Understand the landscape.
Make progress.
After almost 20 years in the worlds of agriculture, environmental policy and sustainability, we are confident of one thing - the best decisions are rarely made by just one type of person. They are made in rooms where different worlds - policy and practice, environment and economy, public interest and private ambition – come together. This is why Contour Consulting exists.
We’ve worked with farmers and estates, food and drink processors and retailers, academics, agricultural industries, the public sector and environmental NGOs at the point where land use, environment and sustainability policy, and commercial reality meet. We understand what it means when the stakes are high and the divisions are deeply held. That experience informs how we work.
Not only can we get people genuinely aligned, we can also translate complex policy, regulatory and financial considerations into intelligence, guidance and ways of working to set you up for long-term sustainable success.
Over the past twenty years, in the roles that preceded Contour Consulting, we have worked with and for:
Government, its agencies and other public bodies
Co-operatives, trade bodies and membership organisations
Farmers, estates, land managers and community landowners
Advisory services and consultancies
Agricultural technology and data businesses
Food and drink processors and retailers
Environmental charities and NGOs
Contour Consulting now provides strategy, stakeholder engagement, policy and delivery support to organisations working where land, environment and business meet. Our services are focussed on six key areas.
Services
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Some questions in land use do not have a comfortable answer. Species reintroduction, land use conflicts, carbon markets, farm support and agri-environment schemes: each can set legitimate interests against one another. Our approach is to bring the right people into the room, listen properly, respect the differences, and turn what is said into something decision-makers can actually use and which the competing parties can at least live with if not welcome. We have designed and led stakeholder forums spanning public bodies, businesses and charities, contributed to major decision making processes, and advised on contentious and high-profile issues. We are a focussed yet calming presence in a difficult room, and do not mistake agreement for progress nor disagreement for failure.
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The policy ground beneath Scottish land and food businesses is shifting: land reform, the reshaping of agricultural support, new trade and sanitary arrangements with Europe, and the ever changing natural capital markets to name a few. Understanding what is coming, and what it means for a particular organisation, is a discipline in itself. As Deputy Director of Policy at NFU Scotland, Andrew led on environment and land use, made the case for agriculture to Scottish, UK and European governments, gave evidence to parliamentary committees, and explained the industry's position to audiences ranging from Cabinet Secretaries to breakfast television. He horizon scans and translates policy into clear intelligence for boards and leadership teams, and helps them decide what to do or say about it.
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Getting good advice onto the ground is harder than it looks. Programmes drift, contracts age, and the people delivering them can lose sight of what the funder wanted in the first place. We have spent considerable time and had great success in transforming services, rebuilding frayed or jaded relationships with clients and service users, and in doing so growing income and profile for the service. We have also built new services and grown market share in different markets and with new clients. Whether the task is designing a new advisory offer, evaluating an existing one, or restoring confidence in a contract that has lost its way, we have done this before, know where the difficulties lie, and how to unlock progress.
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Chief Executives and boards sometimes need a trusted outsider: someone who can look at an organisation candidly, help shape a strategy, or lead a restructure that has to satisfy commercial and policy goals at the same time. We have done this from inside senior leadership teams, where we have had responsibility for large revenue targets, as well as leading organisational reviews and implementing major changes. We have also done it from the outside as an adviser and non-executive director. We bring a director's perspective and an operator's need to see things through to the end.
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Agriculture and rural land use is generating masses of data, but too often the value of this isn’t being fully or properly recognised. The organisations that benefit are the ones that treat technology as a means rather than an end, with a clear purpose, sound governance and a commercial model that stands up to scrutiny. We have led a business-wide technology transformation covering project management, client relationships and analytics; served as a non-executive director of a spin-out Software as a Service business; and advised a national agricultural data service. We are comfortable in the space between the developers, the users and the board, which is where most of these projects succeed or fail.
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Procurement rewards preparation. Commissioners who think carefully about how a contract is structured, managed and measured, and what the market can realistically supply, get better services for their money; bidders who understand what an evaluator needs to see write better submissions and are better prepared to deliver. We have led the delivery and reporting on multi-million-pound public contracts, as well as the business planning and communications to ensure they continuously improve and enjoy stakeholder and client support. We also know what to do when a contract goes wrong, having led long and difficult dispute negotiations to successful conclusions. That combination – knowing what a good service looks like, what an evaluator is looking for, and where the risks sit in the contract – is what we bring to commissioners and bidders alike.
Ways of working
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Whether it be developing strategies, bids and tenders, stakeholder engagement, reviews, business plans or operational guidance, our blend of skills is ready to help you not only better understand the challenges you face, but plot a way through them to a brighter future. We take the time to understand the problem properly before proposing a route through it, and deliver what was agreed, when it was agreed.
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When something significant needs doing and there is nobody free to do it. We have overhauled large programmes, led high-profile events, steered key phases of governance change and delivered digital transformation, and are comfortable when the pressure is dialled up. We will solve the problem or seize the opportunity, and leave the organisation in a better place than we found it.
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We offer senior capability without an additional senior headcount. A day or two a week as a fractional Chief Operating Officer, Head of Policy or Head of Stakeholder Engagement gives an organisation a strategic mind and a hands-on operator without a permanent appointment. It is agile, cost-effective, and designed to make itself unnecessary in time.
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We have reported to boards and sat on them, in organisations both large and complex and small and fleet of foot. As non-executive director we have helped steer through very difficult times to something more stable and sustainable. We also have non-executive experience as a trustee of a pioneering and impactful environmental charity.
“Andrew took the time to clearly understand our brief, was proactive with project updates and delivered a report on time and to the quality we required. I’d highly recommend Andrew and Contour Consulting.”
About
Based in central Scotland, Andrew Bauer established Contour Consulting in 2026. He has a background in stakeholder engagement, environment and rural land use policy, public affairs, programme management, and sustainability consultancy. He has also been a non-executive director of a Software as a Service business, and led multiple IT transformation projects.
He has developed and implemented strategies, led transformational change, managed multi-million-pound P&Ls, led and coached large teams, built commerciality, managed complex stakeholder relationships, and provided senior executive and non-executive director governance.
He brings a holistic perspective, research expertise, a continuous improvement mindset, excellent facilitation and mediation skills, and an ability to communicate with and influence diverse audiences.
Andrew is Trustee of the award-winning and inspirational environmental charity Trees for Life, a Practitioner of the Society of Agriculture (PSAg), and Certified Carbon Literate.
“Andrew is a strategic thinker who became an essential sounding board for me, constructively challenging ideas and helping to sharpen and strengthen policy direction and thinking.”
“Andrew is a person where seeing opportunities for optimisation and continuous improvement come naturally...he gets things done!”
“Andrew is a calming presence, and is able to mobilise diverse people into cohesive teams to tackle issues or projects, big or small.”
Publications
(written by or contributed to)
“If you need to understand and traverse complex and uncertain ground, I am available for consultancy, interim, fractional, and non-executive directorship engagements across the UK and beyond. Let’s talk!”