Tristan Thomas
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.
Tristan is available for hire
Hire TristanEducation
Master's Degree
INSEAD
Master's Degree
University of Oxford
Industry Expertise
ManufacturingElectronicsRetailFreight & Logistics ServicesProject ManagementConsumer ProductsLuxury GoodsOther Expertise
ForecastingLarge-scale Turnaround & TransformationManufacturingMergers & Acquisitions (M&A)Working Capital ManagementWork Experience
2016 - PRESENT
Founder
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
2018 - 2020
Senior Vice President Strategy and Project Management
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
2002 - 2015
Principal
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