Consultancy Growth Podcast

In this episode I sit down with Guy Beresford, founding partner of ISP Leadership Advisors, to unpack what it takes to build a profitable, boutique consultancy without scaling headcount.

We explore how Guy’s approach to growth differs from the traditional consultancy playbook, touching on the risks of recruitment, the nuance between cash and capital, and why sustainable growth demands a different kind of thinking. The conversation also dives into the realities of board leadership, the importance of diversity at the top, and the transition from founder to chair.

If you’re rethinking what growth looks like or how to build value that outlives you, this episode will challenge your assumptions.

00:00 - Introduction to Today's Episode

01:34 - The Journey of Building a Boutique Firm

07:12 - The Unique Business Model of ISP Leadership Advisors

11:21 - Navigating Risks and Challenges in Recruitment

15:33 - Understanding Cash vs. Capital in Consultancy

21:26 - The Importance of Sustainable Growth

26:58 - Capital vs. Cash: The Business Dilemma

28:53 - The Dynamics of Board Leadership

32:28 - Navigating Board Structures and Diversity

35:40 - From Founder to Chair: Transitioning Roles

40:02 - The Value of Legacy and Personal Satisfaction

50:04 - Understanding Business Valuation in Consultancy

Host Craig Herd 

Guest Guy Beresford 

Adam and Joel from Practive join Craig to break down what great leadership actually looks like — and why most leaders miss it. They explain how culture is built (or broken) one conversation at a time, why roleplay is feared (and how they deal with that), and how they got 750 NHS leaders to embrace tough conversations during a strike.

This episode covers:

• Why most leaders become transactional under pressure
• How to spot (and fix) your communication blind spots
• What “The Arc of Distortion” is and how it builds trust
• Real case studies: NHS maternity teams, trade negotiators, architecture firms
• The one thing elite leaders do that average ones avoid

Whether you’re running a team, a consultancy, or just want to lead better — this one’s packed with no-fluff insight.

Craig Herd 

Adam Woodroffe
Joel Greig
Practive Website

In this episode of the Consultancy Growth Podcast, I’m joined by Campbell Fraser, telecoms consultant turned founder, turn chairman for an honest conversation about growing, systemising, and successfully exiting his consultancy.

We unpack Campbell’s journey from working solo out of a client’s back office to leading a 40-person team and engineering a £ Multi-Million exit. He shares the unfiltered realities of delegation, firing a misaligned exec team, and why most founders wait too long to remove themselves from the business. 

This is a masterclass in scaling up without burning out and in building a consultancy that works without you. If you’re a founder thinking about stepping back, selling, or just building with more freedom in mind, this is your playbook.

0:00 – Introduction to the Consultancy Growth Podcast
01:25 – From solo consultant to launching a full-service consultancy
04:51 – Why the early years were “say yes, figure it out later”
08:43 – How values and vision turned a scrappy team into a real company
12:12 – The first major mistake: hiring the wrong MD
17:48 – Firing your leadership team (and surviving it)
21:06 – Building an EOS-based business with operational maturity
26:14 – Becoming exit-ready: stepping back and making yourself redundant
31:40 – What PE buyers really want to see in a consultancy
36:22 – Dealing with the emotional side of letting go
42:17 – Advice for founders stuck in delivery
47:05 – Post-exit life and what’s next for Campbell Fraser

Host:  Craig Herd
Guest: Campbell Fraser

Mark Palmer shares how he transformed OEE Consulting from a £3 million business into a £24 million consultancy, earning recognition as one of the Sunday Times Top 100 Employers and winning the MCA Award for Client Service.

Mark highlights key inflection points in the business's growth, the importance of recruitment and team dynamics, and the need for a strong value proposition. He emphasises the significance of understanding client needs and delivering value.

00:00 Transforming Company Culture on Day One

10:23 Key Inflection Points in Business Growth

17:32 Navigating Challenges and Protecting Core Values

22:01 The Importance of Recruitment and Team Dynamics

29:11 Rethinking Business Development Strategies

34:44 Delivering Value and Understanding Client Needs

Connect with Mark Palmer 

Connect with Craig Herd

Mark Ashton and Ingmar Elm are cofounders of MAD Business, a consultancy focused on delivering powerful experiential learning days to improve team cohesion and performance. MAD Business was founded in 2024 to provide MAD events in the UK and other countries outside Estonia. MAD itself was originally founded in Estonia in 2002 and has delivered more than 2,000 team learning days for over 500 client organisations of all sizes. Ingmar has been a lead coach for MAD since 2004.

We unpack the neuroscience of high performance from how emotions overpower logic, to why psychological safety isn't a “soft” concept but the hard foundation of innovation and resilience. We talk about the real cost of hidden fear in consultancy cultures, how founders can accidentally sabotage performance despite good intentions, and what leaders must do to build trust that scales. Mark and Ingmar also share practical tools and frameworks like “experience days” and behavioural pattern diagnosis to help you unlock the true performance potential of your team.

Whether you're looking to exit, scale, or simply lead more effectively, this episode is a must-listen for founders who want their consultancy to thrive well beyond themselves.

• Why teams, not individuals, are the true units of performance
• How the brain’s emotional wiring affects collaboration
• The neuroscience of trust, decision-making and conflict
• What psychological safety really is and how to create it
• How founders unintentionally destroy safety and performance
• “Experience days” and filming teams to reveal behavioural patterns
• The power of collective awareness and creating new team norms
• Building a culture that flows (not one that grinds)
• How to transition from founder-led control to shared leadership
• What high-performing teams do differently consistently
  
  

Linkedin: Mark Ashton

Linkedin: Ingmar Elm

Website: https://mad-business.com/

In this episode of the Consultancy Growth Podcast, I’m joined by Adam Wellesley Wood, founder and CEO of W2 Strategy, for a conversation that challenges conventional thinking on leadership and strategy.

We explore the core values behind W2 Strategy: boldness and humility. Adam unpacks common misconceptions about strategy, why many plans stall at implementation and shares how momentum, reflection time, and founder-led change are non-negotiable for sustainable progress.

Drawing from his military background, Adam explains how consultancies can embed capability without building dependency, design value that goes beyond revenue, and stay resilient in a fast-shifting market.

If you’ve ever felt your strategy looks good on paper but struggles to gain traction, this episode is for you.

00:00 - Introduction to the Consultancy Growth Podcast

01:44 - The Core Values of Boldness and Humility

05:01 - Understanding Strategy and Its Myths

07:56 - Closing the Gap Between Strategy and Implementation

12:00 - Shifting Focus from Activity to Progress

16:31 - The Role of Founders in Leadership

18:31 - Military Principles in Consultancy

23:18 - Embedding Capability Without Dependency

28:46 - Designing Value Beyond Revenue

33:24 - The Future of Consultancy and Final Thoughts

Host: Craig Herd
Guest: Caroline Boston

In this episode of the Consultancy Growth Podcast, I’m joined by Caroline Boston, Managing Director of New Minds. We dive into the critical role people strategy plays in scaling a consultancy to £10 Million  and why getting your organisational design right is essential for sustainable growth.

We unpack the patterns that hold consultancies back as they scale, from over-relying on founder relationships to under-investing in career paths and leadership succession. Caroline shares practical strategies on balancing employees and associates, building structures that support commercial growth, and retaining top talent without overpromoting. We also explore how benchmarking roles and salaries can protect profitability and how founders can step back without losing momentum.

If you’re navigating the challenges of growing a high-performing consultancy team, this episode is packed with strategic insights you can apply immediately.

Topics

 – Why People Strategy Must Sit at the Heart of Business Strategy

 – The Patterns That Stall Consultancy Growth Beyond £1M

 – Organisational Design: Building a Structure That Scales

 – Employees vs Associates: How to Get the Balance Right

 – Career Paths, Culture, and Retaining Top Talent

 – Preparing for Leadership Succession: Growing Leaders Internally

– Benchmarking Salaries and Roles: Protecting Your Profit Margins

 – Founder Transition: Replacing Yourself Without Losing Momentum

 – First Steps to Build a Scalable People Strategy

Host Craig Herd
Guest Matt Hodkinson

In this special crossover episode, Craig Herd, host of the Consultancy Growth Podcast, flips the mic as he joins Matt Hodkinson on The Consultancy Edge to talk openly about founder burnout, building a sustainable consultancy, and why most marketing advice for boutique firms is dead wrong.

Craig shares his own story of nearly losing it all, rebuilding from the ground up, and the hard-won insights he now brings to boutique consultancy founders trying to scale beyond themselves.

• Why many consultancies get stuck around the £1M mark.
  
  
• The two dead-end paths most founders take when trying to grow.
  
  
• The real reason marketing agencies fail consultancies.
  
  
• What it means to go from "Trusted Advisor" to "Visible Expert".
  
  
• Thought Leadership and Craig’s 90-minute capture method.
  
  
• How to productise your consultancy and build a sellable firm.
  
  
• Why niching isn’t risky it’s the only path to scale.
  
  
• How Craig bounced back from 75% client loss in one week.
  
  
• What every founder should know before burnout takes hold.
  
  

Plus, Matt and Craig riff on personal energy, succession planning, personality profiling, and why every founder should take time to redesign the business from first principles.

If you're a consultancy founder who's feeling stuck, tired, or unsure what the next stage looks like this one’s for you.