Chapter One
The challenge
The 2026 reporting year was significant for Solid State.
Following the passing of long-serving CEO, John Macmichael was appointed Chief Executive, bringing continuity to the business alongside a renewed focus on the Group’s future. John has been with Solid State for more than 20 years, and stepped into the role with a strong understanding of the business, its people and the foundations which have been built.
Against that backdrop, the Annual Report needed to do more than report performance. It needed to acknowledge the strength of the business that had been built over many years, while clearly setting out how Solid State intend to develop from that position.
The opportunity was to articulate the next phase of the Group’s strategy in a way that felt both evolutionary and forward looking.
Chapter Two
Our approach
We worked closely with the Solid State leadership team to help shape that story across the Annual Report and full-year investor presentation.
The central communication theme was ‘delivering more together’ – building on the strengths of Solid State’s specialist businesses while creating more value by bringing their capabilities together across the Group.
Our role was to help turn that ambition into a clearer investor narrative. We worked through how the different elements connected: the Group’s three divisions, its combined technology capabilities, greater collaboration across businesses, the markets creating future demand and the commercial opportunities that could result.
Importantly, the story was positioned as a progression of the strategy rather than a wholesale change. The report makes clear that the underlying strategy remained intact, but with greater clarity, alignment and pace around how it would be delivered.
Chapter Three
Building evidence behind the ambition
We also helped to ensure that the future-facing story was grounded in practical change already taking place across the business.
This included greater cross-divisional coordination, the development of the Group Technology Office, and the establishment of a Commercial Project Office to identify and pursue opportunities that individual divisions couldn’t address alone.
The strategy was then connected to the commercial opportunity ahead: moving from individual projects towards larger, longer-term programme relationships, with the aim of increasing revenue visibility, improving the quality of earnings and moving the Group further up the value chain.
Chapter Four
The result
The 2026 Annual Report gives investors a clearer understanding of both the continuity and ambition within Solid State.
It recognises the foundations on which the business has been built, while setting out a more joined-up story about where the Group is heading and how it intends to create value from the capabilities already within the business.
By carrying the same thinking through into the full-year investor presentation, we helped create a more consistent narrative across Solid State’s key investor communications.
For J+P, the project demonstrates how our role can extend beyond producing the Annual Report itself – working with leadership teams to help shape the strategic story, structure the investment case and communicate future ambition clearly.
