“Aileen was engaged by a large local authority to supply communications expertise during the transition period of a strategic partnership contract for the provision of IT and telecoms services.  The transition project was a largely lift and shift exercise, undertaken in a very short period of time, with eleven different service lines to identify and subsequently migrate in-house.  This was not a straightforward undertaking with the contract being terminated early and a large number of staff being transferred back into the local authority under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE Regs).

“The primary communications challenge was to initially deliver a difficult message about the on-going level of service during transition to service users all of whom had differing requirements and levels of technical understanding.  There was then an ongoing requirement to dispel any unrealistic expectations around the instant re-engineering and improvement of IT service post transition.  A secondary challenge was to engage with staff being transferred and those already in the authority who were part of the contract management team.  The requirement was to unite these groups and breakdown entrenched and residual hostility resulting from the previous commercial relationship between the parent entities and subsequent contract termination.

“Aileen’s response to these twin demands was very effective.  Within three weeks of engagement she had created a clear proactive communications strategy, which she implemented effectively, efficiently and professionally.  Aileen created a joint employee engagement programme to break down the barriers and mistrust within the two teams.  Her events were highly successful and were crucial in creating a unified culture under challenging circumstances.

“I would recommend Aileen to anyone in need of a strong communications professional for a project with a challenging timescale and a difficult message.”