Consult360
Diagnose, design & transform your complaints function
Our regulatory experts assess your complaints function, design a Target Operating Model, and deliver an actionable roadmap.
Complaints360 suite
Introducing Consult360
Strategic advisory that turns your complaints function into a competitive asset.
Most organisations treat complaints as a cost centre to be managed. Consult360 reframes the challenge — your complaints function is a window into systemic failure, a regulatory risk indicator, and an opportunity to build customer trust at the moments that matter most.
Our advisory team comprising of former FCA supervisors, FOS specialists, and senior operations leaders, conducts a comprehensive review of your complaints function across 12 distinct areas – from delivery model and technology through to root cause analysis, training & competence, and culture.
The output is a Target Operating Model (TOM) for your future state, a costed savings analysis, and specific recommendations to address every gap — benchmarked against what best practice looks like in your sector today. This is followed by a workshop with you to refine deliverables and align to your organisational objectives.
Consumer Duty and vulnerable customer considerations are woven across every element of the review — not treated as an afterthought.
Independent diagnostic
An objective, evidence-led review across your end-to-end complaints function — no conflicts of interest, no assumptions.
Best practice benchmarking
Assessed against a 12-area maturity model informed by 400+ complaints operations and proprietary industry research.
Target Operating Model
A detailed future-state TOM including technology recommendations, process redesign, and structural changes.
Costed savings analysis
Every recommendation comes with a quantified efficiency impact so you can prioritise and build the business case.
Consumer Duty alignment
Findings mapped to the four Consumer Duty outcomes, with gap analysis and remediation guidance built in throughout.
Root cause to prevention
Deep analysis of your top five root causes with specific, measurable recommendations to reduce complaint volumes.
250+
Regulatory review projects delivered in five years
400+
Complaints operations completed for regulated firms
200+
Years of combined advisory team experience
12
Review areas assessed across every engagement
Scope of review
A 12-area diagnostic that leaves no blind spots.
Consult360 is structured around four pillars — Set-up for Success, Driving Performance, Continuous Improvement, and Data-led Approach — each covering distinct areas of your complaints function assessed in depth.
Pillar 1 — Set-up for Success
01
Complaints delivery model
Centralised, decentralised or hybrid structure; team ratios; specialist knowledge depth; complaint type routing and resolution rates across front-line and centralised teams.
02
Forecasting & scaling
Forecast methodology and data inputs; historical forecast accuracy; backlog patterns; surge resilience planning and options for rapid scaling when complaint volumes spike.
03
Policy & frameworks
Complaint handling policies, vulnerable customer procedures, FOS engagement processes, redress frameworks, individual compensation approval limits, and guidance documentation.
Pillar 2 — Driving Performance
04
Technology & systems
End-to-end technology review; MI production capability; identification of process automation opportunities; assessment against best practice maturity and alternative technology options.
05
Training & competence
Onboarding and ongoing training review; competency framework; training records sampling; quality monitoring results by individual; discussions with handlers and team managers.
06
People & culture
Role design and salary benchmarking; independent culture assessment via staff survey; attrition and absence data; review of goals, targets, and management structure effectiveness.
Pillar 3 — Delivering Good Outcomes
07
MI & governance
Management information specification; reporting accuracy; governance forum effectiveness; MI production capability and gap analysis; data points required to bridge performance blind spots.
08
Consumer Duty assessment
Findings mapped against the four Consumer Duty outcomes; expectations around vulnerable customers; cross-cutting rules assessment; gap identification and certainty around regulatory performance.
09
Remediation capability
Where a past business review or proactive remediation programme is required, our team can design the remediation framework, population analysis, treatment design, and oversight model.
Pillar 4 — Continuous Improvement
10
Efficiencies & process improvement
Resolution journeys mapped for most common complaint types; data-led blocker identification; customer channel analysis; time and motion studies; quantified FTE impact analysis.
11
Root cause analysis process
Root cause category design and application; RCA resourcing and outputs; wider data sources used; governance forum inputs; feedback mechanisms to staff; FOS integration into RCA.
12
RCA — reducing complaints
Governance forum tracking of root cause actions; ownership and accountability; success assessment against prior actions; individual performance feedback effectiveness on complaint reduction.
Our approach
How we conduct the review
Our methodology is structured, evidence-led, and collaborative. We work with your team throughout — not just at the end — so findings are understood, deliverables are aligned, and recommendations land with the authority to be acted on.
Scoping Workshop
Objectives, scope, and access confirmed with senior stakeholders.
Document requests issued
Policies, MI, records, and case samples requested across all 12 areas.
Team assignment
Senior advisor and specialist consultants matched to review scope.
Interview schedule agreed
Key individuals across operations, compliance, and senior leadership identified.
Call listening & case sampling
Systematic review across complaint types — identification, handling quality, and outcomes.
Side-by-side observation
Live observation of complaint handlers across front-line and centralised teams in your organisation.
Structured interviews
Team managers, QA leads, compliance, and senior leadership interviewed in depth
Culture survey
Anonymous staff survey surfaces hidden friction, confidence gaps, and morale indicators.
Maturity model scoring
All 12 areas scored against five-stage maturity scale with evidence-based narrative.
Root cause deep-dive
Top-five root causes analysed with reduction modelling and targeted recommendations.
Process efficiency analysis
Time and motion data converted to quantified FTE savings and automation opportunities.
Regulatory alignment check
All findings mapped to FCA DISP, Consumer Duty outcomes, and vulnerable customer obligations.
Target Operating Model
Future state TOM including structure, technology, and process design recommendations.
Full report & recommendations
12-area maturity assessment, root cause analysis, and specific improvement actions.
Costed savings analysis
Quantified efficiency opportunities — FTE savings, automation ROI, and complaint reduction targets.
Deliverables workshop
Collaborative session to align recommendations to your organisational objectives and priorities.
Maturity model
Where does your complaints function sit today?
Stage 1
Early-Stage Development
Stage 2
Gaining Structure
Stage 3
Controlled
Stage 4
Proactively Managed
Stage 5
Optimised
What sets us apart
Advisory expertise that is operationally proven.
Our advisors have not just understand complaints management — they have lived it. From FCA supervision to FOS quality teams to senior operations leadership, every member of our advisory practice brings real-world experience your firm can rely on.
01
Former regulator expertise
Our team includes former FCA supervisors, FOS case managers and quality leads — advisors who have sat on the other side of an inspection and know exactly what good looks like.
02
30 years of benchmarking data
With 400+ complaints operations delivered in five years alone, our maturity model is calibrated against real performance data — not theoretical frameworks. We know what best practice looks like by sector.
03
Sector-specific depth
Financial services, utilities, insurance, telecoms — each sector carries distinct regulatory obligations and complaint archetypes. Our advisors are matched to your industry, not generalists parachuted in.
04
Root cause to prevention
We don’t stop at identifying root causes. Our ConnectCX methodology models the complaint volume reduction achievable from targeted action — giving you the ROI case to act on the findings.
05
Consumer Duty as a thread
Consumer Duty and vulnerable customer obligations are assessed across every element of the review — not bolted on as a section. You receive a clear, outcome-mapped compliance picture.
06
Continuity from advice to execution
Consult360 findings feed directly into Evolve360 – transformation and Outperform360 – managed delivery, so the expertise that diagnosed the problem is the same expertise that fixes it.
What you receive
Deliverables designed to drive action
Every Consult360 engagement concludes with a comprehensive, board-ready set of deliverables — not a generic report. All outputs are refined through a joint workshop before final delivery to ensure alignment to your organisational objectives.
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Target Operating Model
Future-state TOM for your complaints function — including structural, process, and technology recommendations. -
12-area maturity assessment
Full maturity model scoring across all review areas — current state mapped, gaps identified, priority actions defined. -
Costed efficiency savings
Quantified list of savings achievable through process improvements, automation, and structural changes. -
Top-5 root cause recommendations
Deep analysis of your highest-volume root causes with specific, measurable recommendations to reduce complaint volumes. -
Culture assessment results
Detailed findings from staff survey and interview programme — training gaps, confidence indicators, and management effectiveness. -
MI gap analysis & additional data points
Specific MI recommendations to bridge reporting blind spots and improve governance forum effectiveness. -
Deliverables workshop
A joint workshop to discuss, challenge, and refine deliverables to ensure alignment with your organisational priorities.ommendations to bridge reporting blind spots and improve governance forum effectiveness.
Case studies
Advisory that delivers measurable improvement.
From banking to energy to insurance, our Consult360 advisory engagements consistently translate to material performance improvement. Here is a selection of what we have delivered.
Utilities · Energy
UK energy supplier — 85% improvement in first-point-of-contact resolution following advisory review
TOM review · Root cause · Over-reporting remediation
- 85%Better FPOC resolution — from 10% of complaints resolved at first contact to 68%
- 22% More accurate complaints identification across three brands following policy and training updates
- 58%Improvement in FPOC resolution in a separate energy advisory engagement
Through extensive call listening, side-by-side observation and supported by the document review, we identified instances of over-reporting more prevalent within one brand. Policy and training updates focused on definition and materiality — and with the tendency to over-report controlled, first point of contact resolution increased from 10% to 68%.
Financial Services · Banking
Leading retail bank — 44% reduction in FOS referrals within five months of advisory review
Investigation process review · FOS referral reduction
- 44% Fewer FOS referrals within five months of Huntswood's investigation process review
- 33% Increase in overall quality score — from 72% to 96% first-time pass
- 44%Reduction in complaints due to improved first-time resolution capability
Financial Services · Insurance
Leading UK insurer — 40% improvement in NPS and 4-year advisory partnership
NPS improvement · B2B journey transformation
- 40%Improvement in NPS score across the client's complaints and customer operations function
- 4 yrs Sustained advisory partnership covering B2B journey transformation and continuous improvement
- 86% Reduction in further action turnaround times through bespoke escalation matrix and SLA redesign
Telecoms · Tier 1
Tier 1 UK telecoms — end-to-end TOM adopted and 50 standard letters re-written for Consumer Duty
TOM adoption · Consumer Duty · Letter standards
- >50Standard complaints letters re-written for accessibility and Consumer Duty expectations
- <100% End-to-end Target Operating Model adopted and implemented across the business
- <FULLPolicy review, RCA capability assessment and vulnerable customer management improvement delivered
We have seen a material improvement in the quality of the case files we send to the financial ombudsman service as a result of our work with Huntswood, and this, together with the impact of other changes we have made following on from Huntswood’s review, has resulted in a notable reduction in our upheld rate at FOS of c.25%. We are very happy with the results of our collaboration, and the advice we received from Huntswood has resulted in lasting changes.
Explore all Complaints360 modules
Ready to benchmark your complaints function?
Tell us about your regulatory pressures, your FOS profile, and your biggest operational challenges. We’ll show you exactly what a Consult360 engagement would cover — and what it’s delivered for firms like yours.