The Friday Accelerator Front Room to Forty People: Kelly Dowson, FIS Group
Oct 29, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Kelly Dowson, Managing Director of FIS Group, reveals her journey from a front-room startup to leading a consultancy with a £7m turnover. She shares insights on the challenges of scaling a consultancy and the importance of hiring the right team. Kelly also discusses her innovative research on GLP-1, a potential game-changer in food and health. Additionally, she emphasizes the importance of delegation, personal growth, and maintaining a work-life balance while navigating the fast-paced food industry.
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Front Room To Forty People
- Kelly and Mike grew FIS from Mike's front room to a £7m turnover and 40 people over 15 years.
- Growth included organic work and a game-changing acquisition of Cambridge Market Research that doubled the business overnight.
From Recruitment To Founding FIS
- Kelly moved from a teaching course to a food degree then into recruitment, placing many university peers.
- She left to travel, then joined Mike to run workshops and launched FIS about 15 years ago.
The Consultant's Busy Trap
- Consultancy growth means you're either "busy being busy" or "busy trying to get busy" with little let-up.
- The major shift comes when you hire people who know more than you and can be trusted to run work.
