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Vountary ActionWithin Kent

The two organisations had collaborated or a number o years; or example

they had worked on joint unding bids, projects, shared training and sta

secondments. Both chie ofcers had enjoyed a good working relationship,

and knew each others organisation well. Importantly, they shared the vision

o bringing together generic and volunteering support services.

Since this initial merger, the new organisation has merged with one and takenover two additional local charities. It has now changed its name to Voluntary

Action Within Kent to reect the wider geographical area o delivery and the

broader range o services and activities it provides.

Motivations or merger

Both organisations were strong

fnancially and rom this perspective,

neither elt it was imperative tomerge. However, they elt that

merger would lead to more efcient

delivery o services to the voluntary

sector, particularly given an overlap

o their service users. Merger was also seen by both organisations as a way

to develop their service oer and improve their long-term sustainability.

For SVDA, merger also oered the possibility o a wider geographical reach

and the development o extended services. For VA West Kent, a merger with

SVDA in particular allowed them to work with the experts in volunteering;

a service they wanted to oer at their base in Tunbridge Wells.

LAI FM MS - TH AS STDIS

KENT

In January 2008, two inrastructure organisations in Kent,

Voluntary Action West Kent (VA West Kent) and Sevenoaks

Volunteer Development Agency (SVDA) successully merged.

VA West Kent was a generic inrastructure support provider (a

ouncil or Voluntary Service) or the voluntary and community

sector in West Kent. SVDA ran volunteer centres in Sevenoaksand denbridge, and delivered volunteer related projects

across Kent.

It wasnt a shot-gun mege. Both

sides wanted to mege to achieve

something bigge a platfom todo things on a wide geogaphic

aea

TrT, VAWK

VDA chief ofce

woks with boad to

secue suppot fo

mege

Integation

peiod: TP,

staff social

events and

pesentation

days. New

systems

consideed

Interimbo

ardoverseemergerand

go

vernancereview

Woking goup and

extenal consultant

conduct feasibility

study and speak with

stakeholdes

Due diligence and

detailed negotiation

between both

oganisations take

place

January 2007

Following close

woking, chief

ofces popose

mege to boads

Apri 2007

Majoity of tustees

in suppot of

mege

August 2007

Boads of tustees

agee to mege in

pinciple

October 2007

Membeships agee

mege esolution

January 2008

Mege date

Govenance eview

Mege with V

Youth Action

Oganisational

eview

Post-mege

phase

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VOlNTA ATON WTN KENTPage 2LAI FM MS - TH AS STDIS

The Merger Process

The merger took 12 months rom start to fnish. The idea o merging

came rom the chie ofcers o VA West Kent and SVDA as a result o

their close working relationship. Their participation in national orums

or voluntary sector issues had amiliarised them with the trend towards

merger between inrastructure support organisations and what could be

gained through merger. Both organisations had accessed apacitybuilders

unding in the past as part o work to map the local sector and identiy

merger opportunities between various dierent organisations. As part

o this, SVDA in particular had considered merging with other, similar

volunteering organisations but concluded that a merger with VA West Kent

would be most benefcial.

The chie ofcers took the proposition o merger to their respective boards

o trustees. Whilst VA West Kents board was already supportive, trusteeso SVDA had some worries about the loss o local presence. Their chie

ofcer worked with them to understand and address these concerns until

all but two trustees across the two organisations gave their initial support

to the merger.

Funding rom the Lloyds TSB Foundation was secured and used to support

merger costs. In particular, the unding made it possible to do a detailed

easibility study into merger between VA West Kent and SVDA. A working

group, comprising the two chie ofcers and two trustees rom each

organisation was set up, and a consultant was brought in to investigate

attitudes o rontline organisations, trustees, sta and volunteers tothe proposed changes. omments and views rom these stakeholders

were then ed into the merger negotiations and process. This external

consultation was combined with internal consultation with sta in both

organisations.

A move to merge in principle was agreed by both boards o trustees, and

the ormal due diligence process began.

nce satisfed with the outcome o due diligence, the fnal decision on

merger went to each organisations membership at an AM and an M

in ctober 2007. Both sets o membership voted in support o the merger,which was proposed to take place in January 2008.

The three months between the decision to merge being taken and the

merger taking place were used to begin integration. The TP process

began, which ensured employees o the two organisations did not lose out

on their employment terms and conditions. A number o joint sta events

were held and new joint systems were developed. An interim board,

consisting o fve trustees rom each organisation was ormed to oversee

the frst twelve months o the merger.

o redundancies were made during the merger. However, a decision notto fll vacancies as sta let has resulted in a streamlined and efcient sta

team which is more in line with the structure o the new organisation.

VAWK has subsequently carried out a review to adopt a model o

governance best suited to the newly merged organisation.

We aleady knew each

othes oganisations inside

out, and the due diligence

execise was an impotant

pat of the mege pocess

DPTY CHIF CTIV, VAWK

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VOlNTA ATON WTN KENT

LAI FM MS - TH AS STDIS

Success actors or the merger

Stakeholders thought the compatibility o the two organisations was a

crucial success actor or the merger. They shared a similar vision or third

sector support that did not separate generic and volunteer support, and

both saw the same potential or synergies between their organisations.

Additionally, both were fnancially strong and in many cases were unded

by the same bodies.

ltimately, the impetus or the merger came rom the chie ofcers, who

were committed to the need to modernise and enable their work to be

more efcient and eective. Furthermore, a close relationship allowed the

chie ofcers to broach the potentially difcult question o who would lead

the new organisation. They decided not to compete or the role, making

the decision jointly about who would take on the chie ofcer role and who

would be their deputy.

Internal stakeholders o each organisation ound that a commitment to

open communication between chie ofcers and sta, and at trustee level

was a urther success actor. All groups were kept inormed and involved

in decision-making.

The unding rom Lloyds TSB Foundation that had been accessed early in

the merger process was also used to und a sta integration programme,

once merger had been agreed. Having access to this unding allowed

engagement with sta to be thorough and eective, and improved the

sta experience o merger. The negative impact o the merger on sta wassmall because the intention was not to achieve cost savings, rather it was

about improving services and sustainability.

Benefts o merger

Since merging, the organisation has increased in size and reach, primarily

through urther collaborations in 2009. VAWK now has a critical mass that

allows it to grow its services, whilst also being able to oer specialist advice.

The diversifcation o activities, including a mixture o both earned and

grant income, allows the organisation more control over its development.

VAWK now operates rom a number o sites. There is a central ofce in

Tunbridge Wells that houses IT, marketing, fnance and a volunteer centre,

whilst a number o projects run out o satellite ofces. These vary rom

the large premises in Sevenoaks to single ofcers based with partner

organisations in areas such as Folkestone, or the mobile services provided

in denbridge. This allows the organisation to retain a responsive local

presence, whilst also benefting rom central co-ordination.

Although they did not actively encourage the merger, public sector

representatives have been impressed by the new organisation. It is seen to

set a good example to the wider support sector which has generally been

reluctant to pursue merger. The organisation has earned respect and is

viewed as a credible partner or the public sector.

right at the beginning we

had decided we wouldnt be

going fo the same job. Thee

was a sense of tust and

espect at senio level

DPTY CHIF CTIV, VAWK

I think VAWK wee vey

upfont and although some

people wee nevous, they

undestood why the mege

was taking place

TAFF MMBr, VAWK

We ae moe attactive to

fundes, moe obust, moe

substantive. We ae hoping

that we will be well placed to

meet the Big ociety vision

CHIF CTIV, VAWK

Page 3

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VOlNTA ATON WTN KENT

LAI FM MS - TH AS STDIS

Page 4

hallenges

hange management, particularly in handling sta concerns sensitively, isa signifcant challenge in all mergers. A sta integration programme was

run, which included a social event and a workshop or both sta teams

and a fnal presentation event or both sta and trustees. This encouraged

the two teams to get to know each other, to gain a better understanding

o each organisation and to share ideas about how the new organisation

could work.

oncerns about loss o local presence in the case o SVDA presented a

challenge. In particular, trustees o SVDA were unlikely to support the

merger until they elt this concern was addressed. However, even once

the trustees had given their initial support to investigating merger,negotiations between the two organisations were oten ocused around

this issue. For example, trustees were clear that the merged organisation

should have volunteer development as a core purpose o the organisation,

thus retaining a key acet o SVDAs work.

The governance review that ollowed the merger threw some potentially

challenging situations to the new organisation. The SVDA board o trustees

had previously had a more operational role than many boards, or example

the treasurer rather than an ofcer was responsible or the organisations

fnances. Becoming the strategic board o the new organisation thereore

presented a big change. There was a risk in this process that it i it wasnthandled sensitively, it could leave trustees eeling under-valued. From the

beginning o the merger, the chie ofcers had been open about the desire

to reorm the board and this required considerable diplomacy.

A remaining challenge or VAWK is the external perception rom some local

bodies that VAWK is a predatory organisation, ollowing urther mergers.

However, sta are confdent that these additional mergers were the right

thing or their organisation and all those involved.

Working conditions or all sta have improved, partly as a result o the

TP process which brought a pension scheme rom VA West Kents terms

and conditions and a more generous annual leave allowance rom SVDA.

Bringing together senior managers has reduced the isolation elt by some

sta members in the smaller organisations.

The bigger organisation oers sta more opportunities or career

development. For example, one existing sta member has developed and

utilised previous knowledge o equalities in a new and evolving role as

Disability Manager. Similarly, a broader training programme or sta has

been developed, and overall retention has improved.

The staff pesentation day

was billiant. It enabled

people to look at how they

might do things diffeentlyand wok togethe. veyone

seemed to think that was

useful. And they explained

TP!

TAFF MMBr, VAWK

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VOlNTA ATON WTN KENT

lEON lEANEd

LAI FM MS - TH AS STDIS

Since the frst merger, which took 12 months rom start to fnish, subsequent mergers have taken as little as

six months to complete. VAWK recommends keeping merger short and sweet.

VAWK saved money by doing work in-house, but items such as branding and new systems were seen as

necessary expenses. VAWK was able to access 40,000 o support money rom Lloyds TSB Foundation

which contributed towards the cost o the merger and particularly the cost o the important sta integration

programme.

pen and transparent communication with stakeholders was key to helping all understand why the merger

was taking place and what it meant or them. This allowed stakeholders to be brought along with the

merger plans. Although this can be challenging, VAWK suggests that ocusing on the needs o benefciaries

enables all stakeholders to better understand the rationale or merger.

It is important not to underestimate the challenges aced by a larger organisation. Particularly in terms o

integrating fnance and IT systems which are crucial to the smooth running o any organisation.

The crucial role played by all sta, and the imperative to manage change in a timely, sensitive way.

Page 5

Fo futhe infomation about this case study, please contact:

Mandy Wynne, Deputy Chief Ofce, Voluntay Action Within Kent

01892 530330 info@vawk.og.uk

mailto:info%40vawk.org.uk?subject=mailto:info%40vawk.org.uk?subject=