'We pioneer a form of company that delivers both social results and performs well in commercial terms. '

Our activities

OPM works to develop the effectiveness of organisations that are committed to improving social outcomes. Our current activities include organisational development, management and leadership development, futures, strategy formation, service re-design, change processes, stakeholder engagement, community development, communication, executive coaching, research and evaluation.

Our clients are organisations from across the public and voluntary sectors, and socially responsible private sector organisations. This includes central government departments, national bodies, local authorities, health service organisations, universities, police and criminal justice, local partnerships, national charities and other organisations.  At any one time we have about 200 current projects – varying from one day facilitation to large two or three year contracts.

OPM was founded in 1989 and has grown steadily and we intend to continuously improve our service offer, to further raise our profile and influence and to increase our turnover.

Our annual review for 2009 (see www.opm.co.uk) provides an overview of activities and a summary of our accounts to July 2009.

Our growth has been funded from fees generated.  We have many repeat clients, with whom we maintain long term relationships.  A majority of our work is generated through formal or informal competitive tendering.

Ways of working

We now have some 100 members in the organisation.  In February 2010 we were successful in reaching the Sunday Times Top 100 small companies to work for (placed 66th at our first attempt).

We aim to be an ethical organisation, to have high professional standards and to continue to mature our model of employee ownership.  We operate internally and externally in ways that reflect the shared values of the organisation.

We offer a working environment that involves all members, is transparent about business performance, and encourages individuals to share their skills and experience with others and to give and receive mutual support.

We continue to invest in our ICT systems to enable remote access and efficient working.

Governance

Legally a private company, OPM operates as a public interest company – we have defined objects relating to social results and we invest some of the surplus generated in work that will be of interest to public services.

The company became 100% employee-owned in 2006.  The company’s shares are held by the OPM Employee Share Ownership Trust (the “ESOT”) on behalf of the employees.  The company board is currently composed of an independent Chair, two non-executive directors and eight executives.  The executive directors are made up of the chief executive, the director of resources and directors who lead areas of practice or business development (involving team management and direct engagement with clients).  

Five ESOT Trustees are elected by all the members to represent constituencies within the organisation.  The Chair, Chief Exec and Director of Resources meet regularly with the ESOT Trustees to discuss strategy and business planning, and to monitor progress.

What our clients say about us

We pride ourselves on the service we provide to our clients. Some of the feedback we received from our latest customer survey included:

“Shared values and passion for improving public services has resulted in a very open and trusting relationship between our organisation and OPM. We have felt empowered and confident to apply the skills we have developed in ongoing work”

“…………..(OPM) enabled us to move forward with a significant change programme ……………………...”

Clients particularly appreciated the way we “complete and inspire.. to do more” and valued "the quality of the relationship. The availability to discuss issues. The attention to what was being asked and (OPM's) hard work in dealing with difficult people/situations”