Technology

Innovation


Stay ahead of the curve with an innovation pipeline

Leading the way with Innovation


Invention is the key to longevity

Creating a solid foundation for a lifecycle of innovation


Your innovation pipeline and lifecycle is an essential growth catalyst, but very few companies have a successful methodology in place.


Creating the right conditions for innovation requires a high level of internal organisation as well as the necessary frameworks, tools and communication channels to plan, design and execute your ideas. Done well, an innovation pipeline can generate exponential ROI, disrupt your market and widen the gap over your competitors. Put simply, companies that consistently innovate will stand the test of time.

“If you look at history, innovation doesn’t come just from giving people incentives; it comes from creating environments where their ideas can connect.”

Steven Johnson

94%


Of managers are dissatisfied with their company's innovation

<50%


Of companies have a formal innovation process

84%


Of executives agree that innovation is vital for growth strategy

$3.4tr 


The amount invested globally on innovation in 2020

Our unique Approach

Innovation strategies that give exponential ROI


End-to-End Support

From the initial strategy ideation through to a fully scaled implementation, our focus remains on empowering you with the crucial innovation capabilities required for launching and sustaining products at scale.

Customer Focus

Our primary focus is aligning your objectives with the expectations and demands of your customer base. This customer-centric approach guarantees that your innovation efforts are precise and impactful.

Innovation Labs

We work with a range of partners who specialise in innovation labs and workshops—as well as working with students, schools and universities to create mutually beneficial links with your local communities.

Culture of Innovation

We can help you build an innovation culture that embeds innovation strategies and feedback loops across your organisation.

Speak to one of our experts


How we help our clients

Our team of experts has decades of experience providing Innovation strategies to both private and public companies

Innovation Strategy

By analysing current market conditions and internal capabilities, we can support you to create a clear and actionable plan to promote innovation, establish goals, and develop a structured process for ideation and delivery, all while remaining aligned with your broader business strategy.

Product Development

We are equipped with Product Development services to support you in bringing a product to market at any stage in the process, from ideation, opportunity analysis, and validation, to market research, design, prototyping, and launch.

Innovation Workshops

Our experts can design and implement interactive sessions and encourage participation from your organisation to promote creativity and collaborative thinking in order to drive innovation. These can be tailored to address any specific challenges that you are facing, or focus on any opportunities on your horizon.

Our Process


An iterative approach to innovation

1| Strategy


Design an innovation strategy that aligns with your mission-critical goals. We conduct external analysis to grasp the trends influencing customer behaviour and market dynamics, which allows us to identify high-return domains for your innovation investments

2| Workshops & Labs


We focus on dismantling the traditional barriers that hold back creativity and collaboration, such as silos and geographical limitations. Our goal is to cultivate a culture of innovation throughout your company, ensuring that every corner of your business is engaged and contributing to your pipeline.

3| Sprints


In a world where product and business model lifecycles are rapidly shrinking, immediate and bold steps are vital. Collaborating closely with our clients, we engage in a dynamic, sprint-based methodology to swiftly develop and release minimum viable products (MVPs) that align with the overall strategy

4| Lifecycle & Pipeline


We identify a strategic course to acquire the capabilities required to foster innovation; whether it be through corporate venturing, forging strategic partnerships, making targeted acquisitions, or fostering internal development. This ensures your innovation ecosystem remains dynamic, scalable, and aligned with goals.

David Lewis against a blurred office background

Our Innovation service is led by David Lewis

Managing Partner - Digital & Innovation

David is a seasoned executive with over 30 years in technology and digital transformation. He began his career in the early 90s, consulting for companies like Netflix and founded Sri Lanka's first ISP in 1998. David has held leadership roles at Trapezo, Sony Music, and co-founded One5 Corporation. He led major transformations at Tech Mahindra and Infosys in Europe's telecom industry.


At Cognizant, he shaped the first digital transformation group. Later, as Director at the UK Cabinet Office, he advised on digital services and established the Chief Digital and Information Officer function. David now contributes to organizations like Capita and serves as a Non-Executive Director for SSV Capital Ltd, while also being a Trustee for the Carers Network.

Our team can be your team


Our team of experts have multiple decades of experience across many different business environments and across various geographies.


We can build you a specialised team with the skillset and expertise required to meet the demands of your industry.


Our combination of expertise and an intelligent methodology is what realises tangible financial benefits for clients.

CONTACT THE TEAM

Our Innovation Experts

Innovation Case Study
Delivery of Global EV Charging Hubs


A multinational client wanted to invest into network infrastructure (WAN, LAN, WLAN) to provide EV charger connectivity with a PCI compliant payment solution, in order to deliver a reliable and secure service and the best customer experience possible across a portfolio of global sites. 


The goal was to provide the same experience and services on all EV charging sites that carry the client’s logo while not being directly in charge of making decisions as to which locations will be equipped with EV chargers.


This EV charging programme delivery needs to be closely aligned with other network upgrade programmes running simultaneously on all customer owned/operated sites in multiple countries. 


The client approached us to support the development and implementation of a ‘cookie-cutter’ network connectivity solution that would be accepted and implemented in cooperation with their teams responsible for the deployment.

READ CASE STUDY

“I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.”


Jeff Bezos

Industry Insights


by Daniel Fitzsimmons 13 March 2025
Peter Drucker wrote in his book The Practice of Management (1954) that ‘it is the customer who determines what a business is’. This sentiment still firmly holds true today, as consumers increasingly expect personalised shopping experiences from aspirational businesses that desire to have a positive impact on the community, country, or world in some way. Across this series of articles, Daniel Fitzsimmons explores the role of customer-centricity as a mechanism to support the delivery of superior customer experience and business profitability. In the first two articles in this Customer Centricity series, Daniel has established the foundations of what makes a truly customer-centric organisation, and how a business can be tailored towards ensured customer satisfaction. In the final article in the series, he takes this further to discuss how technological innovation can amplify these goals. Digital Transformation – Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) Technology is typically the most common interaction point for customers engaging with products, and is especially critical to the service industry. The banking industry has pioneered the digitalisation of services (Dube and Helkkula, 2015), with digital payment services and blockchain solutions. In a fiercely competitive environment, the creation of superior value requires increased insight into how customers experience value (Medberg and Heinonen, 2014). Value can be typically defined as the ‘consumers’ overall assessment of the utility of a product based on perceptions of what is received and what is given’ (Zeithma, 1988). This concept can be extended to a value definition in the following forms: Total Monetary Value – The amount a customer is prepared to pay for a product Perceived Use Value – Defined by a customer’s perception (utility) Exchange Value – Realised when the product is sold Value can be enhanced through digital capabilities, marking technology solutions, and digital marketing strategies to support user acceptance. Securing User Acceptance One compelling approach to understanding how users may engage with a new technology is the TAM model. The TAM model suggests that Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of USE (PEOU), define how a user will interact with a new product or service, i.e. if the product usefulness and ease of use can be communication, barriers to adoption can be mitigated. When developing new customer solutions, mobilisation of the TAM model is the engagement of consumers in product development, and inclusion of then construct of ‘user intent’ to inform product ideation. Venkatesh et al. formulated the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). This model was found to outperform other models (Adjusted R square of 69 percent), and is worthy of further investigation in terms of its ability to predict user acceptance of new technology solutions. Experimentation Technology should function as an enabling mechanism to support experimentation in the creation of products and services, and increased alignment with prospective customers. Experimentation, which from an engineering perspective represents ‘continuous improvement’, allows businesses to see what does and doesn’t resonate with target personas, iterating towards a value proposition that will drive superior customer engagement and subsequently an increased % of the customer wallet. Booking.com runs more than 1,000 tests simultaneously to fine tune its offering specific to a user profile, behaviours, and characteristics. Experimentation and the subsequent data generated provides a meaningful base from which to make decisions, thereby negating ‘strong opinions or the HiPPO mentality, which is often pervasive in organisations. For experimentation to be successful, leadership needs to create a culture of curiosity in the business, supported by organisational design and the psychological safety to try and fail. Digital continuity provides an exciting opportunity to enhance the customer voice in product development. Real time data availability provides instant insight into consumer preference, which can be used to support product development and increasingly personalised product offers. Through the experimentation cycle, digital prototypes can be rolled out quickly to support the product innovation cycle. For experimentation to be successful, customer requirements should be integrated into business operations to create an industry-aligned value proposition (Ohmae, 1988). Conclusion Throughout this three-part series, I have demonstrated the importance of customer-centricity as a critical way to ensure success. In this article specifically, I have covered how to leverage technology – a power that is already prevalent and constantly evolving – to best support this venture. Building upon the TAM model, technology can be used to facilitate enhanced customer satisfaction, consequently spurring innovation and growth.
Shelf stacked with gold awards that look like Oscars
by Lucas Lefley 4 March 2025
At Cambridge Management Consulting, we pride ourselves on building a consultancy practice that goes beyond traditional consulting. Our team is composed of specialist practitioners who have reached the pinnacle of their industries, bringing years—often decades—of hands-on experience to guide others in achieving exceptional results. This approach has established Cambridge MC as a consultancy powered by a network of diverse, proven expertise, consistently recognised for its impact and innovation. Our consultants and their work have been honoured with numerous accolades, reflecting the value we bring to our clients and industries. For example, Zoë Webster, an expert in AI, Digital & Innovation, was named one of AI Magazine’s Top 10 AI Leaders in the UK & Europe, celebrated as a pioneer reshaping industries and societies. Similarly, Craig Cheney, Managing Partner, Marvin Rees, Board Advisor, and David White, Associate, were recognised with a World Economic Forum Award for Public Private Collaboration for their contributions to the Bristol City Leap project. Craig Cheney was made an Alderman of the City of Bristol, acknowledging his eminent services to the city; and just recently, Marvin Rees OBE was introduced into the House of Lords. These achievements were further complemented by our success at the Consultancy Awards, where Cambridge MC proudly received awards in every category we were nominated for. The Consultancy Awards The Consultancy Awards, hosted annually by The Consultancy Growth Network, celebrate hard work, commitment, and innovation across the consultancy sector. Cambridge MC was honoured to receive three awards in recent years, recognising our contributions across key areas: Digital Transformation: For our project management of a multinational oil and gas company, coordinating the development of a portfolio of high-priority EV charging hub sites in major cities. Productivity Improvement / Cost Reduction: For delivering £10m in savings for a large UK online retailer in just 13 weeks, leveraging our expertise in procurement, contract, and vendor management. Fastest Growing: Celebrating our 30% growth in revenue, 100% increase in geographies, and doubling the profit we donate to charity to 12%.  These awards are a testament to our commitment to delivering exceptional results for our clients while contributing to the industries we serve. Celebrating Industry Excellence While receiving accolades is always an honour, the opportunity to give back to the industries that shaped us is equally rewarding. Cambridge MC has been privileged to sponsor and judge several prestigious awards, recognising the talent and innovation that drive progress across telecommunications, technology, and connectivity. ITP Telecoms Awards As Platinum Sponsors of the ITP Telecoms Awards, hosted by the Institute of Telecommunications Professionals, we celebrated the achievements of individuals and organisations making significant contributions to the digital industry. Tim Passingham, Founder & Chairman of Cambridge MC, presented the Engineer of the Year award to Mike Mawson, Head of Fibre Innovation at Hyperoptic, recognising his exceptional work in advancing telecommunications. Global Connectivity Awards The Global Connectivity Awards, held at the O2 in London, marked its 20th year of honouring innovation across 40 categories, from technology breakthroughs to regional achievements. Cambridge MC’s Managing Partner, Charles Orsel des Sagets, joined the panel of 30 impartial judges, bringing over 30 years of expertise in fintech, cybersecurity, and connectivity to evaluate the finalists. This event highlighted the ingenuity shaping the connectivity industry and provided a platform to celebrate its brightest minds. World Communication Awards The World Communication Awards, now in its 25th year, continues to recognise excellence across telecommunications. Naaz Bax, Senior Partner and Chief of Staff at Cambridge MC, served as a judge and presented the prestigious Woman in Telecoms Award. This category celebrated the achievements of brilliant women in the industry, with the award going to Josephine Sarouk, Managing Director of Bayobab Group, for her invaluable contributions to telecommunications. DCD>Global Awards The DCD>Global Awards, held at Grosvenor House in London, celebrated talent and achievement in the data centre and telecommunications industries. Duncan Clubb, Senior Partner for Data Centres, Edge & Cloud, brought his expertise to the judging panel, evaluating finalists in categories such as the Edge Data Center Project of the Year. This event showcased the transformative impact of innovation in data centre infrastructure and edge computing. A Legacy of Ingenuity The awards, events, and individuals highlighted here reflect the wealth of expertise, innovation, and achievement that define the consulting, telecommunications, and technology industries. At Cambridge MC, we are privileged to contribute to these industries, whether by delivering impactful projects, receiving accolades, or celebrating the achievements of others. As we look ahead, we remain committed to supporting and shaping the industries we serve, continuing to drive progress and innovation in the years to come.
Criss-cross of Green Spotlights on a Stage
by Lucas Lefley 28 February 2025
At Cambridge Management Consulting, we place just as much emphasis on the growth and development of our in-house industry experts and professionals, as the businesses and organisations that they work with. We do not hire consultants; we hire genuine practitioners with hands-on, demonstrable real-world experience – but we also make sure that doesn’t stop at the door. We ensure that our consultants get as much out of our partnerships and business ventures as our customers do. One of our consultants who has experienced this growth and progression first hand is Darren Sheppard, recently made a Senior Partner for Contract Management & Digital Transformation. In this article, we are shining a spotlight on Darren’s numerous career highlights with Cambridge Management Consulting, including the delivery of multiple successful projects and award-winning cost saving programmes. Darren Sheppard With nearly 30 years of experience, Darren began his career as a collections agent, underwriter, and later a Credit Risk and Collections Manager for 20th Century Fox. Since then, Darren has occupied numerous senior consulting and senior management roles across Finance, Operations, Sales/Business Development and Commercial/Contract Management for major telecommunications companies such as T-Mobile, EE and BT. After establishing his own consultancy business, he was engaged by Sovereign Business Integration Group as Group Director of Operations. Darren joined Cambridge MC in 2021 as a Partner to lead our Digital Contract & Service Management practice. Since then, he has delivered multiple complex and successful programmes for numerous high-profile clients and customers. Throughout his career, his positions have seen him responsible for setting and delivering the strategy of each organisation, be it driving partner growth, managing stakeholder relationships, coordinating go-to-market, operations, and commercial management. Contract Management, FTSE250 Financial Services Provider In 2021, Darren began a programme with a FTSE250 financial services provider specialising in trading solutions to support the transition of two of their financial derivatives trading platform businesses. Throughout this, Darren was responsible for reviewing the TSA document and all associated Vendor Contracts, negotiating with the vendors on a continuation and/or transfer of agreement post-closure and throughout the term of the TSA. Due to his proficiency, Darren and the team were able to deliver this TSA programme six months early and significantly under budget. You can read more about this project here . Following the success of Darren’s work, this financial services provider continued to engage Cambridge MC to support their Strategic Partnerships & Commercial Management. In reviewing their current processes and modernising as appropriate, together with assessing strategic supplier contracts to align their KPIs with business goals, Darren helped to establish a set of processes to help his client reach their business goals. Deputy COO, Management Consultancy Between the summers of 2022 and 2023, Darren occupied the role of Deputy Chief Operating Officer for a management consultancy, overseeing strategic planning, project management, and operational efficiency initiatives. During this time, Darren designed and implemented a lifecycle workflow for managing engagements, ensured effective contracting, and successfully delivered the implementation of ISO 27001 standards. COO, Environmental Air Quality Monitoring Alongside the above interim role, Darren was engaged to occupy the role of COO for IKNAIA, an environmental air quality monitoring organisation, of which the CEO was originally forced to occupy both C-Suite positions. In this role, Darren managed day-to-day operations, elevated the leadership team, and oversaw all operational aspects of company strategy. Throughout this time, Darren has helped them to overcome limited capital, streamline operational efficiency, and re-prioritise their pipeline. Finally, he supported the successful divestment of the company, carefully balancing the interests of stakeholders, he ensured that the deal structure was both fair and beneficial, delivering long-term value to the acquiring organisation while safeguarding the interests of the employees, investors, and clients. Ultimately, his efforts achieved a transaction that positioned the company for continued success under new ownership. You can read more about this work here . Cost Reduction, Online Retailer In early 2023, Darren supported a large UK online retailer through a downsizing exercise and the changes in demand and expenditure which came with it. By performing a deep dive on all vendor contracts, establishing priority saving areas and engaging in supplier negotiations, Darren and the team were able to deliver £10m of savings on an addressable budget of £85m, in just thirteen weeks. This programme was later nominated for and won an award at the Consultancy Awards 2024 in their Productivity Improvement/Cost Reduction category. Due Diligence, Wholesale Networks Provider Darren’s next programme involved conducting commercial due diligence for a wholesale networks provider, working with their investors to review the feasibility of investing in a company specialising in telecoms software. This saw him evaluate their business model, examine the software’s features to identify any intellectual property and patents, and assess the business’ risk register to ensure that it was future-proofed. Darren’s due diligence work and focus led to the successful acquisition of the company. Vendor Performance Management, Russell-Group University For a prestigious academic institution, Darren conducted Vendor Performance Management and Service Performance Management, assessing their current performance delivery in order to identify areas where improvement was needed. During this time, Darren was responsible for all of the Vendor Performance for their three Modern Network Vendors, analysing data to identify areas for improvement, developing a communication plan, and presenting a negotiation strategy to the university. Get in Touch Across all of these projects and programmes, Darren has leveraged his commercial, contract management and vendor negotiation capabilities to streamline and strengthen each organisation he has supported. For more information on how Darren can optimise your business, contact him using the form below.
by Daniel Fitzsimmons 13 January 2025
Peter Drucker wrote in his book The Practice of Management (1954) that ‘it is the customer who determines what a business is’. This sentiment still firmly holds true today, as consumers increasingly expect personalised shopping experiences from aspirational businesses that desire to have a positive impact on the community, country, or world in some way. Across this series of articles, Daniel Fitzsimmons explores the role of customer-centricity as a mechanism to support the delivery of superior customer experience and business profitability. Following from the first article in this series, in which Daniel covered the basics of customer centricity and initial ways to implement it into your organisation, this article applies these premises to the development of actionable customer satisfaction. Purposeful Value Creation Purposeful value creation involves the increased alignment of an organisation to a broader societal cause to secure a positive association with potential customers. As ethical consumption becomes increasingly important to consumers, brands must be increasingly sensitive to not only profit generation, but also the nature of the profit being generated. A customer-centric business purpose statement helps to project a company’s motives to prospective customers, and provides an impetus or bias with which to engage with your products or services. However, failure to fulfil a stated purpose can negatively impact brand equity, share prices, and future revenue generation, highlighting the need to embed purpose messaging within the fabric of the organisation. Purposeful value creation represents a key informant to customer journey mapping, consumer touchpoint messaging, and the identification of what matters to potential clients. Through increased alignment to customer values, you are better positioned to define the customer journey through your organisation, and secure future access to the customer’s wallet. Customer Journey Mapping Sales funnel formulation and market targeting typically focuses resources and efforts on ‘top of funnel’ customer acquisition and the development of velocity around transaction creation. When considering customer-centricity, greater focus needs to be given to Post Purchase Management, and securing customer loyalty through an improved customer experience. Post Purchase Management supports the creation of brand equity, reputation, and future opportunities. Effective customer journey mapping requires the identification of market segments, target consumers, and product positioning. Once you have identified targets, it becomes easier to map the offline-online interactions of target customers and how best to engage with each distinct customer persona, amplifying or quietening their voices as they contribute to business success. Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction and the creation of customer enjoyment should be at the forefront of your organisation’s culture. However, it necessitates a mechanism to collect and codify customer feedback related to the delivery of goods and services. Various mechanisms exist to support customer satisfaction identification, including: Kano’s model for customer delight Net Promoter Score Measures, ie. the likelihood to which you would recommend a service Customer Effort Score, identifying the friction associated with engaging with a product or service ACSI Measures, which address a) Overall satisfaction, b) Expectancy disconfirmation, and c) Performance versus the ideal product or service. While it is impossible to pick just one ideal method, and organisations will need to select a solution which best supports their insight creation process, we can confidently recommend the use of CSAT surveys as critical to customer-centricity and the provision of critical insights into products and services on offer. Conclusion When cultivating a customer-centric organisation, all ventures and operations should be directed towards the goal of customer satisfaction; inversely, you can be assured that your business is successfully customer-centric when you observe increased customer satisfaction. In this article, I have covered how best to integrate this goal into your business plan, ensuring it follows the same steps as your customer’s journey. In the next and final article in this series, I take these basics and outline ways in which technology can be leveraged to amplify these goals.
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We are a highly collaborative team of senior-level executive professionals able to adapt to any challenge, however niche & challenging.

+44 (0)1223 750335

info@cambridgemc.com

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Case Studies


Our team has had the privilege of partnering with a diverse array of clients, from burgeoning startups to FTSE 100 companies. Each case study reflects our commitment to delivering tailored solutions that drive real business results.

CASE STUDIES

A little bit about Cambridge MC


Cambridge Management Consulting is a specialist consultancy drawing on an extensive global network of talent. We are your growth catalyst.


Our purpose is to help our clients make a better impact on the world.

ABOUT CAMBRIDGE MC

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