Reclaim Fund Limited

Reclaim Fund (RFL) is an arm’s-length body (ALB) of UK government under HM Treasury. It manages assets of around £2bn.

The challenge

At the start of 2021, RFL faced two key challenges:

To execute its transfer from private to government ownership as a newly formed ALB
To plan how to expand from single to multi-asset classes

RFL wanted to develop a clearer strategy on how to achieve these challenges against its priorities in a timely and effective manner. CEO, Adrian Smith, asked us to help as his ‘to do list’ was becoming increasingly challenging.

What did we do?

We carried out a ‘Strategy & Delivery Check-in’ with Adrian. He’d worked with Alyson and Rod before and came to us after visiting our website. After the check-in and agreed three weeks of research, executive and board interviews, plus working closely with the CEO and Chair of RFL, we fed back our proposed plan of action.

What was the outcome?

After completing our engagement, we concluded:

RFL’s current plans could be further developed to achieve a successful outcome against agreed challenges.
there was a need for an operating strategy and delivery plan to be developed.
timescales could be compromised without the work being completed quickly.

We presented this to Adrian and the Chair, followed by the rest of the RFL Board. The board supported the proposal and appointed Hedgehog to develop a Strategy to Delivery Plan for RFL.

The challenge

At the start of 2021, RFL faced several key challenges:

To execute its transfer from private to government ownership as a newly formed ALB
To plan how to expand from single to multi-asset class
To develop a clear target business model, supported by an operating model and organisation design and structures for the short and long term.

RFL did not have an integrated Strategy to Delivery Plan to achieve these challenges.

What did we do?

Over an eight-week period, we worked alongside the RFL executive team to develop their Strategy to Delivery Plan. We were able to clarify RFL’s purpose and ambition, develop a clear action plan and activity programme, and define the operating model, organisational structure, and governance frameworks needed.

What was the outcome?

After completing our engagement, we presented our proposals to RFL’s board, which included:

A RFL vision for the future role, ambition, and agenda for the next two years
A programme to embed and support RFL as a government-owned ALB
How to establish RFL 2.0 and expand the dormant asset ecosystem
A staged development of the new operating model and supporting organisation, including role appointments
Our proposals were approved in-full by the RFL board. We also supported the CEO in identifying and appointing two key roles by fast-tracking the role-definition and recruitment process.

The challenge

Nine months into their plan delivery, RFL were happy with how things were going

However, they felt they needed to ‘check-in’ on their progress and review how the market was developing

They also wanted to confirm their plans remained robust

CEO, Adrian Smith, asked Hedgehog - as a trusted partner - for a Strategy & Delivery Check-in to review progress and to report actions needed back to the board.

What did we do?

This was a relatively short three-to-four-week engagement. It needed us to assess market movements and appraise progress against the agreed plan to identify any gaps, or if things had slipped. From there, we looked at actions needed to close gaps and if that meant re-framing the plan in any way.

As part of this, we conducted 1-2-1s with execs, board members, and programme leads. We also spent time reviewing existing programme structures and delivery plans.

What was the outcome?

All work was completed within the agreed timescales. We then presented our conclusions to Adrian and the board

Overall progress had been very strong
In a couple of smaller areas, progress had been slower than planned and were critical to successful plan delivery.
Adrian and his team needed a small but significant reset to build further momentum.

We also presented actions needed to deliver the reset, which were approved.

The challenge

CEO, Adrian Smith, was pleased with his own progress and that of the business over the previous 18 months.

However, he felt there were times when 1-2-1 coaching would have been useful
He also thought ongoing coaching for him, and his Head of Finance, would be beneficial

He agreed with the Chair to receive 1-2-1 coaching on an ongoing basis. Six-months’ later, he also agreed to a 1-2-1 coaching arrangement with his Head of Finance to help him develop in his role.

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What did we do?

We appointed Rod Bulmer, Hedgehog’s lead Executive Coach to coach and advise Adrian, and Myles Duckworth to coach and advise Head of Finance, Paul Singleton.

What was the outcome?

Both appointments are ongoing.

Adrian has renewed the service more than once.
He has described the Hedgehog coaching model as ‘unique’.
He sees it as ‘not just coaching, but as coaching, advisory, and mentoring, that offers him and RFL invaluable support.’

Hedgehog has worked very closely with us to get clear on the challenges we face, the need to prioritise, and - most importantly - organise us so we deliver well for the future. Alyson and Rod quickly got to grips with our business and the future agenda and engaged positively with the Executive team and board members individually and collectively.

They identified the big questions and choices we needed to discuss as a leadership team and board and facilitated our board meeting discussions to make sure we had a clear framing of our agenda, and a focused set of actions. Afterwards, a number of our board members said it was a very high-quality board strategy session.

My thinking is now much clearer on our way forward. I’m excited to be leading the business on the next phase of our journey. I have asked Hedgehog to support us further on that journey and I’m delighted to be working with Alyson and Rod again as we move from shaping into delivery.

Adrian Smith, OBE

CEO, Reclaim Fund Limited

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