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January 2012
 DAS is pleased to announce that we have successfully completed the annual UKAS accredited external audit of our Quality Management System, demonstrating again our continued application of the latest ISO 9001:2008 quality standard and our delivery of consistent, value-add services to our many global clients.
Retirement - Our Finance Director David Scullion has decided to retire and will leave the company at the end of January 2012.
Our Managing Director Peter Cook put on the record his thanks to David for all his effort in establishing DAS and in the financial guidance he has provided over the past five years.
We wish David and his family all the best for the future.
New Staff - With effect from the 1st Feb 2012, Stuart Shepherd will join the company as our new Financial Controller.
Our Managing Director Peter Cook welcomed Stuart to DAS; “Stuart brings a wealth of experience to the company. His experience in the commercial banking sector, working with a range of clients will provided the company with a valuable skill set. Stuart also completed a short service commission with the RN which will provide him with a valuable insight into much of the work undertaken by the company”.
October 2011
DAS is pleased to announce that Sandra Lewis has joined the company as a Principal Consultant. She has significant experience in be-spoke model development and applications.
Previously employed by QinetiQ and HVR Consulting Services Ltd, Sandra has worked on the development of OSCAM, the joint US UK Operation and Support Cost Model, FACET, the concept through life cost model, and the MoD Cost Modelling Through Life (CMTL) approach.
September 2011
DAS is pleased to announce that it has won contracts with two new clients.
The first is a US-based management consulting firm that focuses on brand strategy. We are contributing our expertise in Analytics & Scenario Modelling.
The second new client is one of the world’s leading tidal stream energy companies, and DAS are providing independent costing reviews in support of the future business investment process.
August 2011
Rolex Fastnet Race - Our Managing Consultant, Chris Maughan, was privileged to take part in the 2011 Rolex Fastnet Race, re-learning the essential life skills of being able to perform all tasks whilst inclined at 45 degrees. Thanks to Skipper Trevor Nicholls, and the rest of the crew of Spellbinder of Wytch, for a great experience.
June 2011
DAS has now been trading for four years, gaining a reputation for the provision of strategic advice to an increasing range of clients in the UK and overseas.
January 2011
DAS is pleased to announce that we have once again successfully completed the annual UKAS accredited external audit of our Quality Management System, demonstrating continued application of the latest ISO 9001:2008 quality standard and our ability to deliver consistent, value-add services to our many clients.
December 2010
 DAS is pleased to announce that our Principal Consultant Carly Skinner (nee Hickmott) will be returning to work from January 2011 on completion of her maternity leave, taken following the birth of her son Jacob.
Her colleagues at DAS will particularly welcome the reduction in the frequency of the tea making duties.
Niteworks Associate Member - Our Managing Director, Peter Cook, welcomed the announcement that DAS has been appointed as a Niteworks Associate Member. Peter stated that we see this as an opportunity to further develop our relationship with this important MoD industrial teaming arrangement.
Established in 2003, Niteworks is a MoD-industry partnership which is governed and funded by the MoD. It works across the MoD-Industry space to analyse problems, examine options and de-risk requirements, helping the MoD to make better, faster and more informed, decisions.
August 2010
DAS is pleased to announce that Alex Mircica has joined the company, working on a part time basis. He is currently involved in research and information tasking for DAS. In particular, he is researching the reconstitution of the UK Armed Forces and the viability of production capability restart.
Alex would also like it known (that in his ‘other career’ as a permanently resting actor) he is available for children’s parties, and anything where he can get the opportunity to ‘creep the boards’ again.
It is also opportune to make a belated announcement that Craig Clark joined the company in December of last year, as a Principal Consultant.
His key skills are in model development, operational analysis and cost analysis. He has many years experience in delivering consultancy support to a variety of clients within the defence sector, both in the UK and US.
Farnborough Air Show
The company Managing Director Peter Cook, Managing Consultant Eric Phillips and Principal Consultant Craig Clark attended the 2010 Farnborough international Air Show.
Peter held meetings with a number of our major clients and attended the defence industry conference day. Five members of the company attended the ADS/SSAFA charity dinner held at the RAF club.
April 2010
DAS is pleased to announce that Eric Phillips has joined the company as a Managing Consultant.
Eric has over 20 years experience in the Defence Industry. After completing his apprenticeship with BAE Dynamics he became involved in the manufacturing and integration process for defence equipment.
Eric was Commercial Executive Head of Pricing and Estimating before leaving to take up consulting in cost and pricing and the governance process.
Eric is an experienced Cost Analyst and Forecaster with years of knowledge in the generation and investigation of cost across the defence sector.
As a cost analyst he specialises in whole life costing at the concept stage of a project, providing independent analysis on cost and programme issues across a wide spectrum of military and civil programmes.
Responsible for the generation of whole life costs in support of investment appraisal and options analysis supporting the decision process in terms of capability and Value for Money.
March 2010
Risk Maturity
DAS has continued to develop its own Risk Maturity Assessment Tool, with the latest advances being completed on behalf of our client in Australia, Leighton Contractors Pty Limited part of Australia’s largest project development and contract group (www.leightoncontractors.com.au).
Risk maturity assessments are a valuable tool in enabling organisations to benchmark their current risk management capability and maturity, and in understanding how and where improvement may be achieved. They can also be utilised for providing structured assurance and oversight of third-party risk management programmes, plus providing a benchmark against which future risk management improvements can be measured.
Defence Budget Analysis
DAS has further developed its Force Structure defence budget forecasting model suite and analysis. These have been applied in support for a number of strategic studies for our clients. The models enable users to specify current and future force structures by military unit and to assess the impact on the long term defence budget needed to support them.
The model has been used to assess the implication of different defence policy options, force structure designs and current budget constraints. For further information on the DAS’ Force Structure model and its application, e mail info@das-ltd.co.uk .
February 2010
DAS are pleased to announce the safe delivery of a baby boy (Jacob) by our Principal Consultant, Carly Hickmott. Our warmest congratulations to Carly and her husband Ross.
January 2010
DAS has once again successfully completed the annual UKAS accredited external audit of its Quality Management System, demonstrating continued application of the latest ISO 9001:2008 quality standard and our ability to deliver consistent, value-add services to our many clients.
December 2009
All Conditions
DAS Consultants continue working under all conditions...
November 2009
ADS Council
DAS is pleased to announce that its Managing Director, Peter Cook, will join the interim ADS council with immediate effect. Peter, who was previously a member of the DMA council, welcomes the opportunity to become involved with the newly formed ADS has the UK major trade association represent the aerospace, defence and security sector.
Peter, as a member of the DMA, was involved in developments over the past two years that led to the formation of ADS. He is already involved in the ADS Small Companies Committee and plans to maintain an active interest in the development of ADS and in ensuring that ADS promotes and fosters the interests of SME members.
October 2009
DAS is particularly pleased to announce that our Principal Consultant Carly Hickmott will be taking leave from early 2010 as her and husband Ross are expecting the birth of their first child.
August 2009
DAS continues to develop its force structures model in preparation for a defence review next year. This model enables forecasts to be derived of future defence budget requirements, based on defined force structures provisioned with up to date equipment.
Further progress has also been made on through life support cost modelling, with a prototype model now in existence and being trialled.
June 2009
DAS Managing Consultant, Arthur Griffiths was invited to chair the UK’s Annual Through Life Support and Costing conference in London.
The keynote address was given by Vice Admiral (Ret’d) Sir Jeremy Blackham KCB, Royal Navy, and included notable speakers from UK industry, European Defence procurement organisations and the US Department of Defense.
Arthur also led the interactive panel session on assessing Through Life Capability Management: Cost versus Capability.
May 2009
DAS exhibited and presented professional papers at a highly successful Cost Analysis provider day that had been organised by the Society for Cost Analysis and Forecasting.
The event attracted several hundred delegates during the day and generated much interest in our strategic costing capability.
April 2009
MoD Enabling Contract
DAS has been selected by the MoD to be a participating contractor in the Multi-Participant Framework Agreement for Technical Support (FATS/3).
FATS is run by Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and the framework helps customers within the MoD to obtain value for money by providing a route that enables them to buy the technical services they need quickly and efficiently.
March 2009
National Audit Office
DAS continues to support the National Audit Office with the publication of the report Providing Anti-Air Warfare Capability: The Type 45 Destroyer.
The NAO commissioned DAS to provide analysis of the original and revised estimates for the cost for the Type 45 destroyers to assess their realism. DAS undertook two separate exercises for this purpose; a historical cost trend analysis and an independent cost forecast.
January 2009
ISO 9001:2008
DAS has successfully completed the annual UKAS accredited external audit of its Quality Management System, demonstrating continued application of the latest ISO 9001 quality standard and the continued growth of the company in delivering consistent, value-add services to our many clients.
November 2008
Risk Maturity Assessment Tool
To support our risk analysis and management capability and enhance our client deliverables, DAS has developed its own Risk Maturity Assessment Tool. DAS has already deployed a tailored version of this tool in support of the NAO’s recent value for money report on the preparations for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Risk maturity assessments are a valuable tool in enabling organisations to benchmark their current risk management capability and maturity, and in understanding how and where improvement may be achieved. They can also be utilised for providing structured assurance and oversight of third-party risk management programmes, plus providing a benchmark against which future risk management improvements can be measured. A sample output from the maturity tool is shown:
Business Expansion
DAS continues to expand its business portfolio, generating new contracts with existing clients and being successful with winning new business. Work for DAS is increasing in the areas of risk management, business continuity, brand management, cost analysis and modelling, strategic advice and strategic research. As a result, DAS continues to seek applications from experienced Consultants who can contribute to our future growth. For further information contact Chris Maughan at chrismaughan@das-ltd.co.uk.
Financial Modelling
DAS continues to develop its financial modelling capability. Through its links with a leading UK business school, DAS has funded development of a macro-economic defence expenditure forecasting model. Work continues to extend the models capability and to explore future economic scenarios providing valuable understanding of potential future monetary landscape in which the defence industry may have to operate. For further information contact Carly Hickmott at carlyhickmott@das-ltd.co.uk.
October 2008
 Australia & New Zealand
DAS continues to extend its client base at the other end of the world!
An existing client in New Zealand has announced that significant new contracts are to be placed with DAS, with work to start early in 2009.
In addition, DAS has been successful in winning a contract with one of Australia’s foremost companies, Leighton Contractors Pty Limited, part of Australia’s largest project development and contract group. The work involved providing specialist peer review of the risk management material to be used as part of the Leighton management information system.
www.leightoncontractors.com.au
It is hoped that the initial risk management support work recently completed will extend into a fruitful long term relationship.
NATO
DAS has been selected, through the experience of our Consultant Arthur Griffiths, to continue to contribute to a major NATO work-stream, involving research and development of logistic support and life cycle cost strategies in multi-national programmes and across NATO nations.
August 2008
DMA Membership
 Mr Peter Cook, the DAS Managing Director was presented with our DMA membership certificate by Rear Admiral Rees Ward, Director General of the Defence Manufacturers association on the 7th August.
June 2008
Arthur Griffiths
 DAS is pleased to announce that Arthur Griffiths is to join the company as a Managing Consultant.
Arthur has over 30 years experience in defence procurement and cost analysis. He specialises in conceptual costing studies, hardware and software procurement cost estimation, life cycle cost assessment, Investment Appraisals, Public Sector Comparators and Public Finance Initiatives.
An active contributor in the field of cost forecasting innovation and practice demonstrated by his appointment to the NATO Systems Analysis and Studies Research Study Team on Life Cycle Costing, his Chairmanship of the UK Society for Cost Analysis and Forecasting and his long standing membership and association with the International Society of Parametric Analysts and the US Society of Cost Estimating and Analysis.
May 2008
DAS Wins Important New Clients
DAS has been successful this month in winning contracts with two new clients. We are now providing strategic advice and technical due diligence to a large UK hedge fund and also providing business continuity management services to a major medical charity.
April 2008
Defence Manufacturers Association
DAS joins the Defence Manufacturers Association (DMA). Peter Cook the company Managing Director stated that he welcomes being a member of the leading UK trade association and looks to a long association with the DMA.
February 2008
Systems Dynamics Presentation
DAS helps celebrate anniversary of System Dynamics, a key tool for strategic modelling of complex business and policy issues.
Dave Exelby, Managing Consultant at DAS, was selected as one of three speakers celebrating 50 years of the wide application of System Dynamics to develop strategy for public policy and business. This recognised his 12 years of close involvement in the field both as a practitioner and his active role within the international community promoting the use of Systems Dynamics as a tool to understand complex strategy issues.
The conference was arranged by OR Society and hosted at the London School of Economics.
Dave’s presentation illustrated how System Dynamics has been applied across a wide range of defence issues from defence equipment acquisition, combat modelling of red and blue forces, geo-political policy making and manpower planning.
ISO 9001:2000 Accreditation
DAS is successful in being accredited by UKAS with successful achievement of the ISO 9001:2000 quality standard. Chris Maughan, a Managing Consultant with DAS with responsibility for quality management, stated that he was pleased that the companies’ application for accreditation was successful and that this demonstrates the approach the company was adopting for business planning.
December 2007
Company Investment
DAS commissions a leading UK economist to develop a budget forecasting model to argument it strategic forecasting capability. Carly Hickmott, a Principal Consultant at DAS, stated that the Manchester Economic Forecasting group will provide the company with a capability to explore the defence budgets for the leading international economies
September 2007
New Offices for DAS
DAS moves into new offices at the Chineham Business Park, Basingstoke. David Scullion, Finance Director, stated that the new offices provide a flexible working environment with easy transport links to our key clients. |
