Interim management for the Soil Association, the UK’s leading promoter of organic food, during a period of major organisational change

Client

The Soil Association is the UK’s leading organisation promoting planet-friendly food and farming, known for its certification of organic food but also for its campaigns, reports and work with schools.

Brief

The Soil Association’s economic model was shifting and it needed to look at fundraising in the context of overall strategy. That meant it also needed an interim manager of fundraising activities.

Project dates
2010 to 2011

Roger Mortlock, former Deputy Director of the Soil Association, says:
“Our interim manager from More Partnership was in the office for two or three days a week. On the other days I was able to phone her. When she was here she felt like one of us. And when she wasn’t, it felt as if she was always thinking about us! She never gave the impression that it was just another consulting assignment. Sometimes she even had to remind me that she wasn’t on the staff.

“Organisational change should always be evolution rather than revolution. But either way you cannot move forward without taking people with you. More Partnership understood that, but their experts were also incredibly helpful in articulating where the endpoint would be. They helped to remind us that the network of producers and companies we certify – more than 5,000 businesses – was an enviable prospect pool. In other words, the project was much more than interim management: More Partnership helped us refocus our strategy. I think their impact will be felt for years to come.”