Welcome to Black Ops Consulting

Experienced business leadership for the decisions that matter

Practical advice for owners, boards and leadership teams who want to strengthen performance, manage change and prepare their business for its next stage.

Black Ops Consulting is led by Vince Middleton OBE, an engineer, director and chairman whose experience connects business strategy with the realities of day-to-day delivery.

Understanding the business as a whole

A decision about growth affects cash, capacity and people. An operational problem can have its roots in strategy, leadership or the way performance is measured.

We help you examine those connections, identify what needs to change and turn priorities into practical action. The starting point is your business, your objectives and the challenges facing your team.

Where we can help

Introduction

Support across the commercial, operational and organisational decisions that determine how a business performs.

Strategy and governance

Clarify where the business is going and how it will get there. Establish clear priorities, strengthen oversight and give your leadership team a practical framework for making decisions and reviewing progress.

Operational performance

Understand what is affecting productivity, quality and delivery. Identify constraints, improve working practices and focus effort on changes that make a meaningful difference to business performance.

Leadership and culture

Build a management team with clear responsibilities and shared expectations. Develop the working relationships, accountability and culture needed to sustain improvements as the business grows or changes.

Financial control and commercial focus

Connect business plans with financial performance. Improve visibility of costs and the factors affecting profitability so that commercial decisions reflect the resources and capacity of the business.

Technology and business change

Assess where technology and digital transformation can solve a real business problem. Align investment with operational needs and help people adopt the changes required to make it useful.

Growth and succession

Prepare for the next stage of the business. Bring structure to growth plans, leadership succession and exit preparation, with attention to the organisation and performance that will support a successful transition.

Experience across demanding sectors
Vince’s experience spans nuclear, defence, aerospace, oil and gas, automotive, rail, marine, property, skin care, R&D and food & drink.

This background provides an understanding of businesses where delivery, quality and commercial discipline matter. It also offers a wider perspective on how established practices in one sector may help solve a challenge in another.

Every engagement starts by understanding the particular business, its market and the people responsible for its success.

How we work with you

Understand the situation
We begin with a conversation about your objectives, the pressures on the business and what has already been tried.

Agree the priorities
We examine the issues with you, challenge assumptions where necessary and agree a focused course of action.

Support delivery
We work with you and your team to put decisions into practice and review progress against the agreed objectives.

Vince Middleton OBE CEng FIMechE

Role: Engineer, Director and Chairman

Biography
Vince brings experience of manufacturing, business development, governance and strategic planning. His work has included resolving manufacturing challenges and establishing dedicated production facilities.
Awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to advanced manufacturing skills training, Vince combines technical understanding with experience of the organisational challenges facing business leaders.

He brings an open, direct approach to understanding problems and helping leaders decide what to do next.

More about Vince

Discuss the next step for your business

Whether you are reviewing your direction, addressing a persistent performance issue or preparing for change, a confidential conversation is a useful place to start.

Tell us what you want to achieve and what is getting in the way. We can discuss where we could help.

High Performing Teams

During an interesting away day we were discussing team development and the methods of transitioning from a challenging team to a high performing team. I came up with the diagram below to depict the feeling and leadership characteristics involved. One of the main difficulties individuals have is in becoming leaders and not managers. They need to understand that their function in leading a team should be to ultimately make themselves redundant. When they have achieved th

Legacy as the Future

Celebrate the legacy left to you by others and recognise that without the contribution of those that went before you, you wouldn't have a present, never mind a future. Take time to reflect and celebrate those that left you your present and use it to inspire your future. Surely we all want to be celebrated in the future and to do that we need the leave a living legacy. Using this to motivate and drive a business can be a powerful tool.