Case Studies | Harlow Strategy Group

Logistics & Supply Chain

UK Regional Logistics Company

Challenge: 23% margin erosion over 18 months due to rising fuel costs and inefficient routing.

Our Approach: We implemented a comprehensive pricing restructure to ensure fuel fluctuations were dynamically passed through to customers. Simultaneously, we ran a vendor renegotiation programme to consolidate purchasing power.

+31%

Margin improvement

Beyond the immediate margin recovery, we worked with the leadership team to implement a new daily operational dashboard that provided real-time visibility into route profitability. This allowed the operations team to proactively identify loss-making accounts and adjust capacity before the end of the month.

By the end of the engagement, the company not only recovered its historic margin profile but established a structural advantage over regional competitors, allowing them to confidently bid for larger national contracts.

Technology & SaaS

B2B SaaS Startup

Challenge: Stagnant customer acquisition despite heavy marketing spend, leading to a high burn rate.

Our Approach: We rebuilt their entire sales process, moving from a founder-led sales motion to a scalable, repeatable playbook. We redefined their ideal customer profile (ICP) and introduced structured qualification criteria.

140%

Revenue growth in 12 months

We discovered that the sales team was spending 60% of their time chasing unqualified leads. By implementing a strict lead scoring system and restructuring the sales compensation plan to reward closed-won recurring revenue rather than sheer pipeline volume, the team became hyper-focused.

We also worked closely with the marketing team to ensure messaging was perfectly aligned with the new ICP. This alignment reduced the customer acquisition cost (CAC) by 40% while more than doubling the conversion rate from demo to close.

Retail

National Retail Chain

Challenge: Bloated operational costs and complex inventory management hurting profitability across 50+ stores.

Our Approach: We conducted an end-to-end operational overhaul, centralising procurement and implementing a just-in-time inventory system to reduce warehouse holding costs.

30%

Cost base reduction

The core of the issue was a highly decentralised management structure where store managers were making independent purchasing decisions. We designed and deployed a new central command model that aggregated purchasing power.

Furthermore, we automated the reordering process for top-selling SKUs, which dramatically reduced out-of-stock incidents while simultaneously lowering the overall capital tied up in slow-moving inventory. The cost savings were directly reinvested into a store-refresh programme.

Manufacturing

Multi-Generational Family Business

Challenge: Lack of clear succession planning and significant leadership transition friction between the 2nd and 3rd generations.

Our Approach: We facilitated a structured succession planning process, establishing an independent advisory board and defining clear roles, responsibilities, and performance metrics for the incoming leadership team.

Zero

Disruption to key client relationships

Family businesses present unique emotional and structural challenges. We acted as a neutral party to navigate complex familial dynamics, ensuring that business decisions were separated from personal relationships.

By establishing a formalised corporate governance structure, including an advisory board with independent directors, we created an environment where the incoming generation was supported, held accountable, and empowered to modernise the company's legacy systems without alienating the outgoing founders.