With over 125 years combined experience and knowledge, with some of industry's most respected thought leaders on our advisory board.

But we're also practical people with a real affinity for the corporate cultures we work in. Our consultants have direct experience of the sector they advise on. They know change management, ERP change, retail systems, direct sourcing, merchandise planning and range management from A-Z.

Innovation is key to our work. Change is happening so quickly in the digital world so we need to keep our clients ahead of the curve. We offer propriety tools and methodologies which to drive transformation in a structured and efficient way, whilst respecting the clients’ culture.

We bring in the right people with the right skills to help our clients take responsibility for improving their customer offering. When we go, we leave behind an in-house team with all the skills and training to ensure continuity and truly sustainable change.

We enable you to realise your transformation strategy through structured business analysis, and project and program management.

We're experts in designing and delivering:

Technology-led
Transformation
Successful
Operating Models
Central Change
Centers Of Excellence
Post-Acquisition
Integration
Programs
Training
Programs

What sets us apart is our depth of industry knowledge combined with the best consulting talent, upholding the CMG principles and values:

We understand the pressures and economics of business
We're collaborative, open and honest
Sustainable lasting value is at the heart of what we do

Our team has deep industry and change expertise, underpinned by core consulting skills and methodologies. We are passionate about delivering sustainable change and building lasting value for our clients.

Who We Are

We are a consulting firm specialising in delivering strategic change in retail and consumer products.

We’re rich in knowledge, with some of the retail industry’s most respected thought leaders – and senior representatives from other sectors – on our advisory board.

But we’re also practical people with a real affinity for the corporate cultures in which we work. The majority of our consultants have commercial experience as well as consulting expertise – they know change management, ERP change, retail systems, direct sourcing, merchandise planning and range management from A to Z.

We’re innovative; change is happening so quickly in today’s digital world that it’s essential we enable our clients to keep pace. We offer proprietary tools and methodologies which enable us to hit the ground running and drive transformation in a structured and efficient fashion.

Our academic background in Anthropology means we can help you to measure the intangible factors that are key to your project’s success: goodwill, motivation, adherence to a common set of values. And we’ll help you to make the business case for change.

Finally, we bring in the right people with the right skills to help our clients take responsibility for improving their customer offering; and when we go, we leave behind an in-house team with all the skills and training to take up the baton – and run with it.

Executive Team

Julia Cook Founder and CEO

Julia has delivered change and IT projects across the consumer products industry for over 20 years. She has worked with a range of clients including Tesco, Whirlpool, B&Q, DSGi, ASOS, New Look, the Landmark Group and Kingfisher. Before she founded the Change Management Group in 1999, she held senior roles with a dot.com start-up, the Disney Store, and Ernst & Young. Julia also serves as a trustee with the Consortium for Street Children.

Jeremy Cox Finance Director

Jeremy qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Brebners. Before joining CMG, he worked for V2 Music Group, Universal Music Group, EMusica Records LLC. He has also worked with several start-up companies. His financial acumen extends from the UK, to America and the Far East.

Darren Shapland Chairman

Darren has a portfolio of Chairman positions with Topps Tiles Plc, Moo Print, NotOnTheHighStreet, and as an Investor Director and Chairman of Aerofoil Energy Limited. Darren was also Chairman at Poundland and Managing Director at Burton Group of the Home Shopping / E-commerce business and CFO of Top Shop / Top Man. He was also CFO of Superdrug Plc and Carpetright Plc before completing his CFO career at Sainsburys. He also mentors and advises several CEOs of private businesses.

  

John Hoerner Non-Executive Director

John has unparalleled experience in the retail sector both in the UK and internationally. He was most recently CEO of Tesco Central European Clothing, and prior to that was CEO of Tesco UK Clothing and International Sourcing. After coming to the UK in 1987 from America to run Debenhams and Harvey Nicols, he became CEO of the Burton Group and then Arcadia until 2000. John has also served as a non-executive director of BAA, Chairman of the British Fashion Council, and Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.

Richard Wildman Non-Executive Director

Richard has 30 years of retail and commercial experience and an outstanding track-record of delivering results for major retail, FMCG, and media and publishing businesses. He spent the core of his career with Accenture where he rose to be Managing Partner, Growth and Strategy for their global retail practice. Richard was responsible for leading the global Oracle Retail practice at Accenture and led many of the European implementation programs. He continues to consult for a number of private clients, and has non-executive board roles for several SME and start-up businesses.

William Macfarlane Non-Executive Director

Bill is a recognized technology leader, known for crafting the requisite strategic vision to achieve business goals, offering a unique blend of executive acumen, global team-building and IT solutions development, with strong ROI and operational results. He has worked with retail, consumer products, manufacturing, distribution and ecommerce focused companies during his career and has been a part of many start-up enterprises as well as turnaround and M&A activities. Bill has been a serial CIO/Consultant to many internationally celebrated companies such as The Disney Store, Siemens, NBA Store, Nike Retail and The NBC Studio Store.

Gary Mudie Chairman, CMG Digital

Gary is a digital technology transformation expert who has held key management positions across retail, media and healthcare. He is part of the founding group that established Babylon, a global digital healthcare company which has pioneering AI technology at its core. Prior to Babylon, Gary was the CTO at Circle Hospital Group and CTO & Logistics Director at global retailer ASOS. He has held additional leadership roles as Global CIO at Paperchase and Digital Program Director at Universal Music Group.

Alan Howarth Senior Independent Director

Alan has a portfolio of non-executive positions with Adili plc, Gresham Computing plc, Highams Group plc, CRF Health Inc., Chamberlin plc, and a number of smaller private national and international companies. For nearly two decades, Alan was a senior partner with Ernst & Young and subsequently served as Managing Director of Compass Management Consulting Ltd.

  

Giving Back

We believe in giving something back. We’re keen supporters of the Consortium for Street Children.

The CSC is the leading international member-based network dedicated to advocating, promoting and campaigning for the rights of street-involved children. They are committed to creating a better and sustainable future for some of the most disadvantaged and stigmatized children by working together to inform and inspire research and action that influences policy and best practice worldwide.

Our Founder and CEO Julia Cook serves on the Board of Trustees