Operational Health Retainer

You've done the work. Keep it from slipping back.

A light-touch monthly retainer for warehouse operations that have invested in getting better. Monthly review call, KPI oversight, ad-hoc advisory, quarterly site visit. Enough external perspective to catch problems early — without the cost of a full consultancy engagement.

£650/mo

Monthly retainer

4 touchpoints

Per month, structured

30 days

Notice to cancel

Submit enquiry → Or start with an audit first →

What you get monthly

Four structured touchpoints. No guessing what you've paid for.

The retainer is deliberately predictable. Each month follows the same rhythm so you know what to expect and Sam knows what to deliver. Anything urgent that comes up between touchpoints is handled by phone or email — within reason.

Monthly · 60 min

Operational Health Review Call

A scheduled 60-minute call each month. You walk through what's happened operationally — KPI movements, incidents, decisions made, decisions pending. Sam asks the questions an outside operator would ask. Together you decide what needs attention before next month.

Monthly · async

KPI Review & Pattern Spotting

Before each call, you send your KPI dashboard or weekly reports. Sam reviews them independently — looking for trends, anomalies, and early warning signals you might miss because you see the data daily. Comes back as bullet points, not a written report.

Ongoing · email / phone

Ad-Hoc Advisory

Between scheduled touchpoints, you can call or email with operational questions — a decision you're weighing, a problem that's emerged, a hire you're considering. Reasonable use, not unlimited. Usually 1–3 exchanges per month.

Quarterly · half-day

Quarterly Site Visit

Every three months, Sam visits your site for half a day. Walks the floor, observes what's changed since the last visit, talks to your supervisors and operatives. Catches the things that don't show up in KPI reports — drift, complacency, quietly mounting problems.

An honest definition

A retainer is one specific thing. It's worth being clear what it isn't.

Most ongoing consultancy products are either underpriced and over-promised, or so vague that you never feel like you got your money's worth. The retainer is designed around a specific, predictable scope.

What it is

A second pair of expert eyes on your operation, on a predictable monthly rhythm
Early warning detection — problems caught when they're small, not crisis-sized
A sounding board for operational decisions where you'd benefit from outside input
Light-touch external accountability — knowing the monthly review is coming keeps the improvement cadence honest

What it isn't

Implementation work. If something needs doing, the retainer identifies it; you (or transformation) deliver it.
Crisis response. If your operation is genuinely broken, you need an audit or transformation engagement, not a retainer.
Unlimited advisory. The retainer covers reasonable ad-hoc questions, not on-demand consulting at no extra cost.
A long-term lock-in. 30-days notice cancellation, no minimum term, no exit fees. If it's not valuable, you stop.

The investment

£650 per month. No minimum term.

Most retainer clients run the engagement for 6–18 months. Some stop after 3 months because the operation has stabilised and they don't need ongoing oversight; some continue indefinitely because the predictable external perspective is worth more than the monthly fee.

Cancel any time with 30 days notice. The retainer should justify itself every month — if it doesn't, you stop. No invoice keeps running, no awkward exit conversation.

£650 invoiced monthly via Stripe, in advance
UK travel for the quarterly site visit inclusive
Overseas operations: quarterly visit billed at travel cost
30 days notice cancellation, no minimum term
VAT-compliant invoicing if required

Monthly retainer

£650

per month · cancel any time

Engagement length

No minimum term. Most clients run it for 6–18 months. Stop with 30 days notice whenever the value drops below the cost.

Honest fit

A retainer works for specific operational situations.

Right fit if you…

Have completed a PainKiller audit or transformation programme and want to maintain the gains
Have a relatively stable operation but want monthly external perspective to catch drift early
Want a sounding board for operational decisions without hiring a full-time consultant
Are an operations director who'd value structured external accountability for the improvement cadence
Have your own KPI dashboard and want a second set of eyes reviewing it monthly

Worth knowing before enquiring

If your operation is genuinely broken right now, the retainer is the wrong product — it's maintenance, not repair. Start with an audit (£950)
If you want hands-on implementation work, the transformation programme is what you need
If you only need a single piece of advisory, the Rapid-Resolve session (£297) is much better value than a retainer
If you don't run regular KPI tracking, the monthly review will have less to work with — get the basics in place first

If you haven't yet had your operation independently assessed, the audit (£950) is the natural first step. A retainer is much more useful once we have a shared baseline of what your operation looks like.

How engagement begins

Three steps from enquiry to first monthly call.

Submit enquiry

A short form below — about 8 questions, 3 minutes. Covers your current operational state, what you'd use the retainer for, and timing. I'll review and respond within 24 working hours.

Calibration call

A 30-minute call to confirm fit, agree the rhythm, and set the first monthly review date. If you haven't had an audit and we both think the retainer is the right starting point, we'll talk through what that means for the first few months.

First invoice, first review

First £650 invoice issued on agreement. First monthly review call scheduled within 2 weeks. From there it's a predictable rhythm — same date each month, same shape, same structure.