A long-term strategy designed to last
Engaging new audiences, delivering more impact, and creating a coherent sense of direction for the next five years. How Cycling UK worked with Lucent to create a strategy designed to last.
Cycling UK has championed the cause of cycling for more than 140 years, and now works with 150,000 people every year to promote a cleaner, happier and healthier world; inspiring people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to be able to cycle safely, easily and enjoyably.
Over the past three years, Cycling UK has grown from a £5 million organisation to a £15 million turnover organisation - with a renewed focus on modernising internal processes, while increasing employee headcount by 50% and embarking on a number of hugely successful behaviour-change projects within the cycling community.
The strategic journey
With their previous 5-year strategy coming to a close, Cycling UK partnered with Lucent Consultancy to map a new strategic path for the organisation. The task was to build on recent successes while setting exciting and ambitious plans for change.
Appointed as new CEO in 2020, Sarah Mitchell worked with Lucent over a 10-month period to undertake internal research, curate strategic options, develop in-depth strategic proposals and attain board approval, ready for 2024 implementation.
“A lot has changed since our previous strategy was launched in 2018”, Sarah Mitchell explains, “From Brexit and Covid, to the political landscape, and even the role of digitisation within the modern workforce.
“Despite this, the last few years have been hugely successful for Cycling UK, and it’s been a positive experience creating a strategy built on successful foundations - rather than an urgent need for change.
“On the one hand, we could have continued exactly as we were. But as a charity, we’re required to think about our impact, and how we’re spending our funds. This was an opportunity for us to challenge ourselves to think about what more we could do, how we could provide more impact, and how we could spend our money more wisely.”
“When you find good consultants, it’s important to share them with other people in the sector. It can be a minefield out there, but Lucent really know what they’re doing.
They didn’t try to get me to buy things I didn’t need, offer me a generic blueprint, or tell me things I already knew. I’ve genuinely enjoyed working with Lucent and would recommend them to other organisations looking to define their new strategy!”
A strategy designed to last
Throughout the process, staff engagement was key. “Working with Lucent and using their Compass framework was so helpful in the early stages”, Sarah continues. “It gave every staff member a voice and involved them in a meaningful way, capturing a lot of ideas that would otherwise have gone unheard. Using an external organisation for this process enabled us to get insight from candid answers; sometimes a difficult feat when managed internally.”
Cycling UK’s work over the past 10 months focused on a number of key themes, including: engaging with new audiences, engaging with partners, embracing positivity, building communities and ensuring Cycling UK has the agility and culture to deliver a long-term strategy in a politically and environmentally volatile landscape.
“It was fantastic working with Sarah and Cycling UK to empower a shift in approach”, Katherine Rake, founder of Lucent Consultancy explains. “From leading an all-hands workshop, to facilitating board conversations, to delivering in-depth findings and undertaking stakeholder research, we were able to work in partnership with Sarah to ensure their next five year strategy is both effective and resilient.”
The outcome
Speaking of the experience, Sarah Mitchell said:
“We wanted to work with an external agency to provide focus; which is sometimes difficult to find when you’re at the centre of it all. Upon first meeting Katherine and the team, it was clear that they would provide this, while challenging us to think differently.
“Lucent had real-world experience, which meant I was working with people who had done my job. They understood the intricacies of working in a socially-focused organisation with a number of complex stakeholders. And they had the expertise to coach us into creating a strategy that we believed in - and importantly, that we could own ourselves.
“When you find good consultants, it’s important to share them with other people in the sector. It can be a minefield out there, but Lucent really know what they’re doing. They didn’t try to get me to buy things I didn’t need, offer me a generic blueprint, or tell me things I already knew. I’ve genuinely enjoyed working with Lucent and would recommend them to other organisations looking to define their new strategy!”
If you're looking to engage with new audiences, deliver more impact and create a coherent sense of direction for your organisation, let us know. We'd love to support you on your journey.
