Our mission
It is our mission to enable organisations to access high quality, cost effective support and guidance from experienced “hands on” experts across Business Change, Project Assurance, IT Operations and Information Security.
Our approach
Whether an organisation needs specific support in targeted areas and capabilities, or longer term contract and interim support, OUR DIRECTORS are technology leaders with over 20 years combined experience in managing IT, Business Change and Information Security teams and delivering or providing board level assurance on important change programmes.
It is our “hands on” experience that frames the P8C proficient, collaborative, flexible approach to delivering our services. In short, if there is a problem or issue within your IT or Business Change functions, or issues with a strategic project or programme, we will almost certainly have seen it and fixed it before.
Proficient – Both of our founders and directors have over 20 years combined experience in senior management and leadership roles. Laura and Rob have held multiple positions as Director of Technology & Change, Head of Change, Head of IT Operations, Head of Information Security, Programme Director, as well as completing a number of board level assurance activities. It is our first-hand experience that frames the P8C approach to delivering our services. See our professional biographies below for more detail on our professional experience and achievements.
Collaborative – We understand from experience that although we can drop in, identify and resolve the issues for our clients, the focus has to be on establishing long term capabilities, process maturity, and a sense of ownership within each of the teams we work with. We will work with your existing teams to build and develop skills and expertise, share our knowledge and experiences, and provide a safe environment for them to improve and develop. We only want to be engaged for as long as we are adding value - we don’t judge our business success on how long a client engagement lasts, but how quickly we can get the teams established and confident to move forward, safe in the knowledge that P8C will always be available as a safety net should we be required.
Flexible – We will work in any way that suits the individual clients needs. We have experience of delivering our services via contract, fixed term and interim roles, or simply ad-hoc support days called on as required. Should a client need to pick our brains about a problem or opportunity, we will always make time for these supportive calls.
Our team
Laura Lee – Director & Snr Consultant
Laura has over 12 years experience in leadership roles in IT and Information Security, working in financial services for organisations that are going through significant change as a result of mergers and acquisitions activity.
In April 2021, Laura took the opportunity to leave her permanent role and work as a consultant for Phase 8 Change to provide tailored services to IT and leadership teams in her areas of expertise, drawing on her years of experience in leading IT teams in complex business environments to achieve successful business outcomes.
Read more…During her early career, Laura worked as a Business Analyst, Project Manager, and Technical Services Manager and in 2010 was promoted to her first Head of IT role within a large mutual assurance company. Laura worked as part of the programme team to outsource all IT services to a major third party provider and, once delivered, accepted the post of Head of IT, accountable for the delivery of all IT services and management of the third party supplier.
Due to challenges with the outsourced service provider’s performance, Laura instigated a continuous improvement strategy focusing on knowledge transfer and the operational performance of the services, resulting in all key SLAs being achieved for the first time, several months after service take on by the third party.
In 2012, the company was taken over and Laura worked as part of the Senior Management Team to effect the transfer of people, processes and technology to the new organisation. On completion of this work, Laura was headhunted by a financial services organisation that provided banking and debt management services. With a new CIO onboard, Laura joined the business in a newly created role of Head of IT Operations, leading a team of 40 resources and accountable for the delivery of IT Service Management, Technical Services and Applications Support. Within the first three months Laura delivered significant improvements to the way IT changes were promoted into the live environment, resulting in releases being delivered into production with no major incidents or post implementation issues.
Introducing monthly service reviews with the four business pillars, providing business specific MI and introducing continuous service improvement initiatives, within the first year Laura and the team had achieved:
- Improvement in SLA attainment across all services from 75% to 95%
- Delivered significant improvements to IT Operations controls via a COBIT Risk and Control Framework
- Empowered teams to work more collaboratively within IT and the wider business to ensure continued focus on business outcomes
- Achieved 10% reduction in operational costs due to contract renegotiation and consolidation of suppliers / services
In 2015, Laura took the exciting opportunity to join a wealth management firm, where the strategic direction of the business was growth through merger and acquisition. Laura’s immediate focus was on reviewing the existing IT Operations function, which was lacking skills and expertise in a number of key areas. Laura designed and delivered an IT operating model, reducing historic reliance on expensive contract resource and building permanent capability in lower cost locations. During her first six months in post, the business completed two acquisitions and Laura led the IT Integration Programme (datacentre, networks, servers, databases, telephony, applications, desktop) consolidating resources, locations, suppliers and solutions, delivering improved services and exceeding cost reduction targets.
Laura has consistently demonstrated delivery of cost reductions through proactive management of IT budgets and working collaboratively with Finance colleagues and third party providers to ensure regular detailed budget and forecast reviews are in place and successful delivery of plans produced to achieve cost saving opportunities.
Outside of work, Laura supports her daughter’s netball team as their team manager. Laura also is an amateur triathlete and, so far, has taken part in four triathlon events.
Rob Lee – Director & Snr Consultant
Rob has 10+ years experience in leadership roles across information technology, change and information security. In 2018 Rob established Phase 8 Change Ltd (P8C), a company with the goal to provide experienced based guidance and support to organisations to help improve the delivery and management of their projects and project portfolios.
In 2021 Rob accepted the role as Director of Technology & Change with an existing P8C client, an independent Higher Education provider. This role was held on a fractional basis and Rob has continued to support existing and new clients alongside his business partners at P8C.
Read more…After 4+ years working as a project manager delivering complex system change projects, in 2011 Rob was promoted to his first senior leadership role as Group Information Security Manager for one of the UKs largest private sector pensions schemes. ‘Limited’ audit reports across IS had seriously impacted board confidence in the security function and Rob was tasked with completing a root-and-branch restructure of the IS team and the organisational controls.
Recognising his achievements in re-building the IS team and its credibility, Rob was asked by the company’s Chief Operating Officer to establish the organisation’s first dedicated Business Change function and was appointed to the new post of Head of Business Change in 2014.
With responsibility for managing the annual change budget of circa £4m, over the next four years Rob designed and implemented a set of change processes and established a team of project managers, business analysts and project support officers, working with each business unit to identify projects, produce robust business cases, and create a balanced portfolio of projects aligned to the company’s strategic objectives. Highlights include:
- Established business architecture capability as the foundation for strategic change planning
- Achieved 12% improvement in cost performance across the change portfolio through effective resource planning
- Project delivery milestone achievement rates increased to 90% through effective change management processes and governance
- Delivered Trustee Board assurance report on the accuracy and completeness of a complex data migration programme
In 2018, Rob established his own business, providing information technology, business change and security consultancy services. Phase 8 Change (P8C) specialise in working with organisations to provide project/programme assurance, improve delivery and management of change projects and portfolios and ensure data privacy and security are embedded within every day working practices. Successful P8C client engagements delivered include:
- Appointed Programme Director at a Higher Education provider to lead the procurement and implementation of a new student information system
- Provided independent programme assurance services to the MD of one of the UK’s largest public sector pensions schemes
- Provides ongoing security guidance to an IT application development company during multiple successful commercial tenders
Having worked successfully across the whole technology lifecycle in settings both very large and very agile, Rob brings a wealth of practical experience to technology strategy, business readiness and change management.
His “systems thinking” approach to problems, intellectual agility, and straight talking way have won him the admiration and respect of colleagues and leaders.
Away from P8C, Rob is a FA Level 1 qualified football coach and spends most weekends helping his sons junior football team as assistant coach. This passion for football extends to the lifelong support of his home town club, Derby County F.C.
