Where strategy, systems and people come together.

Turning complexity into clear strategies, better systems and practical change.

Let’s Talk

Where strategy, systems and people come together.

Turning complexity into clear strategies, better systems and practical change.

Let’s Talk

Where strategy, systems and people come together.

Turning complexity into clear strategies, better systems and practical change.

Let’s Talk

What we do

Good ideas rarely fit neatly into one discipline. We connect expertise, thinking and practical experience to help organisations make progress.

Strategy & Organisational Performance

Clear strategies, stronger organisations and practical plans that connect ambition with delivery.

Strategy into Action

Explore how your organisation connects its strategy, systems and people.

Complete a free self-assessment and get practical next steps for your organisation.

Take the free assessment →

AI, Digital & Data

Making better use of technology, data and AI through clear strategy, responsible governance and strong organisational capability.

AI & Workforce Readiness

Explore your organisation’s readiness for AI and what your people need to move forward.

Complete a free self-assessment and get practical next steps for your organisation.

Take the free assessment →

Change & Transformation

Bringing people, services and systems together to design change that works in practice and lasts beyond the project.

Making Change Last

Explore how to bring your people, services and systems together to make change last.

Answer a few questions. Get practical ideas to explore with your team.

Take the free assessment →

Procurement & Implementation

From defining what is needed and selecting the right solution through to implementation, adoption and benefits realisation.

From Need to Value

Explore what you need, how you’ll deliver it and the difference your investment should make.

Answer a few questions. Get practical ideas to explore with your team.

Take the free assessment →

Strategy

Digital Transformation

AI Strategy & Governance

Change Management

Procurement

Governance & Performance

Service Design

Workforce Capability

How we work

We work alongside your organisation, bringing together the right expertise, practical thinking and capability to make change work.

Built with you

We work alongside your people, combining their knowledge with our experience to shape solutions that work in practice.

The right expertise

We draw on complementary expertise and disciplines, bringing people together when and where they’re needed.

Practical by design

We turn ideas and decisions into clear, practical steps that work in the real world.

Decisions that stand up

We bring together evidence, insight and experience to support decisions that are clear, informed and defensible.

Impact that lasts

We focus on improvements that make a difference in practice, while building the knowledge and capability organisations need to sustain them.

A way forward, shaped together

We start by understanding what you need, then shape the way forward together.

Let’s Talk

Pricing and Partnership

1

Let's talk

Tell us what you’re working through. Our first meeting is free, with no obligation. It’s an opportunity to understand what you need and whether we’re the right fit.

2

Shape it together

We’ll agree what’s needed, bring together the right expertise and establish a clear approach, scope and cost before work begins.

3

Make it happen

We work alongside your people to put the plan into practice, support progress and build capability that lasts beyond the engagement.

Pricing & Partnership

Flexible ways to work together.

Every organisation is different. We agree the right approach based on what you need, the scope of the work and the expertise required, with costs clear before any work begins.

Focused work

When you need clarity on something specific.

A flexible way to bring in CoLab Works for a clearly defined need. Whether you’re working through an idea, facing a decision or need an independent perspective.

PRICING

From €350

Projects & programmes

When you need more than a focused piece of work.

We work alongside your organisation on larger or more complex pieces of work, bringing together the right expertise from planning and design through to implementation.

PRICING

Scoped to the work

Ongoing partnership

When you need a trusted partner to draw on.

An ongoing relationship that gives you flexible access to CoLab Works as needs arise. To work through decisions, sense-check ideas, support key discussions or bring in specialist expertise when needed.

PRICING

From €750 per month

Not sure which approach is right?

We can work that out together.

Let’s Talk

The people behind CoLab Works

We bring different perspectives, practical experience and a shared belief that better outcomes come from strategy, systems and people working together.

Mark Davidson

Founder | Strategy, Systems & People

View profile →

Damian Buckley

Founder | Partnerships & Practical AI

View profile →

Diana McNally

Associate | People & Wellbeing

View profile →

Nial Lamont

Associate | Systems and Technology

View profile →

Colm McNally

Associate | Aviation & Operational Leadership

View profile →

THE EXPERIENCE BEHIND COLAB WORKS

Different backgrounds. Shared purpose.

The people behind CoLab Works bring experience working with large public-sector organisations, healthcare services, professional regulators, charities and not-for-profit organisations, alongside international technology and commercial businesses.

Our collective experience spans organisational strategy, governance, digital transformation, procurement, commercial leadership and the practical delivery of change. We’ve worked in complex, highly governed environments where decisions carry real consequences for organisations, their people and the communities they serve.

We bring these different perspectives together to help organisations make informed decisions, navigate change and build the capability to move forward with confidence.

Strategy

Systems

People

Let's think it through together

Have an idea, a decision to make or something that isn’t working quite as it should?

Tell us a little about what you’re working through. You don’t need all the answers or a perfectly formed brief to get started.

Have an idea, a decision to make or something that isn’t working quite as it should?

Tell us a little about what you’re working through. You don’t need all the answers or a perfectly formed brief to get started.

Email us

Tell us a little about what you're working on.

Send an email

Book a time

Choose a time for a free, no-obligation introductory meeting.

Book a time

In the Lab

A lab is a place for examining things more closely. It is somewhere to test ideas, challenge assumptions and learn from what happens, not somewhere to pretend that every answer is already known.

Read the article

Digital Transformation Starts Long Before Technology

"Technology matters. Of course it does" But a new platform will not resolve an unclear strategy. Better data will not overcome a lack of trust. An innovative idea will struggle to take hold if the people expected to use it have not been involved, supported or given the space to work differently.

Read the article

A New System Is Not a New Beginning

"Part of the Strategy & Culture pillar in In the Lab’s digital transformation series" Strategy provides direction. Culture shapes what happens when that direction meets the reality of day-to-day work. A new system goes live. A new process is launched. A new operating model is approved. From an organisational point of view, this is often described as the beginning of change. For the people affected by it, it can feel more like an ending.

Read the article & download the tool

Before You Buy the System

“We need a new system” It is a familiar conclusion. Sometimes it is absolutely the right one. The current platform may be old, fragmented or no longer supported. Staff may be re-entering the same information in several places. Reporting may be slow and unreliable. Service users may be dealing with forms, delays and processes that no longer make sense. The organisation may have simply outgrown the tools it has.

Read the article