For many of us, the thought of managing the intricacies of a fibre broadband rollout and organising wayleaves or running organisational change programmes probably sounds like a colossal headache.
But for Bedfordshire-based Mantralis, these are just two examples of the project and programme management challenges they relish – and they use their skills to not only deliver positive commercial results, but social value as well.
Over a virtual coffee, we spoke to Mantralis founder and CEO Jenny Bayliss to learn more about the business, its specialisms, and why it chose to become a Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce member.
Open, communicative, stakeholder-aware
What immediately emerges from our conversation is Mantralis’ focus on managing projects to ensure the best possible outcome for all parties involved.
Jennie uses the example of a wayleave project to illustrate this. “We’re working on behalf of the client to find sites and enable them to install their equipment on them,” she says.
“But our goal is to eliminate, or reduce as far as possible, any impacts on landowners, landlords, and residents. We put them at the centre of our strategy, and then marry that up with the client’s objectives.”
“So, we take into account issues like aesthetics, access for maintenance and repair, and presence of engineers and technicians, seeking to minimise these, but also ensuring people know what to expect.”
“There’s nothing worse than opening your curtains in the morning and seeing someone in hi-vis abseiling down a rope with no explanation!”
Working at the heart of your teams
Founded around eight years ago, the company has worked on many tech projects, mainly in London, and through its equitable approach has helped generate over £50 million in social value.
But Mantralis also uses those same exacting project management skills to help businesses with challenges like restructures, creation of new departments, cost optimisation, and other difficult changes.
“Many companies aren’t experts in restructuring or putting in place cost improvements,” Jennie says. “We act as part of their team to manage the many complexities that arise and keep the project on budget and on timeline.”
One of the more topical challenges Mantralis is helping companies with currently is getting workers back into the office, which often requires a hybrid working plan to be developed, communicated, and put in place.
What makes Mantralis different?
When we ask Jennie this question, she responds immediately: “We’re small and bespoke, which means we’re very much in touch with the client.”
“You don’t get bounced around the team – you deal with the same person throughout, but at the same time we allot two people to each project, so we’ve got holidays and absences covered.”
Strong communication and the ability to act as a trusted go-between, too, set the company apart, Jennie maintains.
“Face to face communication is always better,” Jennie says, “managing expectations and being honest. We take questions back to management to get answers and preserve anonymity wherever necessary.”
“Most importantly, we put ourselves in others’ positions: what questions and concerns will they have? This is something we’ve significant experience of predicting and responding to.”
The benefits of joining Beds Chamber
As to Mantralis’ reason for joining Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce, Jennie says: “I’ve been a member of the Chamber before with a previous business, and it’s an ideal environment for building relationships with local business and working with them.”
“In fact, as a result of Mantralis’ membership, we've already worked with both a recruiter and a photographer from the Chamber.”
“There's so much business going on in Bedfordshire, and as collaboration is one of Mantralis’ values, we want to support it in our local community.”
To enquire about becoming a Chamber member, visit www.chamber-business.com or speak to our friendly team on 01582 522448.
