AI is firmly on the agenda for professional services firms, but many leaders are still working out what it really means in practice – for delivery, governance, people, and trust with clients. 

In this episode of Unlocking Value, John Howard speaks with Dan Figueiredo, a senior leader at Microsoft whose career has sat at the intersection of technology, consulting, and commercial delivery. Dan shares a practical perspective shaped by working closely with professional services firms on how they are using AI without outsourcing judgement or creating unnecessary risk.

The conversation covers:

• Why many technology and AI initiatives struggle when firms start with tools rather than outcomes.
• How AI often acts as a force amplifier – strengthening good ways of working while exposing weak ones.
• How AI is already being used inside consulting teams to speed up analysis, documentation, and design work.
• Why experienced judgement still matters, and what can go wrong when AI output is relied on too heavily.
• The practical governance questions firms are grappling with, from data security to responsible use.
• Why training, adoption, and behaviour change matter more than simply rolling out new tools.
• How concerns about trust and credibility with clients are influencing how firms use AI.

This is a practical conversation for professional services leaders who want to understand where AI genuinely helps, where it creates new responsibilities, and what it means for leadership and judgement in a consulting business.

If you’d like to hear more conversations like this, follow the show for early access to future episodes.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Dan Figueiredo, senior leader, Microsoft

Lizzie Meadowcroft is part of the value creation team at LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group. She works closely with management teams across the LDC portfolio, supporting growth, integration and development.

Before joining LDC, Lizzie built a career advising businesses on mergers and acquisitions. She spent almost 20 years at KPMG, where she was a partner in the advisory team and supported business leaders through acquisitions, carve outs and periods of significant change. During that time, Lizzie supported professional services firms both as an external advisor and through KPMG’s own internal transactions.

Lizzie and John talked about growth through acquisition, integration choices, incentives and earn outs, and the role people and culture play in determining whether a deal delivers long-term value. For founders, owners and leaders of professional services businesses navigating growth, change or potential investment, this episode offers a practical view of what really drives successful outcomes.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Lizzie Meadowcroft, Value Creation Director at LDC

Claire Simm is Managing Director and Global Head of Regulatory Consulting at Kroll. She has built her entire career in professional services, moving between Big Four firms, entrepreneurial boutiques and global organisations – and seeing first-hand how leadership, culture and expectations change as firms grow.

In this conversation, John and Claire explore what it really takes to lead well in professional services as scale and complexity increase. Claire shares how her leadership approach has evolved over time, why sales and business development should feel natural rather than awkward, and how trusted relationships sit at the heart of long-term growth.

Drawing on her due diligence experience, Claire also offers a grounded perspective on what external scrutiny tends to reveal about professional services firms – where leaders are often surprised, what gets exposed when someone starts asking detailed questions, and why preparation, responsiveness and judgement matter long before any formal process begins.

Key discussion points include:

• How leadership roles change as professional services firms grow
• Shifting from delivery to developing others without losing quality or credibility
• Why sales and business development should feel normal, not forced
• What external scrutiny often reveals about how firms are really run
• The role of preparation, data and responsiveness in building confidence during a transaction process
• Why trust and judgement underpin long-term value in professional services

For founders, partners and senior leaders building professional services firms, this conversation offers a thoughtful, experience-led view on how credibility is built over time – and how leaders earn trust through the decisions they make when things get harder, not easier.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Claire Simm, Managing Director and Global Head of Regulatory Consulting at Kroll

To round off the year, the show takes a slightly different shape.

In this brief episode, John reflects on some of the common themes from conversations in 2025 and says thank you to the guests and listeners who’ve shaped the series. He also looks ahead to what’s coming next. 

Thanks for being part of the show. We’ll see you in 2026!

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth

In a sector where scaling often leads to external investment or an eventual sale, what does it look like to build a consultancy that grows, stays independent and develops a long-term ownership model for its people?

Olly Purnell is the co-founder of Q5, the organisational health consultancy that has grown from a small London start-up into a global firm operating across multiple regions, all without private equity or a planned exit. Instead of organising their business around an eventual transaction, Olly and his co-founders focused on purpose, long-term stewardship and the belief that advisory is a vocation.

This episode explores the decisions that shaped the firm’s early years and the operating principles that allowed Q5 to scale with focus and consistency. Olly discusses how broadening ownership strengthened commitment across the organisation and why different firms choose different paths depending on the futures they want to build.

John and Olly examine what resilience looks like inside a consultancy. They discuss how leadership choices, cultural discipline and a clear sense of identity help boutique firms compete effectively and why the craft of advisory still matters in an AI-enabled world.

Key discussion points include:

• What it takes to build a consulting firm from zero and the early decisions that matter most
• How to scale a firm organically, without a grand plan
• Why Q5 resisted investment offers and broadened ownership among employees
• How ownership shapes culture, accountability and long-term performance
• Why independence can be a competitive advantage for boutique consultancies
• How AI and technology can elevate the consulting craft without replacing it
• Why advisory remains a vocation and what it means to build a firm designed to last

For founders, partners and leaders who want to build consultancy firms on their own terms, this conversation offers a practical blueprint for independence, culture and long-term value creation.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Olly Purnell, Managing Partner at Q5

In this episode of The Unlocking Value Podcast, John Howard speaks with Pekka Metsaranta, founder and CEO of Sisua Ltd, a consultancy known for stepping in to help clients succeed with their most complex programmes. From M&A integrations to large-scale systems delivery, Sisua operates where clarity and execution matter most.

Just as Sisua thrives amid complexity, Pekka’s own path has been equally demanding. He built Sisua from the ground up without co-founders, delivered work while building the business, and learned the hard way what leadership really means when there’s no safety net. His story is one many consultancy founders will recognise: full of steep learning curves, hard decisions and the discipline to keep going when belief is all you have.

Together, John and Pekka explore what it takes to build a values-led professional services firm in real-world conditions, without shortcuts or illusions.

Key discussion points include:

• What meaningful balance looks like for founders and the practical levers that make it possible
• How to lead with accountability in a collaborative, non-hierarchical culture
• What can happen when you scale internal processes too early
• Why leadership in complexity demands belief and resilience

For founders and leaders building firms in uncertain markets, this is a candid, grounded lesson in navigating tough challenges without losing sight of what matters.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Pekka Metsaranta, CEO of Sisua

If you’re leading a professional services firm and want to grow without losing what makes it yours, this episode brings clarity to one of the biggest decisions you’ll face: whether to take on investment and how to do it without compromise.

In this episode, John speaks with Laura Morrill, Investment Director at Agathos Management LLP and a highly accomplished competitive tennis player. Laura offers practical insight into how external investors can help founders sharpen their direction and strengthen their firms, while staying true to the ambitions and aims that led them to be founders in the first place.

Laura brings a rare blend of boardroom discipline, human insight and athletic resilience – and a belief that great partnerships are built on challenge, not comfort.

She has supported founder-led firms at their most critical inflection points. Her view? You don’t have to change who you are to grow and thrive. But you do have to know where you want to be heading and have a plan for how you’ll get there. 

Key discussion points include:

• Why resilient founders actively seek challenge and why investors trust those who do
• What really changes post-deal (hint: not as much as you might think)
• How to prepare your mindset and your firm for long-term value creation, long before external capital arrives
• What a value creation plan looks like inside a consultancy, with or without investment

Whether you’re actively considering investment or simply want to build a firm that lasts, this conversation is a masterclass in resilience, clarity and leading the long game on your terms. 

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Laura Morrill, Investment Director at Agathos Management LLP

In this episode of the Unlocking Value podcast, John Howard speaks with Tom Burnet, an experienced chair, former public company chief executive and long-time leader across technology, services and people-centred organisations.

Tom’s career spans the army, entrepreneurship, public markets and multiple board and advisory roles. On paper it looks unconventional. In practice, a consistent pattern runs through everything he has built. He leads with intent. He focuses on the few priorities that genuinely create value. He is willing to stop initiatives that no longer serve the mission, even when doing so is uncomfortable.

Together, John and Tom explore what it means to build a business on purpose rather than drift with momentum. They discuss how to choose the right priorities, how to make difficult decisions under pressure and how ego, if left unchecked, can become one of the most expensive liabilities in any leadership team. Tom also shares a memorable metaphor about knowing when to “drown the puppies”, his candid way of describing the discipline of ending projects early before they drain time, money or energy.

Key discussion points include:

• What building with intent really looks like in practice
• Why ego quietly destroys more firms than market conditions do
• How to recognise when an initiative should end and act quickly
• What to do when your core market tightens and the firm needs to refocus
• How the best professional services firms become indispensable
• Why trusted advisers and independent voices can help keep leaders grounded

For founders, leaders and investors in professional services businesses, this is a candid and practical conversation about building long-term value with clarity, discipline and intent.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Tom Burnet, Non Executive Director

In this episode of the Unlocking Value podcast, John Howard speaks with Rhys Hefford, a serial founder who has built, scaled and sold multiple professional services businesses over the past fifteen years.

Rhys has launched six firms and successfully exited two, typically taking each from start-up to around £2 million+ in EBITDA before handing over to new leadership teams. His experience gives him a unique view of how to build, scale, exit and start again without losing sight of the life you want to lead.

Together, John and Rhys explore what drives repeat founders, how to design a business that fits your personal goals, and how to know when it is time to step aside and let others take it further. They discuss succession planning, bringing in new leaders, the realities of early-stage growth and why self-awareness is as critical as ambition when building lasting value.

Key discussion points include:

• What keeps a serial founder coming back to build again
• How to align business design with personal purpose and family life
• Recognising when the business needs new leadership
• Building value in the early stages and focusing on what really moves the needle
• The discipline of narrowing focus and avoiding over-analysis
• How to prepare a team and structure for a successful exit

For founders and leaders in professional services, this is an honest, reflective conversation about building multiple multi-million-pound businesses, creating space for others to lead and finding a way to scale without burning out.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Rhys Hefford, Serial Founder 

In this episode of the Unlocking Value podcast, John Howard speaks with Marcus Eden-Ellis, the founder and chief executive of Bid Perfect, a specialist consultancy that helps organisations compete, persuade, and win.

Marcus spent decades in senior sales roles before launching his own firm in 2006. Nearly twenty years later, his team has supported more than 900 companies across the UK, Europe and the US, training their people to sell more effectively and build sustainable growth through better bids.

In this conversation, Marcus shares what he has learned about transforming sales from a personality-led exercise into a measurable, teachable discipline. He also explains why the best firms treat every bid as a reflection of how they think, operate and build trust.

Key discussion points include:

• How to identify winning opportunities before investing in a bid.
  
  
• The value of structure, training and feedback in creating a high-performing sales culture.
  
  
• Why the most successful proposals focus on measurable client outcomes.
  
  
• How AI is changing the mechanics of bid writing without replacing human tone or judgment.
  
  
• What happens when leaders see persuasion as a strategic capability, not a task.
  
  
• Why long-term partnerships, not quick wins, are the foundation of real business value.
  
  

For professional services leaders, this episode offers a clear, experience-led view on how to systemise success, strengthen credibility and create teams that know how to win.

This episode is available to stream below or on any of your usual podcast platforms (such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts).

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Marcus Eden-Ellis, Founding Director at Bid Perfect