Highlights of our Infrastructure mergers: the way forward?

Live discussion
On Friday 18
th
July the BIG Assist team hosted a live discussion for infrastructure organisations
wishing to talk about mergers and news ways of working together.

There were 141 comments posted during the discussion with representation across England
including:

Sheffield
Cambridge
Manchester
Guilford
Nottingham
Bristol
London
Newcastle upon Tyne
Rugby

You can view the discussion and continue to post your comments or read the highlights below
taken directly from the discussion.

Panellists:
Mel Bonney-Kane, Chief Executive Officer, Coast & Vale Community Action
Paul Tolley, Chief Executive, Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action
Julie Ward, BIG Assist Customer Consultant

What are the catalysts and drivers for change?
Catalysts for change are different for each organisation. For some the main drivers
include sustainability and bringing together two organisations that have been successful
in different areas to form one successful, stronger organisation (as in the case of Coast &
Vale Community Action)
The Transforming Local Infrastructure process was seen as driver as it encouraged
organisations to work more closely together
Other drivers include reduced funding, heavy workloads and increasing VCS status in the
county for example East Grinstead CVS merging with Horsham Voluntary Action and
Mid-Sussex (South) CVS will result in the merged organisation covering 40% of West
Sussex geographically
An interesting point raised was that mergers enable organisations to consider larger
funding and tender opportunities. For example, Warwickshire Community and Voluntary
Action were surprised at how many funding bodies approached them. The feedback from
funding bodies was that trying to broker conversations between a number of CVSs had
put them off.

How do you best respond to these challenges are mergers the best way forward?
Mergers can be the answer for some organisations but they depend on a number of
factors to be successful - one of which is based on how closely organisations looking to
merge have already worked with one anotheras a level of trust would have already
been established prior to the merger. This is true for Gedling CVS in Nottinghamshire as
pointed out by Laurence Quirk, its CEO. They are currently going through a merger with
Newark and Sherwood CVS and Rushcliffe CVS
Mergers can also provide an opportunity to take the best from each organisation and
consider new ways of doing things





What does it mean to merge? If an organisation wants local support, what does that
mean?do cross-regional/county mergers work well?
This question was not answered directly but one of the concerns raised during the
discussion is whether mergers result in specialist local support being lost and the sense of
belonging to a particular community. This was raise by Leonie McCarthy at Peterborough
CVS, Dave Forrest at Bradford Volunteer Centre and Christine Hardisty from East
Grinstead CVS the general answer was no but that it is a risk. Warwickshire Community
and Voluntary Action ensured their merger kept all local office bases with local teams as
their members were adamant this be done
The same is true for Coast & Vale Community Action, their CEO Mel Bonney-Kane said
we were also determined to maintain local specialist delivery and have continued to
operate three office bases in each of Whitby, Scarborough and Malton

What are the barriers to working differently and/or merging?
One of the barriers identified is that organisations often have a fear of change, which is
why discussions about merging can go on for years before any action is taken
Other barriers include self-interest, pride, negative assumptions of partner organisations
with whom you might merge and lack of capacity/priority
Another challenge is a lack of engagement between the Trustee Boards of organisations
looking to potentially work together or merge. This is key as commitment from Trustee
boards is recognised as being vital in making a merger run smoothly.

What about organisational culture? How can senior staff keep moral up during periods
of change?
The main thing that was discussed here was communication. Communicating all aspects
of a merger to staff (to trustees, funders, your membership and other stakeholders) prior
to, during and after the merger is vital. To do this effectively, having a coherent
communications plan in place is also key
Some organisations mentioned how using an independent facilitator to help keep
momentum up and have the elephant in the room discussions during a merger was very
helpful to ensure staff are engaged and feel comfortable enough to air their concerns
Having staff representatives on the Steering Group from each of locations can help to get
messages across and gets buy-in as it helps to include everyone in the strategic process
this was undertaken by Coast & Vale Community Action during their merger
Although keeping moral up is one of the biggest challenges during a merger Paul Tolley at
Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action listed a useful process he used during
their merger to build people's energy, excitement and ownership of the new
organisation. This included:
o Bringing staff together to talk openly about their hopes and fears
o Ensuring staff and volunteers are involved fully in adopting the new
organisational visioneven down to straplines and logos - they will be your
organisational champions from day 1 and what they feel or think about the new
organisational model can be self-perpetuating
o Making sure that the change you are implementing is vocalised and illustrated to
your membership repeatedly
o Investing time in HR by recognising that through any merger you are potentially
inheriting organisational cultures that can clash
o Delegate responsibility to key members of staff rather than communicating
everything from a leadership position as it helps to build ownership







Support and Resources

BIG Assist can help support organisations with mergers there are 3 steps
to getting a voucher. Call 0207 520 2418/email assist@ncvo.org.uk if you
have any questions.

Visit one of these organisations to learn about their experiences of merging

Harrogate & Ripon CVS (HARCVS): Partnership working and moving towards mergers
Worcester Volunteer Centre: Partnership working and developing relationships
Community Impact Bucks: Impact of merger
Brighton & Hove Community Works: Redesigning your organisation after a merger
Heres how to apply - we can approve your visit within 24 hours of receiving your application!
Email davinder.kaur@ncvo.org.uk for more information

Check out these resources from the BIG Assist online library

Due diligence: a guide to ensure a planned merger is in the best interests of your
organisations and beneficiaries
A short article with tips on communications before, during and after a merger
Some tips on who should lead a merger
A guide to the reasons for a merger and the types of mergers that exist
Co-operation, collaboration and mergers: options for non-profit organisations wanting to
work together
WCAVAs Capacity builders report on post-merger service delivery
The Good Merger Guide
John Kotters 8 Steps to Change