Tristan is available for hire
Hire TristanTristan Thomas
Verified Expert in Finance
Management Consulting Expert
Location
Brussels, Belgium
Toptal Member Since
May 10, 2017
Tristan has more than 12 years of experience at the Boston Consulting Group ('02-'15). As a senior Principal, he led teams of consultants advising Retail, Consumer, and Industrial goods clients. He has extensive experience working on M&A, growth strategy, digital transformation and operational improvement topics. When not freelancing, Tristan is pursuing his dream of conducting a management buy-in of a production company.
Career Highlights
Founder
Piazza Partners
Principal
The Boston Consulting Group
Education Highlights
Master's Degree
INSEAD
Master's Degree
University of Oxford
Case Studies
Industry Expertise
Other Expertise
Work Experience
Founder
2016 - PRESENT
Piazza Partners
- Contributed to investment fund design and implemented the turnaround of two portfolio companies.
- Supported the fund in managing the sale of a consumer goods company. Compelling a value creation plan and smart buyer engagement approach led to a sale price that was 2.5x what was initially expected.
- Served as senior advisor to a startup in the on-demand and same-day delivery market.
- Explored opportunities for management buy-ins in the Benelux market.
Focus areas: Private Equity
Senior Vice President Strategy and Project Management
2018 - 2020
Swarovski
- Led strategy and project management for Swarovski’s €2 billion consumer business.
- Coached and built the team and managed 10+ direct reports.
- Oversaw an approximately €3.5 million budget and managed a project portfolio of ca. €40 million.
Focus areas: Online Business, Digital Strategy, Luxury Goods, Retail & Wholesale, Customer Lifetime Value, Project Management, Strategy
Principal
2002 - 2015
The Boston Consulting Group
- Successfully led 20+ teams delivering strategy, operational improvement, and growth assignments on all aspects of project delivery, from framework development and intellectual content creation to project process, budgeting, and more.
- Spearheaded projects based in the USA, UK, Belgium, and Denmark, working in English, French, and Dutch. Around 50% of projects involved supporting Global/European HQs across multiple parallel markets.
- Focused on industrial, consumer, and retail sectors, often multichannel/eCommerce. Clients' industries included wholesaling, logistics, grocery, food and beverage, electronics, white goods, luxury goods, credit cards, and digital payments.
- Made 10+ due diligence efforts for PE and industrial buyers, on both the buy- and sell-side. In addition to diligence, supported management to build pre-deal strategic plans.
- Reduced working capital for a pan-European IT distributor by €210 million (25%). Built momentum using “trial and test” approaches to build a record of wins. Used a “train the trainer” approach to drive cultural change and roll out to 10+ countries.
- Helped a pharmaceutical packaging company build and kick off a turnaround plan. Worked with five plant managers to identify actions to be taken in their businesses. Stabilized loss-making business to enable subsequent sale to an industry competitor.
- Built pricing capabilities for European white goods manufacture, increasing the margin by 1%.
- Addressed organization, price‐setting, price management, promotion effectiveness, and incentives. Helped a Belgian grocer to turnaround their dotcom offer to target around €250 million in sales in 2020.
- Developed a plan for an audio company to grow sales by $400 million in India and China. Built US retail growth strategy for a Danish consumer goods company.
Focus areas: Private Equity, Financial Benchmarking, Cost Efficiency, Cost Reduction & Optimization, Marginal Costing, Working Capital Management, Budgeting, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
Education
2006 - 2006
Master's Degree in Business Administration
INSEAD - Singapore
1997 - 2001
Master's Degree in Engineering
University of Oxford - United Kingdom
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