Chris Shaw, the founder of Shaw Consulting, a new partner of Bramble Hub, is passionate about helping the public sector take on new ideas and technologies, and has a particular focus on the housing sector.

Chris’s public sector consulting background is impressive. He spent 12 years at Robson Rhodes, where he was Director of Consultancy for the northern area. He then moved to Tribal Group before working in the Advisory team at NCC for a further two and a half years. Eventually, Chris decided to set up his own consultancy.

“I had an established network of really good people,” Chris explains, “so we work to an associate model, with a team of core associates that allows us to place the best people on the right projects”

Shaw does not implement solutions, but instead remains independent, helping customers select and procure IT systems. “Independence is key to our approach,” says Chris.

Focus on housing

One of Shaw’s key focuses is on the housing sector, although the company also works in other parts of the public sector, including healthcare and fire & rescue. “We’re well known in the housing sector and often get asked to bid,” Chris explains. “At Robson Rhodes, my name and experience was established in the public sector, and especially in housing. It’s an interesting sector to work in with unique and interesting problems, including the management of a large asset base and the need to repair and improve it, as well as deal with issues such as tenant health and antisocial behaviour. We help our customers in the sector understand what systems are out there, procure them and engage with their customers.”

Shaw’s work

Shaw has completed significant projects for a range of public sector customers including Incommunities, the General Optical Council, Moat and Mersey Care. When asked to describe his dream project, Chris replies: “We like organisations that want to develop new strategies or want to move from legacy to a more modern environment. We get under the skin of an organisation, speak to key people and run surveys to understand thoughts. I tend to get personally involved for strategic reviews and enterprise architectural issues.”

Frameworks

Bramble Hub can supply Shaw Consulting’s services to public sector customers via a number of procurement frameworks. Chris says that the Bramble Hub service opens new opportunities to Shaw Consulting. “We’re very aware of frameworks as we run procurements for customers. We were registered on G-Cloud ourselves, but it didn’t bring us much business. The Bramble Hub partnership gives us access to bigger contracts, and I see this as an opportunity for us to access business in organisations we might not previously have had access to.”