Welcome to develop uk’s Corporate Services Partnering home page. Here you will find resources and support available for Professionals and Business Partners working in group Corporate Services and professional support functions to effectively ‘Partner the Business’.

develop uk has dedicated sites for HR, Finance and IT professionals. This site is aimed at other critical Corporate Service functions including Legal Services, Risk, Audit, Actuarial, Property, Procurement, Communications and Strategy. It provides example assignments and development options for Professionals and Business Partners within Corporate Services teams - with an additional focus on finding opportunities for synergies and cross-functional working across those teams.

All corporate service functions have a critical role in enabling the achievement of organisational strategy. But in challenging economic times when organisations are looking closely at value and costs, these functions also need to demonstrate that they are strategically aligned to meet short and long term business needs, provide value for money and act a true business partner.

This provides a great opportunity for corporate functions to benefit by building their reputation as ‘business enablers’ which add value. They can do this by understanding the drivers of performance in their organisations, providing essential insight and information in an increasingly complex environment, building business relationships and delivering efficient and cost-effective services, processes and support. In addition, many organisations are asking their corporate functions to find better ways of working together to support decision-making and drive down costs.

To achieve this, a business partnering approach is key. Professionals across all disciplines need to develop genuine strategic understanding, excellent communication and relationship management skills and the ability to influence and add value at a senior level.

Our dedicated resources support the review and embedding of partnering approaches and the development of partnering skills and capability. This includes development and training programmes for Business Partners, the develop uk Business Partnering Academy, sharing our experiences gained from partnering assignments, providing partnering tools and designing bespoke Business Partner competencies and resources.


About develop uk

develop uk is the leading uk-based consultancy specialising in business partnering for professional and Corporate Support services. We work across sectors in the UK and internationally with core client groups including IT, HR, Finance and a wide range of Corporate Service functions including Risk, Actuarial, Strategy, Internal Communications, Legal, Audit, Property and Procurement. Many of our services work well across functions in shared development programmes and much of our work is bespoke for organisations. We have significant experience working with a wide range of corporate support and professional service functions across the public and private sectors.

Our full range of clients and services across professional functions can been seen on the develop uk main website.


NEWS

develop uk Directors Shirley Dalziel and Judith Strange facilitated a session at the Annual Life Conference and Exhibition on Friday 27 November, EICC Edinburgh. This conference is the leading professional event for the Actuarial Profession. The develop uk session was entitled ‘Who’s Who in the Zoo!’ and was an interactive look at the political mapping, influencing and psychology that supports an effective approach to ‘Partnering the Business’ in professional services.