Show growing companies the path to success and, with just a bit of good luck, there’s a reasonable chance they’ll find it. But walk that path with them – as the professionals at Ottawa’s Stratford Group do with every one of their clients – then that ‘reasonable chance’ becomes a near certainty.
Credit for this enhanced prospect of success rests with Stratford’s collaborative approach to serving its clients. In developing long-term trusted relationships, a skilled team of Stratford professionals acts as an extension of the client’s internal team. Working hand-in-hand with the client – at times, even sharing an office or a desk – these professionals deliver the strategic and operational experience the client requires to find real and lasting success.
“To be clear, we don’t create success,” says Stratford Management Consulting
President Colleen Kelley. “We simply give businesses the help they sometimes need to create their own success.”
Stratford’s hands-on approach to customer service was shaped by the experience of the company’s founder, Jim Roche. Before creating Stratford, Jim guided a multimillion-dollar company through rapid growth, expansion and an IPO. Looking back, he says the task would been a lot easier had he been able to work with a company like Stratford. “At the time, I wanted and often needed access to that kind of support. Unfortunately, it wasn’t available because no such company existed.”
Colleen Kelley, President
So, in 2008, he decided to fill the gap.
“First and foremost, I saw Stratford as an opportunity to share the knowledge I’d acquired over the years,” says Jim. “But at the same time, I also wanted to give back. Over the years, I saw how successful businesses could contribute to a city’s growth and prosperity. How they created jobs and boosted the local economy. And how their success seemed to inject a real vibrancy into the surrounding community. Today, by sharing our strategic and operational experience, we’re helping other businesses achieve the success they need to prosper and to contribute.”
That dedication to giving back – a central element of the company’s founding vision – now runs through the entire Stratford team. It is especially evident in the wide range of clients the company attracts and works with. In fact, some clients have been with Stratford since its inception. In addition to working with large businesses and SMEs, Stratford routinely lends it expertise to organizations and associations that directly support the city such as the City of Ottawa, Ottawa Board of Trade, Ottawa Tourism and Invest Ottawa. And it helps those groups dedicated to helping others, such as the Ottawa Cancer Foundation, and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
Jim Roche, Founder
While Stratford has evolved to keep up with – and anticipate – the diverse needs of its clients, the company’s commitment to collaboration remains intact. So while today’s clients continue to benefit from Stratford’s comprehensive team approach, that approach now entails management consulting and advisory, intellectual property strategy, and people and culture experience and methodologies.
And, as always, it begins with a single, simple question: “How can we help?”
As Stratford clients have learned over and over again since 2008, in a lot of ways. All of them up close and personal.
Trending Now
The OBoT Perspective
