Procorre has a 70-strong team based in Bristol, London, Switzerland and Singapore, and works with over a thousand consultants around the world.

Procorre connects consultants with clients in sectors like renewable energy, recruitment and cybersecurity, with roles varying from basic support one day per week to acting as interim on-site managers. The business has thrived by building long-term relationships with its consultants who are highly experienced in their fields.

The consultants provide expertise and, in return, Procorre connects them with projects around the world and facilitates the immigration process. This system has helped Procorre overcome one of the biggest challenges of consultancies – finding experts you can trust to represent you when projects arise.

“The consultants are part of our company, so they tend to embrace our vision and values a lot better than they would if they were just doing a project. We have very clear expectations of how people operate,” CEO Anne O’Donnell explained.

We've outlined the six key areas that have contributed to Procorre's success so far:

• Diversifying services
• Leadership
• Partnerships
• Culture
• Values
• Coronavirus response

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After initially providing services in the oil and gas industry, Procorre began seeking out subject matter experts to begin its own ventures in 2015.

The company's first opportunity was established as a result of new regulations in the medical devices sector. Regulations were changing constantly and Procorre realised that there was a gap in the market to guide businesses through compliance and quality assurance.

Since then, Procorre has also started a joint venture in renewable energy storage and offers “employer of record” services around the world.

“Offering employer of record services has been a highlight for us. We’ve turned over about £12m through the service in the last few years. Most of the clients are in America and we primarily put sales individuals in.

“It means companies don’t have to set up an entity in a new country when they’re just starting out there,” Anne explained.

Keep an eye on growing trends

According to Anne, Procorre’s ability to spot opportunities in new sectors comes down to the team’s perseverance and willingness to take risks.

“We started investing in renewables two years ago. We’d been involved in gas and oil but never renewable energy. Then you had Greta, who showed that young people are much more engaged in the green energy journey than we were. Everyone sees it as the future, so we’re in a really strong position.”

It can be beneficial to invest ahead of the curve in up-and-coming sectors, particularly if you want to grow. However, you won’t always have the luxury of time or choice when it comes to the services you offer.

Some of Procorre’s services have been born out of necessity, when regulatory changes forced the company to act quickly.

A good example is the recent changes to off-payroll working, known as IR35. The new rules, expected to come into effect in April 2021, mean that employers will have to determine if someone is an employee or a contractor. Anne described the changes as one of the biggest challenges Procorre has faced.

“A lot of contractors don’t want to become employees, because it’s not as financially beneficial for them. With the changes, the client is determining whether they should be able to run their own limited company.

“We’re going out to give companies advice about how they can determine the status of the workforce and how we can support them with their contracting workforce. We’ve done an awful lot of work to get us into a good position when the changes come to the forefront.”

You have to be comfortable with change

Given the number of sectors and countries Procorre works in, the company has to be ready to pivot quickly and innovate. It’s something that’s become ingrained in Anne’s approach to leadership.

“We’re all about change. You might not feel comfortable with change, but in today’s market you have to be. It’s imperative you’re willing to look in different directions. Making a change could be the best thing you ever do in your business and if you don’t try, you won’t succeed.”

Procorre CEO Anne O'Donnell explains how leading from the front inspires her 70-strong team and why she's taking a hands-on approach to develop a new division of the business.

How do you spot opportunities for innovation when you move into a new industry? Procorre’s solution is simple – control the talent.

Procorre is a management consultancy that has built revenue streams in cutting-edge markets like cybersecurity, renewable energy and medical device manufacturing. Much of its success comes as a result of working with consultants who are already experts in the area.

“We built this business slightly differently to other consultancy companies. We went out to find the best consultants. We knew that if we had the best people, we’d always get the best roles,” CEO Anne O’Donnell said.

Attracting and retaining experts

You need to identify what you can offer experts to encourage them to partner with you in the long term.

Many consultants want to travel, but the admin and complexity of visa processes can be off-putting. Procorre’s network gives them access to projects in other countries, facilitates immigration and provides the opportunity to receive private healthcare.

There’s also a profit share system and the opportunity to spend time on new concepts and ideas for industry improvements.

Developing new revenue streams

Encouraging experts to innovate has benefits for both parties: consultants get the support to test new ideas and Procorre can build successful experiments into new revenue streams.

Anne explained that there’s a lot of due diligence behind the decision to invest in an idea. Procorre looks into market activity and the number of jobs available, which is Anne’s barometer for growth, but they also place a lot of faith in their consultants’ expertise.

One example is renewable energy storage, which an expert pitched to Procorre in 2017. Countries were setting sustainable energy targets, but there were no storage solutions on the market.

Procorre initially planned to support the expert in building a business, but the project grew into a collaboration. It’s become one of the company’s most in-demand services, particularly after the European Union committed to spending €10 billion on green hydrogen development in the next 10 years.

“The global carbon targets are a focus for governments and we’ve got world-class expertise in renewable energy storage here. Now we’re going out and talking to other developers and investors. We’re in the right space at the right time – that only happens once or twice in a lifetime,” Anne said.

We hear from Procorre about its strategy for making everyone, whether partners or internal members of staff, feel like an important part of the business.

Before Anne O’Donnell became CEO in 2018, global management consultancy Procorre had never fought to establish itself as a vocal leader in the industry. Change was overdue.

Anne worked with the previous chairman for 18 years. She knew that businesses needed an identity to build emotional connections with people, but no one had wanted to be pushed to the forefront.

When Anne took over as CEO, she decided to do things differently. That meant becoming a figurehead that would represent the company’s expertise to a wider audience.

“If you don’t have someone at the forefront, you can look like a faceless organisation. There’s not the same level of trust,” she said.

Creating initiatives around values

An effective way to start building an identity is to communicate your values. Customers are increasingly interested in what businesses stand for and how leaders are using their platform.

Anne wanted to champion equality and tackle the underrepresentation of women in the consultancy industry.

“I contributed to the Vote 100 commemoration book ‘Voice & Vote’, which profiled 100 women. We launched Procorre100 at the same time, which was a new initiative to recruit 100 women in consulting in 100 days,” she said.

The initiative helped to position Anne as a spokesperson for the consultancy industry. She was invited to talk on the BBC and Newsnight soon after, covering topics like Brexit and IR35 changes.

Future employees look for strong leadership

Anne believes that providing a business with a public figurehead is a good way to build trust and connect with people. It’s particularly important for companies like Procorre, who work in an industry where they’re expected to be empathetic and personable.

The proof of Anne’s impact can be seen in Procorre’s hiring process. They attract a more diverse range of candidates, many of whom are women that connected with the company’s equality initiatives. Around 60 per cent of its workforce is now female.

“We had a recent candidate who said, ‘I really want to work for a company where they’ve got inspirational leadership’. So we must be doing something right. I think the work we’ve done has stood Procorre in good stead,” Anne said.

Procorre CEO Anne O'Donnell reflects on how the business set up its remote working processes during lockdown, from regular meetings to keep staff engaged to online training courses.

Management consultancy Procorre faced the prospect of hiring hundreds of people for a new Project of Common Interest that the European Union was tending for. The company had two options: pay other people to find talent or do it themselves.

Procorre decided to take on a small team to handle the recruitment internally. When coronavirus hit, it made it tougher to interview candidates – but CEO Anne O’Donnell knew there were opportunities too.

“I knew a lot of people would be getting made redundant and jobs would be under threat, so it was the perfect time to find experienced recruiters and bring them onto our team,” Anne said.

Using Microsoft Teams for remote recruitment

Anne held interviews remotely over Microsoft Teams. Remote interviews worked on a basic level, but it was still a challenge to imitate the real-life scenario. Procorre found that a lot of people interviewing from their homes wouldn’t dress for the occasion or take things as seriously.

As Anne explained, it was difficult to get the same nuances over video as you would from someone face to face. So, when lockdown eased, they invited candidates into the office.

“By the time we got to the end of the process, we could start going back into the office. So we selected people we liked and said, ‘if you feel comfortable then we’d love for you to come in and do a socially distanced interview’,” she said.

Putting systems in place to support new staff

Procorre recruited a team leader, five new staff and one internal employee to join the new division. The next challenge was onboarding them in a business still restricted by coronavirus guidelines.

To maintain social distancing, Procorre asked its finance and admin teams to continue working from home after lockdown lifted. It meant the new recruitment division could come into the office, work with the sales and marketing teams and settle into the business.

Procorre also updated its “training bible” to make sure new staff members received the same standard of training as usual.

“We used a variety of mediums like LinkedIn Learning and podcasts. It all gets people to learn and build their knowledge. Putting together a training bible means that everyone who comes into the business has the same sales training,” Anne said.

Despite the challenges of recruiting a team during lockdown, Anne believes their willingness to take risks is what sets Procorre apart.

“We had the courage to employ new people when the business was under pressure. It’s a real testament to our ability to see new opportunities and grasp them.”

Procorre’s success so far is underpinned by long-term partnerships with subject matter experts and its ability to capitalise on gaps in the market made by growth or regulatory changes.

Since taking over as CEO, Anne has demonstrated that you don't need to stick to the same old status quo to survive. She's embraced change big and small, whether it's leading the charge on new revenue streams to encouraging a revamp of Procorre's internal training resources during lockdown.

Here are some of the lessons we learned from Procorre: