Five Minutes With.. Steve Clark

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I have a background in manufacturing and management and have worked in various factories including print machinery to office products across the UK, USA and Europe for over 20 years. I have been a consultant for the past eight, including working across Portugal. I currently live in South Wales in the Vale of Glamorgan with my wife, three children and dog.

What is your speciality in consulting?
I work within the manufacturing and construction industries, helping clients within these sectors see what areas they can improve their performance. I help an organisation see why they aren’t performing in certain areas, and then put together detailed reports and plans on how they can streamline their business.

I have worked with dozens of companies throughout the years, and since being a consultant, more than 40 different construction projects and over 15 manufacturing clients in a variety of sectors. Because the models of manufacturing and construction are very similar, my skills and experience are transferable between the two services.

How has your work and advice to clients changed since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic?
I don’t think my advice has changed but what I do think has arisen since the start of the pandemic is that organisations have seen that they need to start doing things differently. Within the construction industry, they are more willing to change and do things differently now and clients are willing to take more advice now as they are seeing that shift.

There has most definitely been a wave of change since Covid within these sectors and they can be seen as positives as people are more willing to do things differently.

How do you see your sector changing over the next few months as we emerge from this?
I think within the manufacturing sector, they are going to need more support and urgency in what they do. Clients are looking to help fix problems as we come out of this pandemic, either by being more productive or having more resources on site. Some clients have seen an unprecedented demand for their products, from motorbikes to static homes, and from this, each has their own specific needs to resolve their problems. So I believe consultants are going to be asked more to help solve problems more than we ever have done so before.

Within the construction sector, we are going through a huge period of change. Technology is changing and people are willing to work in different ways. It’s no longer going to be about being on-site and telling people what to do, it’s going to be an overhaul of ways of working. I think this is a real-time to change and now is the time to do so.

And finally, what do you find the most satisfying part of your role?
I really enjoy seeing organisations change for the better. You can see a real progression from where they started, to people changing how they do things and the organisation getting real results.

Internally I also enjoy seeing the team grow and deliver great results. I am really proud about what we do as a company and am looking forward to seeing the next 12 months and what it brings.

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