Programme and Project Recovery - UK
Programme and Project Recovery Consultancy
Most failing programmes are not failing for the reason the steering committee thinks. By the time recovery is on the agenda, the reporting has usually been optimistic for months, the delivery plan has quietly detached from reality, and the people who could tell you what is actually happening have stopped saying so.
We stabilise the programme in 30 days, then rebuild it so it delivers.
When boards call us
You are probably here because one or more of these is true. If you are still unsure whether the situation warrants intervention, our guide on when to initiate project recovery covers the indicators in more detail.
- →The programme has missed two or more major milestones and the recovery plan keeps slipping.
- →Reported status is green but delivery evidence does not support it.
- →The systems integrator and the internal team are in dispute about scope.
- →Spend to date is significant and nobody can tell you what proportion is earned value.
- →A go-live date has been committed externally, to a regulator, a lender, or the market.
- →The programme director has left, or is about to.
Project recovery services
Not every recovery is a multi-year programme. Some of our most urgent work is a single project in trouble: an ERP go-live that cannot happen on the committed date, a data migration that fails every rehearsal, or a supplier relationship that has broken down weeks before cutover. The method is the same, compressed to the timescale the project allows.
Our project recovery services cover:
- →Go-live rescue: an independent assessment of cutover readiness, a clear go or no-go recommendation, and a revised plan if the date has to move.
- →Supplier and contract recovery: resetting the working relationship with the systems integrator or vendor, and the commercial position behind it.
- →Data migration recovery: finding out why reconciliations fail and putting a controlled rehearsal cycle back in place.
- →Interim recovery leadership: holding the project or programme lead role until a permanent structure is in place.
Where a single project sits inside a wider portfolio, we map the dependencies before we change anything, so recovering one project does not quietly break another.
How programme recovery works at Intology
Recovery is not a review. A review produces a document. Recovery produces a programme that delivers.
Days 1 to 10 - Diagnose
We establish what is actually true. That means direct access to the delivery team rather than the reporting line, a full read of the artefacts that show real progress including test results, defect trends, environment readiness and data migration status, and honest conversations with the people who have been carrying the risk. You get a written position on root cause, earned value, and the realistic range of outcomes. Not a RAG chart. Our approach to the programme health check phase is set out in full for those who want to understand the methodology.
Days 11 to 20 - Stabilise
We stop the bleeding. Scope is frozen, the critical path is re-established, and governance is cut back to decisions that actually need making. Where leadership gaps are the root cause, we fill them directly rather than advising someone else to. For a full breakdown of the practical steps involved, see our guide to the steps for recovering a failing programme.
Days 21 to 30 - Re-baseline
You get a plan you can defend to your board, your investors, or your regulator. Re-baselining is where most recovery attempts fail, because the new plan is built on the same optimism as the old one. Ours is built on measured delivery velocity from the diagnosis phase.
Beyond day 30 - Embed
This is where we differ from most recovery firms. Under the Embedded Change Model, capability transfers to your team as we go. We are not building a dependency. The exit is designed from week one.
What makes this different
Independence is the point. A recovery lead who is paid by the software vendor, or who hopes to win the implementation work that follows, cannot give a board an answer it can trust.
We are vendor-neutral by construction
We do not implement software, we do not resell licences, and we take no commission from any systems integrator or vendor. When we tell you the systems integrator is the problem, or that the systems integrator is not the problem, there is no commercial reason for us to say either.
You get the people you met
Intology is deliberately small. The person who runs your diagnosis is the person who runs your recovery. There is no pyramid, and no handover to a delivery team you have not met.
We take accountability, not just a position
Recovery frequently requires someone to hold a programme leadership role while the permanent structure is rebuilt. We do that. Advisory-only recovery rarely works, because the hardest part is not knowing what to do, it is having the standing to make it happen.
Where we do this work
Programme recovery across ERP and finance transformation, core banking, utilities and regulated infrastructure, retail and supply chain, facilities management, and public sector delivery. This includes IT programme recovery across financial services, retail and the public sector. Client base spans private equity portfolio companies, FTSE-listed groups, and mid-market businesses across the UK and Europe. Where the programme in difficulty is an AI or data initiative, we cover that as a separate specialism through our AI programme recovery practice.
Recovery in practice
Our case study on rescuing a stalled core banking programme shows the approach on a regulated, board-visible programme. If you want to understand the method before you talk to us, our step-by-step guide to recovering a failing programme sets out each stage. If the programme is not yet in trouble, independent programme assurance is the cheaper way to keep it that way.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How quickly can you start?+
Usually within a week. Diagnosis does not require a lengthy mobilisation, and delaying the start of a recovery is almost always more expensive than the recovery.
What is the difference between programme recovery and project recovery?+
A project recovery fixes a single piece of delivery with a defined scope and end date. A programme recovery deals with several interdependent projects, shared resources and a benefits case, so governance and sequencing matter as much as the plan. We do both, and the first 10 days tell you which one you actually need.
Do you recover single projects as well as programmes?+
Yes. ERP go-lives, data migrations and supplier disputes are common single-project recoveries. The 30-day approach is compressed where the project timeline requires it.
What will we have at the end of the first 30 days?+
A written diagnosis of root cause and earned value, a stabilised programme with scope and governance under control, and a re-baselined plan built on measured delivery rather than optimism.
How is recovery different from independent programme assurance?+
Assurance gives a board an independent view of whether a programme is on track. Recovery takes action once it is not. Many clients keep assurance in place after recovery so the programme does not drift back.
Do we have to stop the programme while you assess it?+
No. Stopping a programme to diagnose it destroys momentum and morale, and it is rarely necessary. We work alongside live delivery.
Will you replace our systems integrator?+
Only if that is genuinely the right answer, and it usually is not. Replacing a systems integrator mid-programme resets the clock and is very expensive. More often the problem is the contract, the governance, or the client-side capability to manage them.
What if the honest answer is that the programme should be stopped?+
Then we will tell you that, in writing, with the analysis behind it. Being willing to recommend cancellation is part of what makes the rest of our advice worth anything.
How much does programme recovery cost?+
It depends on the size of the programme and whether we are advising or holding delivery accountability. We will give you a fixed price for the 30-day diagnosis and stabilisation before you commit to anything beyond it.
Who will actually do the work?+
Programme recovery at Intology is led personally by Richard Keenlyside, Founder and CIO, who has run and recovered large transformation programmes across retail, banking, utilities and the public sector.
What happens at the end?+
Either we hand back to a strengthened internal team, or we continue running delivery until the programme lands. That choice is yours and it is not made at the start.