Advertise on podcast: Consultancy Growth Podcast

Ben Tye is CEO and Managing Partner of Gate One, a growth and transformation consultancy with 280 people across six international offices. Ben joined in 2018, when the firm had around 35 people, to develop its retail and consumer products business. Since then, Gate One has joined Havas, expanded internationally and broadened its work into customer and marketing transformation. Ben took over leadership of the firm in 2024, bringing nearly three decades of consulting experience and first-hand knowledge of navigating a founder transition. In this conversation, Craig and Ben explore the decisions behind Gate One’s growth, why combining sector expertise with specialist capability matters, and how joining Havas opened up new client relationships and markets while allowing the firm to retain its identity. They discuss the realities of taking over from founders, how Ben decided what to preserve and what to change, and why accountability needed to move beyond a small group of senior leaders. Ben also shares his approach to investing in marketing through a difficult market, the responsibility of making painful people decisions, and Gate One’s ambition to double the business over the next three years. This is a thoughtful, candid conversation about leading a consultancy beyond its founders, preserving the culture that made it successful, and building the structure and capabilities for its next stage of growth. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Ben Tye, CEO & Managing Partner at Gate One

Richard Longstreet is Founder of Tarka Talent, a recruitment firm specialising in strategy, transformation and change. A former Capgemini consultant, Richard brings first-hand industry experience to helping consultancies build their teams. His work on the Future Consultancy Talent Report draws on 27 interviews with consultancy leaders, investors and clients, alongside a survey of consultants, to understand how AI and changing client expectations are reshaping the profession. In this conversation, Craig and Richard explore what the report reveals about the future of consulting talent. They examine why firms continue to value experienced practitioners and specialist judgement as AI makes delivery faster, and why graduate recruitment remains important despite predictions of its decline. They also discuss how junior consultants can learn the craft when traditional training tasks are automated, and why leaders need to connect their use of technology with a longer-term plan for hiring and developing people. This is a informed conversation about building the consulting team of the future, and why human expertise, judgement and client relationships remain central to the value firms provide.  Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Richard Longstreet, Founder at Tarka Talent

Anna Pantazi is Managing Director of KAE, a consultancy specialising in banking and payments. She joined the firm as a research analyst in 2012, developing expertise in the techniques that help businesses understand customer choices and refine their propositions. After leading the analytics team, she took responsibility for the whole firm, sharpening its sector focus and strengthening the connection between strategic insight, client decisions and execution. In this conversation, Craig and Anna explore the transition from technical specialist to consultancy leader, why KAE moved away from being everything to everyone, and how long-term client relationships help the firm identify problems that individual projects can miss. They discuss why good advice sometimes means telling a client not to commission more research, how proprietary insights create commercial conversations, and why customer satisfaction does not necessarily mean loyalty. Anna also shares how she has approached hiring, brought in expertise beyond her own experience, and built a culture where trust and flexibility help people continue their consulting careers through different life stages. This is a thoughtful, practical conversation about leading an established consultancy, turning specialist expertise into commercial impact, and building client relationships strong enough to challenge the brief. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Anna Pantazi, Managing Director at KAE

Honeycomb Consulting Skills Training helps consulting firms develop their teams’ delivery, leadership and business development capabilities. Joining Craig Herd are Deri Hughes, Founder and Managing Director, and Jo Hughes, Marketing Director, to discuss their experience as business partners and a married couple.  Deri’s background spans Bain and finance and operations leadership in boutique consulting firms, while Jo brings business development experience from John Lewis. Founded by Deri in 2018, Honeycomb began as an outsourced operations service for boutique consultancies before evolving into a training business, following client demand and his growing enthusiasm for developing people. In this conversation, Craig, Deri and Jo explore how they found the right business model, why founder-market fit matters, and what it takes to grow a business while protecting time for family. They discuss working together as a couple, balancing new ideas with focus, and why they describe Honeycomb as a lifestyle business with pride. They also explore how investing in self-awareness and honest communication has helped them manage stress, strengthen their partnership and build deeper trust with colleagues and clients. This is an open, thoughtful conversation about the personal side of building a consultancy business, the trade-offs that come with growth, and how understanding yourself can help you become a better partner, leader and trusted adviser. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Deri Hughes, Founder & Managing Director at Honeycomb Consulting Guest: Joanna Hughes, Marketing Director at Honeycomb Consulting

Steve Boam is CEO of Develop Consulting, a consultancy specialising in operational improvement, transformation and capability development across sectors including healthcare, manufacturing, rail and construction. Steve began his career as an engineer at Toyota, spending two years in Japan working inside Toyota City before founding KM&T, an international consultancy that grew across the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Europe. After fifteen years, he founded Develop Consulting, applying many of the same principles to build a more focused, sustainable consultancy. In this conversation, Craig and Steve explore what working inside Toyota taught him about building high-performing organisations, why the Toyota Way is about far more than lean, and how those principles shaped two successful consultancies. They discuss why Steve has always believed consultants should leave clients stronger rather than dependent, how Develop Consulting has balanced a core team with a wider network of associates, and why sustainable growth has become a more important goal than simply growing as quickly as possible. This is a thoughtful, practical conversation with a consultancy founder whose philosophy has remained remarkably consistent, from the factory floor in Japan to building consultancy businesses designed to continuously improve, develop people and create lasting impact. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Steve Boam, CEO at Develop Consulting

David Watt is a Partner at Kershaw Partners, a consultancy that has spent the last decade working with event businesses across the UK on growth, systemisation and exit. David's career in the events industry spans almost thirty years. He co-founded his first event business in 1996, before going into commercial roles at the European Tour and the Ryder Cup, and Spotless Group. He later founded Pubs on Wheels, an award-winning mobile bar business, before stepping into consultancy alongside Mike Kershaw and Richard Dean at Kershaw Partners. In this conversation, Craig and David explore how Kershaw Partners productised advisory into a simple, easy-to-buy diagnostic review, why conviction in that first offering matters when clients try to skip straight to the bigger engagement, and how the firm's six pillars of growth. They also dig into why founders get stuck in the weeds, the importance of falling in love with your ideal client rather than your product or service, and why preparing a business for exit and preparing it for growth are essentially the same exercise. This is a grounded, practical conversation with a consultancy partner who has lived the founder journey himself and now helps other owner-led firms systemise, scale and create the option to exit. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: David Watt, Partner at Kershaw Partners

Mark Grice is CEO and Co-Founder of Total Negotiation Group, a global negotiation consultancy operating across Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Asia Pacific. Mark co-founded the firm 17 years ago with Mark Cranstoun after the two met working at Guinness. Today the business has trained more than 9,500 delegates across 72 countries, with clients who have stayed for over a decade. In January this year, Mark transitioned from Chief Commercial Officer into the CEO role. In this conversation, Craig and Mark explore the three insights that shaped Total Negotiation Group from day one, why the client rarely loses clients, how Mark handles clients asking for a quick fix when they really need a longer engagement, and how he balances a core team of employees with a wider network of associates. This is a measured, practical conversation with a consultancy CEO who has built a global firm by sticking to the long view, on client relationships, on capability, and on the kind of business worth building. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Mark Grice, CEO of Total Negotiation Group

Belden Menkus is the Founder of Menkus & Associates and host of The Purposeful Strategist podcast. Belden started his career at McKinsey, where he worked with clients across the UK, Europe, the US and Japan, before going on to lead consulting and venture businesses in London. He founded Menkus & Associates over twenty years ago and has spent more than thirty years working at board and ExCo level with regulated utilities, infrastructure bodies, professional institutions and law firms, what he calls businesses with a public remit. In this conversation, Craig and Belden explore why purpose only works as a driver of strategic action when the business model is genuinely lined up behind it, why alignment between a consultancy and its clients creates both speed and trust in a commercial relationship, and why most away day decisions never survive contact with the organisation. They also dig into the difference between a consultancy that is stalled and one that is stuck, and why distraction has quietly become one of the biggest issues most organisations are dealing with. This is a considered, practical conversation with an advisor who has spent decades helping leaders cut through complexity, find the conditions for action, and turn strategy on paper into something that actually moves. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Belden Menkus, Founder at Menkus & Associates

Richard Jones is a leadership coach at OLIA. Before founding OLIA, Richard spent nearly eight years as a partner and board member at Moorhouse, where he established and led the firm's health practice and was part of the leadership team that took Moorhouse through a management buyout in 2014. He is a senior accredited practitioner coach, a chartered management consultant, and has trained in psychotherapy and positive psychology. In this conversation, Craig and Richard explore how leadership has evolved over the last fifty years and why the old model of the leader as custodian of all the answers is firmly a thing of the past, why consultancy attracts insecure overachievers, and the inflection point almost every consultant reaches when the behaviours that got them here stop being the foundation for what comes next. They also dig into why more than 50% of senior hires fail within the first two years, why treating a senior hire as an organisational change event rather than a recruitment decision is what separates the firms that get it right, and what leaders who navigate change well consistently have in common. This is a thoughtful, reflective conversation with a leadership coach who has sat on both sides of the table, as a partner inside a consultancy going through significant change and as an advisor to the leaders running through it now. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Richard Jones, Leadership Coach at OLIA

Luke Badiali is Co-founder of BeDeveloped, where he partners with boutique consulting firms and PE/VC-backed businesses looking to scale their business development capability. Over the past five years Luke and his business partner George Berrington have supported more than 1,000 consulting leaders. In this conversation, Craig and Luke explore why the gap between knowing business development matters and building something that works consistently is almost always a problem of execution rather than intent, why over-reliance on a small number of rainmakers persists even when leaders know it's a structural vulnerability, how to build a BD engine through the right sequence of CRM, lead generation, sales and marketing alignment, and people development, and what private equity investors really see when revenue is concentrated in one or two individuals. This is a structured, practical conversation with a business development specialist who has a clear view of what it actually takes to build a repeatable commercial engine inside a boutique consulting firm. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Luke Badiali, Co-founder at BeDeveloped

Depesh Pankhania is Co-Founder and COO of Evotra, a specialist implementation consultancy serving the wealth and investment management sector. Depesh co-founded the business in 2020 alongside Sally Merritt after spending 15 years observing a persistent gap in the market: firms investing heavily in technology transformation and then losing all the implementation knowledge the moment the project team disbanded. Evotra was built to close that gap, combining hands-on delivery with an ongoing fractional support proposition called Resolve. In this conversation, Craig and Depesh explore why Evotra chose a permanent employee model over the associate-heavy approach most consultancies rely on, how a deliberate niche in specialist technology has become a foundation for strong client retention rather than a ceiling on growth, and what it took to apply AI to the firm's most complex capability first rather than starting with something safe and low-risk. This is a grounded, practical conversation with a consultancy leader who has built a fast-growing specialist firm by staying close to delivery, staying close to clients and resisting the temptation to expand before the model was proven. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Depesh Pankhania, Co-Founder and COO at Evotra

Danny Philamond is Partner at Magnus Consulting, a B Corp certified growth consultancy recognised by the Financial Times as one of the UK's leading management consultancies. Danny is also a Forbes Council Member and specialist in go-to-market strategy and complex enterprise account growth. In this conversation, Craig and Danny explore why increasing activity is almost never the right response when growth stalls, the uncomfortable finding that only 9% of commercial leaders are confident in hitting their targets, why go-to-market strategy has to be treated as a living operating system rather than a document on a shelf, and how decision discipline, once it loosens, is one of the hardest things to rebuild. This is a practical, data-informed conversation with a growth consultant who has worked across PE-backed firms and large enterprises, and has a very clear view of where the real leverage is when commercial growth starts to stall. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Danny Philamond, Partner at Magnus Consulting

Leo Chancellor is Co-Founder of aro, a boutique consultancy serving the wealth and asset management sector. Leo spent the best 3 years at KPMG and then the best part of a decade at Penn Partnership. Joining Pen when it was around 20 people and riding that growth journey all the way to 80 before the firm was acquired by a larger global consultancy. That acquisition was the catalyst. Finding himself back inside a large organisation after years in a growing boutique, Leo and a small group of colleagues launched aro in April 2025. In this conversation, Craig and Leo explore why the boutique end of the wealth and asset management market is opening up, how aro's revenue-share model allows the firm to put senior experienced people in front of clients at roughly half the cost of the big four, what 90 meetings in the first two months taught them about building momentum from a standing start, and why financial discipline in year one matters far more than most founding teams anticipate. This is a candid, experience-led conversation with a consultancy leader who has seen what a 20 to 80 person growth journey looks like from the inside, and is now building one of his own. Host: Craig Herd, MD at ConsultancyGrowth.com Guest: Leo Chancellor, Co-Founder at aro.

Andrew Laird is Chief Executive and Co-Founder of Mutual Ventures, a specialist public service reform consultancy working with central government departments and local areas to make public services work better for the people who need them most. Andrew co-founded the business in 2011 and has spent the last 15 years building it into one of the most respected independent voices in public service reform. In this conversation, Craig and Andrew explore how Mutual Ventures has grown from a niche startup responding to a government agenda into a firm with a bold three-year growth strategy, why appointing two non-executive directors was one of the best decisions they ever made, and how thought leadership became part of the DNA of the firm rather than a bolt-on marketing exercise. This is a practical, experience-led conversation with a consultancy leader who has navigated government instability, built a culture of radical transparency and learned what it really takes to grow a specialist firm without losing what makes it special. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Andrew Laird, Chief Executive at Mutual Ventures

Sam Gulliver is Managing Director of Consult LDN, a commercially focused property consultancy specialising in technical due diligence, asset management and development consultancy across London and the UK. With over 15 years in the property world, Sam has worked across small partnerships and large national firms before building the kind of business he always wanted to work in. In this conversation, Craig and Sam explore what it really means to advise clients on the commercial outcome rather than just the technical problem, how starting small with new clients consistently leads to much bigger relationships, and why listening more than you talk might be the most underrated skill in consultancy. This is a practical, experience-led conversation with a property consultancy leader who has built a business around trust, attentiveness and understanding what clients are actually trying to achieve. Host: Craig Herd, MD at Consultancy Growth Guest: Sam Gulliver, Managing Director at Consult LDN