Being CEO of a growing tech services business takes stamina. While this sounds like somewhat of a cliché, it’s certainly true; and we would be prepared to bet that not all senior managers have the stamina of Tony Summers, the CEO of Socitm Advisory, a Bramble Hub partner.
Pushing the limits
Tony is a fitness obsessive who recently completed one of the tougher challenges in European cycling: a 1,200km ride from Paris to Brest and back. Such a distance would be beyond many. But this ride, which takes place every four years, is also time-limited. Tony (and his son) opted for the ‘easier’ option of completing it in 84 hours. In fact they finished in just 81 hours, sleeping two to three hours a day. “We were very sleep-deprived,” Tony says (perhaps redundantly). “And there was a degree of discomfort in places I wouldn’t like to mention!…”
“I’ve always been a bit obsessive,” Tony explains when asked what drives him, “and driven to do endurance stuff. I used to do ironman triathlons, but then got an injury so I switched into just cycling. I found to my delight that I could still do extreme things! I’ve done most of the ‘classic’ cycle challenges across Europe as well as mountain stages of the Tour de France.”
What character traits lead a person to take on such a tough challenge? “Drive, ambition and resilience are doubtless important, as well as the physical buzz. The extreme nature of such challenges also means I need to prepare long in advance, which requires lots of training. I start each day with an endorphin fix and setting targets helps me develop the discipline I need. All that exercise helps manage my mental wellbeing and the stress of the job I do.”
Working in the public sector
Tony’s career has been dedicated to the public sector. “I began in accountancy, and followed that through increasingly senior roles in London and national organisations , culminating in FD and CFO roles in the Court Service. I went through some big mergers and gained experience of bringing public sector organisations together.”
At that stage, Tony took a leap into independent consulting. “I worked on land acquisition projects for the Olympics, and then on the Alternative Vote referendum [a 2011 vote on electoral reform]. This was the first UK referendum since the first EU referendum in 1975, and was run by the Electoral Commission, who took me on as programme director. These were challenging and exciting engagements that involved me working at ministerial level.”
Socitm and Socitm Advisory
An opportunity came to Tony through his network to work with Socitm, the Society for Innovation, Technology and Modernisation; a member organisation which aims “to be the preferred network of leading professionals innovating and modernising public services.”
Tony comments, “Socitm wanted to set up a transformation consultancy arm: that’s how Socitm Advisory was formed. Socitm Advisory trades under the Socitm brand but as a separate entity. Socitm is a shareholder, and part of our profits go back to supporting local government via leadership development programmes.”
Trading under a well-known public sector brand can be beneficial: “Having a strong brand is unusual in independent consulting. The business grew faster than expected for its first few years. Then Covid put a pause on growth for a bit. We’re about 100 permanent people right now, of whom about 80% work in delivery. That’s supplemented with a network of around 20 trusted associates.”
What kinds of work does Socitm Advisory get involved with? “We’ve done a lot of ERP implementations, working with over 40 organisations. Those have mostly been local authorities, but we’re increasing our reach into central government. Beyond ERP, we’re focusing on broader aspects of digital transformation and infrastructure modernisation; using tech to enhance public services.”
And the future?
Tony lists four areas that the company seeks to expand in, of which AI is the first: “Everyone’s trying to grapple with the impact. How can it enhance business processes, what are the impacts on service delivery and what does it mean in terms of traditional jobs and roles?” The other three are cyber security, cloud migration and best use of data. Referring to the latter, he says “… local authorities in particular are very complex beasts offering a wide range of services.”
Socitm Advisory and Bramble Hub
Socitm Advisory’s partnership with Bramble Hub recently won its first deal: a significant business integration programme for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea involving the implementation of a new ERP system and more recently another ERP-related project to help the Isle of Wight Council determine its future system needs. Speaking of the partnership, Tony says “It’s working really well. Obviously, Bramble Hub has invested into getting onto frameworks that would be difficult and expensive for an organisation of our size to get into, so it’s useful to work with you to enable us access to the same opportunities as larger organisations, and show our value!”
When he’s not running a busy consultancy or cycling eye-popping distances, Tony keeps busy with his toys. “I have a garage full of bikes… some work, some don’t… It’s a real passion of mine that keeps me busy…”
For more information about Socitm Advisory, see their partner page or visit the Socitm Advisory website.
