.”
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