Episode 51 - Rob Garner - Garwood Solutions

In today’s episode, the first of 2020, we’re heading back to our usual format as I chat with a fantastic new guest. I was introduced to today’s guest by our mutual clients, Stephen Aldridge and Denver McCann at Numeritas who, having worked with him first hand, knew that he’d make a great guest for the show. Today’s guest is Rob Garner, serial consulting entrepreneur, board advisor and most recently founder of Garwood Solutions, the advisory enablement and delivery consultancy focused on performance improvement in the professional services sector. Having climbed the ranks in KPMG Rob left to launch his first business, Avail, with his business partner Martin. From a standing start they grew the business to over 70 people in just 5 years. Ultimately selling the business to the Tribal group in a rather unique deal that we go in to detail on in today’s show. In joining Tribal Rob took another step up, taking on the Managing Director role for their newly formed, 350 person consulting business and faced the daunting task of consolidating a collective of previously distinct public sector consultancies while also steering the business through one of the worst markets the sector had ever seen. Having started his own firm, built and sold a second and now advising a range of consulting business on how to successfully grow, Rob’s seen a lot and has wealth of experience that he shares in today’s conversation. We cover some really interesting topics in today’s conversation, including: The unique deal that Rob and his co-founder created with Avail and the importance of building the right operating model when it comes to scaling a consulting business. How Rob and his management team were able to successfully navigate the public sector downturn during his time with Tribal and his lessons to others facing tough times in their businesses. And the advice Rob gives to the consulting businesses he works with and what you can learn from his experience to help you grow your own business and career. I really enjoyed speaking with Rob, he has a ton on of advice and insights to share from his journey and it was great to get the chance to dig in to these and learn the key principles that have helped him build the career he’s had. I hope you enjoy today’s conversation and that hearing Rob’s story will encourage you to take that next step in your career, be it within your firm or striking out on your own. You can find out more about Rob on his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garnerrobert/ You can find out more about Garwood Solutions at - https://garwoodsolutions.com/ This episode is brought to you by Create Engage the Digital Marketing agency for the disruptive Management Consultancy. Specific things we discuss in the show: Numeritas - http://numeritas.co.uk/ Tribal Group - https://www.tribalgroup.com/ Mind Mapping by Tony Buzan - https://www.tonybuzan.com/ Garwood Solutions - https://garwoodsolutions.com/