In this week’s episode, Nick chats with Matt Cheung, CEO at Clarasys, the international business consulting firm, focused on delivering the best possible experiences for their clients and their people. Regular listeners may recognise Matt’s name, and that’s because Matt was the very first guest on Climb In Consulting. Having previously talked about the origins of Clarasys and Matt’s journey to founding the business in that episode, Nick and Matt wanted to do something a little different with this one, and use it as a chance to go into detail on many of the principles behind Claraysis’s success. In this Conversation Nick and Matt talk about a range of topics that challenge the common orthodoxy in consulting, as Matt shares his perspective on why these widely held beliefs are actually holding people and consultancies back. They cover some fascinating areas, including: - Why Matt believes the traditional hierarchical approach to running organisations has had its day - The importance of being open and honest with your people, even in difficult times - Why Matt thinks many Consultants are unhappy – and the ingredients we all need to find happiness at work - How and why Matt took the decision to turn Clarasys into an Employee Ownership Trust …and much more besides, including a chat about Matt’s fascinating book ‘Trust and Patience’ – the story of how he built Clarasys. So if you’re just starting out on your consulting journey, thinking of making the leap from firm to founder, or simply enjoy listening to values-driven success stories, you’ll love this episode of Climb in Consulting. We hope you enjoy the show! Reach out to Matt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattcheungclarasys/ Learn more about Clarasys: https://www.clarasys.com/ Books, magazines, and websites mentioned in the show: Trust and Patience, by Matt Cheung and Samantha Roberts Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness, by Frédéric Laloux Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel Pink Corporate Rebels: Make work more fun by Joost Minnaar, Pim de Morree The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, by Amy C. Edmondson

Anush Newman, Managing Director at JMAN Group, shares his journey from oil and gas consulting to founding a global data consultancy. Learn how a broken Excel sheet led to the creation of JMAN. Discover the challenges faced and how they turned things around to become one of the UK’s fastest growing firms. Other topics include transitioning from freelancing, navigating financial challenges during rapid growth, and the importance of effort and success in consulting.

In this week’s episode, Nick chats with Simon Clark, a consulting industry veteran who’s done everything from founding and exiting his own successful consultancy CVL, to launching his own tech platform, to advising a whole host of boutique consultancies and marcoms businesses on their growth journeys. Simon’s story is a great example of how diverse consulting careers can be. He hit the ground running, having started his own digital and e-commerce consultancy back when the internet was in its infancy – and when Simon wasn’t much older! At the tender age of 25, with his first major client already secured, he launched CVL, a firm that he went on to sell after 14 successful years. After an extended travel adventure that involved living alongside locals in Lima and even doing an internship in a media startup, Simon returned to UK shores and founded Metis, a new tech start-up in the professional services automation space. Having built a great platform and learnt a ton about the boutique end of the consulting space, Simon and his co-founder called time on Metis, and Simon went on to the next stage of his career advising boutiques big and small as they navigated the challenges of growing a consulting firm. Nick caught up with Simon, who is currently enjoying a well-earned career break, to find out more about his career so far, and what he’s learned from his varied experiences. Nick and Simon discuss some fascinating topics in this episode, including: - Why sales training is the best possible grounding for anyone who aspires to run their own consultancy. - The associate focused strategy that led to CVL becoming a huge industry success – and why Simon stuck with that model for the life of the business. - How to diversify and explore new avenues to boost your bottom line without alienating your core client base - Why Simon recommends taking time out to travel early in life, to gain experiences that will benefit you throughout your career All this, plus fishing, football and rugby metaphors aplenty! Whether you’re just starting out in your consulting career, planning to start a new firm, or simply enjoy listening to brilliant interviews, you’ll love this episode of Climb in Consulting. We hope you enjoy the show! Reach out to Simon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clark/ Books, magazines, and websites mentioned in the show: Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins Who Moved My Cheese: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson Traction - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Traction-Get-Grip-Your-Business/dp/1936661837/ref=asc_df_1936661837/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310623486223&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8979635967067327876&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006502&hvtargid=pla-404289645110&psc=1&th=1&psc=1 Get a Grip - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Get-Grip-Everything-Entrepreneurial-Business/dp/1939529824/ref=pd_bxgy_img_sccl_2/260-6024775-4577939?pd_rd_w=x76lz&content-id=amzn1.sym.40f919ed-e530-4b1a-8d7e-39de6587208d&pf_rd_p=40f919ed-e530-4b1a-8d7e-39de6587208d&pf_rd_r=CQVFHXGH785W5J0S0RNT&pd_rd_wg=sSkks&pd_rd_r=fcb004fe-8126-432d-9c47-785bb011c6bf&pd_rd_i=1939529824&psc=1

In this week’s episode, Nick chats with Tony Clark, Founder of NextWave. Regular listeners to this podcast will know that we centre the discussion on the various routes our guests’ careers have taken, in order to highlight the endless possibilities offered by a career in consulting. Tony’s journey is a fascinating one. After spending nine years at Accenture, he was on course to make Associate Partner, but instead changed track and helped to scale two successful boutique consultancies, MA Partners and Crossbridge Consulting – both of which grew and eventually went on to be acquired by larger groups. During his time leading those firms, Tony honed his consulting and business growth skills, delivering complex technology solutions for clients in financial services, and this led to an idea for his own venture. NextWave launched in 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, but despite the difficult start, the firm has already grown into a £6m+, 60-strong digital acceleration consultancy. Recently recognised as the UK’s fastest growing consultancy and 13th fastest growing business in the UK as a whole, with an annual compound growth rate of almost 200%. Nick and Tony dive into some fascinating topics in this episode, including… - Tony’s decision to start the firm and the signs that he saw in the industry that helped him set the course for NextWave - How Covid-19 almost derailed NextWave before it even got started – and how the firm not only bounced back but went on to achieve phenomenal growth in just three short years - Why not being ‘billable’ ended up being one of Tony’s best business decisions in founding Nextwave - How living the company values has resulted in a culture that people want to be a part of …and much more. In fact, there’s so much in this episode, it’s almost impossible to summarise! Suffice to say, if you’re thinking of making the leap from Big 4 to boutique, planning to start up your own firm, or simply enjoy listening to epic success stories, you’ll love this episode of Climb in Consulting. We hope you enjoy the show! Reach out to Tony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-clark-07160b/ Learn more about NextWave: https://www.nxwave.com/ Books, magazines, and websites mentioned in the show: To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Persuading, Convincing, and Influencing Others by Daniel H. Pink 24 Assets: Create a digital, scalable, valuable and fun business that will thrive in a fast changing world by Daniel Priestley NextWave Perspectives: The Sunday Times Best Places to Work Award 2023

For this episode of Climb in Consulting, we’re shaking the format up a little. Yes, we’re turning the tables, as our very own Nick Synnott joins Neil Sharp CCXP, PEN’s Marketing & Proposition Director, and Ben Edwards, Head of Partnerships at CMap, to explore the remarkable 4-year marketing journey that PEN has been on with Create Engage. Having started with a limited brand presence and minimal content, PEN has steadily built their brand and marketing presence over the last four years, and now boast a sophisticated marketing function rivalling the Big Four. We’re proud to say that Create Engage have been there for every step of the journey, helping PEN to build their marketing strategy from the ground up and continuing to support the team today. In this in-depth discussion, Neil, Nick and Ben discuss the journey that PEN’s marketing has been on and offer practical advice on how to build an effective brand and marketing strategy that will support your consulting firm's growth or acquisition goals. This frank and fascinating conversation covers an awful lot of ground, including: - Why brand should be a significant lever in differentiating your consulting firm’s proposition - How you can build an effective marketing strategy that gives you the ROI you want without breaking the bank - Why empowering staff to take ownership of marketing can reap huge rewards - Where you should focus your efforts when building your marketing operating model - The reason PEN did all of this with an outsourced marketing partner, rather than hiring an in-house marketing team. Whether you’re looking to scale your consulting firm, plan your exit, or simply want to ramp up your marketing, this episode will give you the insights you need to build an effective brand and marketing approach that will support your goals. We hope you enjoy the show! Reach out to Neil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-sharp-ccxp-331b89/ Reach out to Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmedwards/ Learn more about PEN: https://penpartnership.com/

In this week’s episode, Nick chats with Augusto Negrillo, Managing Director at Vivero. Having started out as a software developer, Augusto quickly realised that the behind-the-scenes coding life wasn’t for him, instead preferring to be out in the field working with customers, helping them to ‘decode’ and transform their businesses. His consulting career took him to the other side of the world and back again, taking leadership roles in a range of boutiques with a focus on growth; from sales, to operations to M&A. Having been involved in multiple transactions and seen both the good and the bad, Augusto decided to launch Vivero - an advisory firm specialising in business growth, mergers and acquisitions for boutique consultancies. With Augusto’s fantastic track record in consulting and his experience working day in day out on M&A deals with Vivero, he has a ton of great insights on what it takes to build, and sell, a boutique consultancy. To share all of these great learnings, Nick caught up with Augusto to find out more about his career so far, including his successes and failures, and why, over the years, he’s learned much more from the latter. Nick and Augusto discuss some fascinating topics in this episode, including: · The key drivers to growing the value of your consultancy, and why revenue growth doesn’t always equal value growth. · The importance of building a great business, not just a business to sell, and the three key groups you need to consider when thinking about any major strategic decision. · And Augusto’s approach to business growth and acquisitions – which involves far more talk of wine, snacks and exotic fish than you might expect! Whether you’re at the start of your journey and looking to set your consultancy up for success, or you're further down the road, and starting to plan for your own expansion or exit, you’ll love this episode of Climb in Consulting. We hope you enjoy the show! Reach out to Augusto: https://www.linkedin.com/in/augustonegrillo/ Learn more about Vivero Ltd - http://www.viveroltd.com Books mentioned in the show: Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

In this week’s episode, Nick chats with Clare Hill, CEO at Sysdoc. If you’re a regular listener to this podcast, you’ll know by now that we love taking a deep dive into the different routes our guests’ careers have taken. Clare’s story is a fascinating one and shows that you don’t need to start your career in the industry to reach the top. Having spent the first 15 years of her career working in advertising, Clare decided that she needed a career that worked better for her homelife. With two young children at home, the socialising and client events that were commonplace in advertising at the time wasn’t sustainable Through a chance conversation with a friend she learnt about Sysdoc, and decided to make the bold leap into consulting. Over the last 25 years, Clare’s been on a hugely exciting roller coaster ride that’s seen her help navigate Sysdoc through the telco boom and bust of the early 2001s, the financial crash of the mid-2000s and the recent global pandemic. At the same time she’s seen her career skyrocket, going from a brand new consultant to becoming CEO of the UK business, a role that she’s now held since 2010. With so much experience under her belt and a fantastic journey through the ups and downs of building a consulting firm, Nick knew they would have a ton to speak about and Clare shares tons of great advice for you in this episode. We dive into some fascinating topics, including: · Making the move from industry into consulting, how Clare found it and why Sysdoc are just as willing to hire industry professionals as they are experienced consultants. · Sysdoc’s growth journey and how they’ve been able to retain their entrepreneurial spirit, even after 35 years. · And the founding principles of Sysdoc and why aviation thinking is at the heart of everything they do. This fantastic episode covers so much ground. If you’re starting out on your own consultancy journey, thinking of making the leap from industry to consulting, or simply want to find out more about how Clare’s consulting career took flight, you’ll love this episode of Climb in Consulting.   We hope you enjoy the show! Reach out to Clare: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarehillsysdoc/ Learn more about Sysdoc: https://www.sysdoc.com/ Books mentioned in the show:  Winning! The path to Rugby World Cup glory, by Clive Woodward

In this week’s episode, Nick chats with Phil Rolfe, UK Managing Partner of Valcon. Regular listeners to this podcast will know that we centre the discussion on the various routes our guests’ careers have taken, in order to highlight the endless possibilities and permutations offered by a career in consulting. Phil’s journey is a really interesting one. It starts, as so many consultants’ journeys do, with a post-uni graduate trainee scheme. Working with Eagle Star, (subsequently Zurich), Phil qualified as an accountant and got plenty of experience under his belt before moving on to boutique consultancy, Tillinghast. He then moved to London (and back to Eagle Star) to set up accountancy services for a new life and pensions business, which grew from nothing to 200 to 300 people. A chance meeting resulted in a role with KPMG, where he worked for the next 5 years, including a stint on the NatWest/RBS integration. This led to RBS offering him a job managing major projects. He stayed for 11 years, through to the 2008 crash, when the NatWest Group was taken over by ABN AMRO. Phil then moved to the Netherlands with his family, working with the ABN AMRO team in financial crime. He took their best practices around the world, building financial crime teams for RBS in Poland, Singapore, India and The United States . Ready for his next adventure, Phil left RBS to set up his own financial crime company. Before long, he was approached by P2 Consulting who bought part of the company, before making him CEO of the whole firm. In December 2021, they joined forces with Valcon, with Phil as UK Managing Partner. Nick caught up with Phil to find out more about his amazing journey, and how being open to new opportunities has given him a more diverse and interesting career than he could have imagined. Nick and Phil dive into some fascinating topics in this episode, including… · The decision to move from consulting to an industry role – and how progressing in a consultancy role can be a lot like a Christmas tree · The importance of recognising when you’re not the smartest person in the room - and knowing when to rely on the expertise of the people around you · How scaling a team to 500 (and then 2000!) people informed Phil’s leadership style and approach · The value of being open to opportunities and saying yes to new experiences …and much more besides. In fact, there’s so much content in this episode, it’s almost impossible to summarise! Suffice to say, if you’re starting out on your own consultancy career, thinking of making the leap from consulting to industry, or simply enjoy listening to epic success stories, you’ll love this episode of Climb in Consulting. We hope you enjoy the show! Reach out to Phil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philrolfe1/?originalSubdomain=uk Learn more about Valcon: https://valcon.com/en/ Book mentioned in the show: What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful, by Marshall Goldsmith

In this week’s episode of Climb in Consulting, Nick catches up with Peter Reid, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at MSQ. Peter’s early career path took him from entrepreneurial beginnings at US-based start-up Simpsons, to a successful four years with McKinsey and Company. Peter then changed direction, taking on a senior development role at Media Square, which saw him cutting his teeth in what was then the relatively new world of digital marketing. In 2011, he co-founded MSQ, seeing a gap in the market and a need from brands for smarter and simpler agency relationships. Fast forward to today and he’s now Global CEO, overseeing the UK’s fastest growing marketing network, with 1200 employees working across 13 global offices. Nick and Peter discuss some fascinating topics in this episode, including: - Peter’s early career and the key lessons he learnt from his time at McKinsey. - What led Peter to co-found MSQ and how MSQ’s acquisition strategy has turbocharged its growth in the UK and overseas. - The importance of culture, and how to build a culture that works at both a group and individual agency level. - And the importance of sustainability, diversity and inclusion and Peter’s advice for how to approach these to deliver real change in your organisation. - This wide ranging conversation had something in it for everyone. Whether you’re just starting out on your own consultancy journey or perhaps you’re looking at how to grow your business and are considering venturing into the world of M&A, you’re going to get so much from Peter’s advice in this episode. Enjoy the show! Reach out to Peter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-reid1/ Learn more about MSQ Partners Ltd: https://www.msqpartners.com/ Books mentioned in the show: The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking by Barbara Minto The Uninhabitable Earth: A Story of the Future by David Wallace-Wells

Stefan Aichbauer, Managing Partner at H&Z, discusses his career journey and insights on consulting. Topics include the head, heart, hand approach, similarities between consulting leaders and movie directors, knowing when to step back, and the non-negotiable of passion in consulting.