Crimson & Co open up Brisbane office and expand ANZ leadership

International consulting firm Crimson & Co have opened their third office in Australia. Following the recent success of the firm’s ANZ business and growing demand for supply chain and operations consulting throughout the region, Crimson & Co have set up shop in the Brisbane CBD’s ‘golden triangle’.

Crimson & Co are a global management consultancy that specialises in operations transformation. With offices spread across the US, UK, France, India, Singapore and Australia, the consulting firm has been on the path of an exponential international growth spurt. Having recently completed a merger with French operational transformation consultancy Argon Consulting, the firm has set its sights on solidifying its foothold in Australia Pacific.

After a year of senior promotions across both its Melbourne and Sydney offices, Crimson & Co have set their sights on the lucrative market in Queensland. Queensland’s agriculture and natural resources sector is set to play a large part in the region’s economy for the next generation at least. To meet the demand of global energy and food demands, Queensland’s primary resources output will rise dramatically past its current state as a $20 billion industry. However, the state’s infrastructure and supply chain network will pose a significant threat to growth unless both undergo transformation. 

The constraints of the future provide a significant challenge for the state as well as a large opportunity for those with deep structural knowledge of the supply chain industry. Crimson & Co’s announcement shows the firm’s intent to capitalise on the strong forecast growth throughout Queensland, working with some of the state’s most influential businesses to increase economic output and minimise supply chain congestion.

The new Brisbane office will be situated right in the heart of the CBD at number 480 Queen Street, and the firm will be sharing the building with other notable consultancies including Big Four firm PwC. The office will be led by Steven Van As, a global supply chain expert with a wealth of industry experience at Unilever, consulting experience with SVA Consulting, as well as high level management and executive roles with Fonterra Brands Australia and Firmenich.

Prior to his role as Head of Global Operations at Firmenich, Van As spent six months as a consultant with Supply Chain Cover in Melbourne. During this time, he saw the firm embark on a global expansion which ultimately led to its acquisition and incorporation into the Crimson & Co network, to be led by Supply Chain Cover founder Frans Verheij.

The Brisbane Practice’s Director describes this move as an exciting opportunity to grow the firm’s market share in Queensland, and he believes that it highlights Crimson & Co’s ongoing investment and desire to help more clients transform their operations in ANZ. Commenting on joining Crimson & Co in July, Van As said that he was keen to join the firm as he saw it as “a global player with an ideal cultural fit, staffed with visionary supply chain professionals.”

Only a month after Van As joined the consulting firm, Crimson & Co appointed David Bissett as Partner in charge of the Sydney office. Bissett commented that expanding the network to Brisbane will provide a better service to its existing regional and national clients, and an opportunity for the team to work with and add value to some of Australia’s best companies.

When Bissett himself joined the firm in August, Frans Verheij commented that the appointments marked “the third stage in our growth since joining Crimson & Co in 2016 and merging with Argon Consulting in April this year… [helping the firm with its goals in] becoming the leading global management consultancy focused on supply chain.”

Crimson & Co was established in 2003 as a breakaway from PwC’s operations consulting arm – aimed at growing its international presence in the wake of a new growth strategy as a response to the growing globalisation of consulting services. The firm has offices in Atlanta, Mumbai, London, Paris, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney and now Brisbane.