Governance, guidance, and growth

Background

Dalen is a British market leading designer & manufacturer with a number of strong brands present in the Education, Healthcare and Commercial sectors.

The company was purchased by its current owner as part of an MBO and was still paying off transaction–related debt which added additional cashflow pressures on the business at a time of growth. The senior team were very hands on and took the decision to appoint a Non Executive board member to navigate several challenges the business was facing.

The process to select and introduce Wellmeadow was carefully thought through and all senior team members were involved. There were meetings with the whole board and Wellmeadow together, as well as individual meetings with each director.
One of the key requirements from Wellmeadow was that formal board meetings would be held, facilitated by the non-exec. The key benefit to the company would be improved cadence of meetings, better reporting and clearer accountability. It also allows the owner to be a part of the meeting and the discussions rather than the additional workload of ‘chairing’ a meeting.
Over 10 years of involvement, Wellmeadow has worked with Dalen on a wide variety of projects and supported its 3x growth.

How we helped

The monthly board meeting is at the core of the support that Wellmeadow provides. From there, many projects are agreed and supported to help drive growth.

Whilst many smaller companies have regular informal meetings of the senior team, the introduction of a more formal structure ensures meetings aren’t cancelled at short notice due to day-to-day pressures. It also drives the preparation of meaningful and actionable reports without too much burden on the directors. Minutes are produced on the day, with clear actions, and ongoing support from the Wellmeadow team is prioritised.
The inclusion of a non-exec on the board has also allowed sharing of experiences and best practice from other companies which wouldn’t normally be possible with a completely full time team.

Over more than a decade, as well as board governance, we have been involved in many other projects, including recruitment and selection of senior execs as the team has evolved, running strategy meetings and supporting M&A activities.

Results

↑3X growth | ↑diversification | ↑strong senior team

The result of non-executive input to the team has been instrumental in supporting the internal team. Together, Dalen has grown to over 3x the size spanning several industry sectors and preparing the company for significant future growth.