Islington Council’s Communications department set out to transform its design, procurement and print management to significantly reduce costs and strengthen financial control.

As part of a restructure for its design and print operations, Islington Council piloted a new sole-supplier arrangement with Camden Councils design team. They replaced an EU design framework, centralised print and design budgets and retired the previous system of internal recharging.

The council set an ambitious target to operate within a design budget 82% lower than the previous period’s framework. They were keen to tighten financial monitoring and improve accountability, strengthen control of the corporate brand and improve visibility of all design and print activity.

This transformation would also need to take place during significant budget cuts, reduced staffing and additional service responsibilities, including housing communications and joint public health communications with Camden.

We implemented Panacea Software – Project Management, Communications and Asset modules to create a transparent, streamlined workflow across all design and print activity.

The solution would enable Islington to establish simple, centralised workflows for all design and print projects, provide colleagues with branded artwork templates for self-service production of standard materials, plus tighter financial, performance and evaluation monitoring with real-time visibility.

By automating financial management processes and removing the need for manual internal cost transfers Panacea delivered increased transparency across budgets. This also efficiently linked processes to manage the shared service model with Camden Council.

The main goal was to see significant reductions to the budget and improve financial control. This was achieved with:

• Significant cost reductions: design expenditure was reduced from £385k to £71k achieving the ambitious reduction of its operating target by 82% (£314k)
• Financial control and transparency were achieved by centralising the budget with full visibility of spend, automation and monitoring to eliminate manual internal transfers that significantly improved accountability and reporting accuracy.
• Operational efficiency streamlined shared design services with Camden Council. They also increased the use of branded self-service templates and reduced reliance on external designers driving further savings.
• Client satisfaction for services rated high with 98% for account management, 98% print quality and work scheduling achieving 99%.

Despite deep budget cuts and increased service responsibilities, the team maintained exceptional service levels and strengthened brand consistency across the organisation.