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Amey - The Chief Executive View
Delivering against strategy is difficult to measure, subjective and sensory
By Mell Ewell
Edition: Achieving Effective Execution.

CEO personal highlights:

  • Time in the job: 2.5 years
  • Career highlights: 10 years at TNT before joining Amey
  • Outside interests: Rugby, sailing, fishing
  • Family highlights: Married with three children

Amey Highlights:

  • Description: Support Services
  • Turnover (FY 2004): £961m
  • Employees: 7,738
  • Key Markets: Central and Local government, Defence, Transport, Education
  • Geography: Great Britain and Ireland
  • Ownership: Acquired by Ferrovial, 2003

Separate strategy and budget clearly

Understanding the relationship between strategy and budget is important. Ultimately they both come down to profitability and growth rate.

However the measures of being “on strategy” are more subjective, the relationship between outcome and action is harder to manage, and the timescales are different. For example we judge strategic progress using indicators like brand, market position, relationship strength, delivery, and contract mix. The measures for being “on budget” are typically objective, attributable, and easily monitored.

Encourage managers to think like CEOs

The strategy needs to be executed by the management team. So the first thing is to ensure there is a good management team who understand and agree on the strategy. Secondly, I encourage my team to engage with all three stakeholders of the strategy – shareholders, customers, employees – and to metaphorically spend a third of their time on each.

Finally, I involve senior managers across the business on “strategic initiatives” to get a blend of skills and views. For example, if it’s a brand question, I don’t just put marketing people on the team.

Gather sensory information on strategic progress

Performance against budget is measured and reviewed monthly, with particular focus on key events such as large contract bids.

I try and get around every contract and to know every contact manager.
For performance against strategy there are two key things: firstly, to focus on areas of major impact, giving them profile, time and effort; secondly, to keep in touch with all the sensory information that tells me how we are doing.

This means talking to customers, suppliers, commentators and employees as much as possible and asking the right questions. For example, I try and get around every contract and to know every contract manager. It’s a big task but it gives me the best view of our progress .


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