About

I find out why the work takes so long. Then I fix it.

I'm Zoë Hall, a supply chain analyst and business systems specialist. For nearly 20 years, across rail, pharmaceuticals, NHS healthcare, aerospace and distribution, I have worked inside operational teams, finding the processes that cost people time and building the systems that fix them.

Much of that work started without a formal brief. A monthly process took up to two days to complete. A forecast could not be fully relied on. Lead times were longer than they needed to be. In each case, the useful question was not which tool to use, but why the work existed in the first place and what it should look like instead.

Reason & Relay brings that same approach to organisations that need it, through defined improvement projects or contract and interim assignments. The name describes the method: reason through the problem until the cause is clear, then relay that understanding into a working system. You work with me directly, from the first conversation through to handover.

Zoë Hall

Founder, Reason & Relay

Based
Loughton, Essex
Works
Essex, London and UK-wide, remotely or on site by arrangement
Focus
Supply chain, business systems, reporting and automation
Experience
Nearly 20 years in supply chain, planning, procurement and business analysis
Tools
Excel, VBA, Power Query, Power BI, Power Automate, SharePoint, SQL
Systems
SAP, Microsoft Dynamics AX and Business Central, RELEX
Development
JavaScript, Python, Eleventy, Git
Training
Six Sigma Green Belt training (in-house)
Get in touch LinkedIn

Approach

How I work.

Four principles that shape every piece of work, whether it is a single workbook or a process that spans several departments.

  • Understand before building.

    Time spent learning how the work really happens is never wasted. Many systems fail because they solve the wrong problem very well.

  • Remove work before automating it.

    Automating a poor process only makes a poor process run faster. Steps that add nothing are taken out first.

  • Trust the numbers, or fix them.

    Reporting is only as good as the data underneath it. Figures are reconciled against trusted sources and the rules behind them are written down.

  • Leave it maintainable.

    Success is a system your team can run, understand and change without needing me. Documentation and training are part of the work, not an extra.

Career highlights

Where the approach was proven.

Selected results from nearly 20 years of employed and contract roles.

  • EurostarRail

    Rebuilt reporting that depended on twelve interconnected Access databases, and cut monthly certification of £91m of stock from up to two days to about three minutes.

    Read more
  • GSKPharmaceuticals

    Built an Excel and VBA forecasting system for about 2,000 clinical packaging components. Red-status lines fell from 173 to single figures.

    Read more
  • HSL PathologyHealthcare

    Redesigned warehouse processes and Kanban workflows, improving laboratory delivery lead times from five days to next day.

    Read more
  • AVIC Cabin SystemsAerospace manufacturing

    Consolidated over $1.5 billion of procurement spend across five businesses and about 1,800 suppliers for group-level analysis.

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  • Rentokil InitialBusiness services

    Mapped supply chain processes across Spain, Portugal, Poland and Germany for a European Business Central rollout.

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  • Earlier careerManufacturing, distribution and retail

    At Neopost, Arrow Electronics, GEM Distribution and others: forecast accuracy raised to 92%, about £950,000 of contract revenue protected, and order fulfilment raised from 70% to 99%.

    Read more

For businesses

Something in your operation is taking more effort than it should.

Describe the problem in plain terms. You do not need a specification or to know which technology is required. The first 30-minute conversation is free.

Start a project enquiry

For recruiters and hiring managers

You need an experienced specialist who can deliver independently.

Available now for contract, interim and project-based assignments, remote or hybrid. Supply chain, business systems, reporting and automation.

Contract availability