Turning a loss into a profit, through high-performing teams and mission-led leadership

At a glance

• Returned ERS Medical to profitability within three years
• Revenue doubled to £50m over five years
• CQC Good rating achieved across all registered locations

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The Situation

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ERS Medical was a national patient transport provider responsible for moving thousands of vulnerable people each week across the UK. Operating across multiple sites with a dispersed workforce, it sat within a complex, time-critical healthcare system where conditions changed hour by hour.

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The business was in a turnaround situation and was acquired and led by Andrew Pooley as CEO. Contracts remained intact and frontline teams were still committed. But the organisation had become slow, and increasingly cautious at exactly the moment it needed to be responsive.

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Where Performance Was Breaking Down

• decisions routinely escalated upwards, even when local teams could resolve them
• layers of oversight had accumulated but they added little speed or clarity
• accountability was blurred across regions and functions
• frontline crews operated within tight constraints that discouraged personal judgement
• confidence in leadership direction had eroded

People were working hard. The problem was not capability. It was alignment.

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The Leadership Insight

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The instinct in most struggling organisations is to increase control. In this case, that would have made things worse.

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ERS Medical did not need tighter supervision. It needed clarity about what mattered and the confidence to act on it. Drawing on his military experience, Andrew introduced what has since become the Mission Method^TM: define intent clearly, set boundaries and trust people to execute with judgement.

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That shift reframed leadership from managing activity to enabling performance.

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How the Mission Method^TM Was Applied

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Defining intent

ERS Medical re-centred around a simple operational principle: deliver reliable, compassionate transport with the patient at the centre of every decision. This was not positioning language. It became the filter for how leaders set priorities and how teams made decisions under pressure. It was built into a measurable and scalable operational model that could be implemented across the business.

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Cascading alignment

Strategic priorities and measures of success were clarified and cascaded across the organisation so teams understood how their day-to-day decisions affected performance. Ambiguity reduced quickly once people understood the “why”.

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Embedding accountability

Authority moved outward. Managers were expected to act within defined parameters rather than escalate for permission. Crews resolved problems in real time, including late discharges and schedule changes, instead of waiting for direction from head office.

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Transparency increased alongside autonomy, with clearer, shared visibility of performance across sites.

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Reinforcing performance

Behavioural change was supported structurally. Objective measures of success were agreed and tracked at all levels. Giving teams and their line management clarity on performance and where resources and training needed to be targeted.

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This ensured empowerment was built into how the organisation operated, not just how it talked about itself.

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The Impact

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Financial performance improved quickly. The business returned to profitability within three years and went on to double revenue to £50m.

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Operationally, the organisation ran faster. Decision cycles shortened. Escalation reduced. Managers spent less time supervising activity and more time enabling teams to perform.

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The model was tested to its limit during COVID-19. As demand patterns shifted rapidly, ERS Medical adapted more effectively than its competitors because clarity and authority were distributed across the organisation rather than concentrated at the centre.

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ERS Medical was subsequently acquired, forming part of what is now EMED Group.

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The success of this approach led Andrew to found Mission Inc, where he now serves as CEO, to apply the same principles across other complex organisations.

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What Changed

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Leadership behaviour shifted first. Managers focused less on control and more on creating clarity and removing barriers.

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Teams became more confident in their judgement. Decisions were made closer to the point of action, improving both speed and quality.

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Conversations changed too. It became less about compliance, more about outcomes, performance and accountability.

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Why It Matters for Organisations Like Yours

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Many organisations under pressure instinctively tighten oversight in pursuit of control. In complex environments, this often slows execution rather than improving it.

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Andrew’s experience leading the turnaround of ERS Medical suggested a different approach. When leaders defined intent clearly, aligned teams around that intent and enabled disciplined autonomy, organisations became more responsive, more accountable and more resilient.

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The same methodology now delivered and honed by Mission Inc is designed to help organisations translate strategy into consistent execution, even in complex and unpredictable operating environments.

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If your organisation faces similar challenges around alignment, leadership or execution, get in touch with us to explore how we can help.