Climb In Consulting

In today’s episode Nick brings you the first of a 2 part, round 2 interview, with former guest Olly Purnell of Q5 Partners. Originally recorded as one conversation, when we listened back it was clear that there was just so much great content in this one that deserved to stand on its own two feet. In today’s part 1, you’ll hear from Olly Purnell, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Q5 Partners. In part 2, which we’ll be releasing in two weeks’ time, you’ll hear from Rowenna Reid and Annabel Tonge, all about Q5’s fantastic Pop Up Consulting initiative. One of the few positive things to come out of the last 18 months and something that we believe many consultancies will want to learn from and emulate. Back to today’s episode! Olly originally joined Nick for Episode 12 of the series with Q5 co-founder Sharon Rice-Oxley where they discussed the origins of Q5, their tough first year in business and how they overcame it, as well as the unique approach Q5 took to developing their culture and how they’ve maintained it as they’ve grown. In today’s conversation, Olly and Nick explore how some of these elements have developed, and the new and innovative things that Q5 are doing as they expand. including: - Q5’s growth over the last few years, why they’ve chosen to follow a regional expansion strategy and Olly’s top tips for making this a success. - Recruitment and retention in consulting, why people seem to be leaving the industry earlier than they used to and what this means for consulting leaders like you. - And an introduction to Pop Up Consulting. Why they launched it and why it’s going to continue to be a key part of the business post Covid. It was a pleasure to hear from Olly again and we know you’re really going to really enjoy learning from his insights and experience having successfully growing Q5 to where it is today. Whether you’re considering expanding your consultancy and want to learn from someone who’s been there before, or you’re seeing turnover increase in your firm, and want to know what you can do to stop it, this conversation with Olly will give you the answers you need! Get in touch with Olly at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/olly-purnell-6525ab9/ Find out more about Q5 at - https://www.q5partners.com/ Specific things discussed in the show Magic Sponge by Olly Purnell and Andy Cottrill - https://amzn.to/3Adkvzt

In today’s episode, I talk to Tim Smeaton and Simon Walker, Managing Partners of Kubrick Group, the award-winning data, AI, and cloud consultancy, which exists to solve the digital skills emergency, by building a diverse workforce designed to help organisations evolve and embrace next-generation technology. If you’re a regular listener you may remember that Tim and Simon first appeared on the show in episode 16, almost 3 years ago. Since then, Kubrick has grown dramatically. Going from C. 100 consultants when we last spoke to over 600 today. On the way they’ve built out multiple new offerings and won a whole host of awards in recognition of their growth, their commitment to D&I and the service they provide to their clients. Having watched their journey over the last three years, I was keen to get Tim and Simon back on the show, to share the secrets behind this phenomenal growth. In today’s conversation we dive into a whole range of topics that will help you grow your consulting firm, including: - How Kubrick Group has been able to scale so quickly in such a short amount of time, and the secrets that have helped them achieve that success. - The unique approach they’ve taken to identifying what their clients really need, what they should be selling to them and when the time is right to launch a new practice area. - And how Tim and Simon’s approach to leadership has had to evolve as the business has grown. It was great to speak with Tim and Simon again. This conversation was as fun as it was insightful and I know you’re going to enjoy it. We laughed a lot and they shared so much great advice along the way. If you’re looking to learn how you can grow your own consulting business or practice area, or want to know how to approach building out your new offering, you’re going to get a ton from this one. Get in touch with Tim at – https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-smeaton-424929/ Get in touch with Simon at – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-walker-8763b9/ Visit Kubrick at – https://www.kubrickgroup.com/ Specific things discussed in the show Good To Great by Jim Collins - https://amzn.to/3p7nHaI This Is Marketing by Seth Godin - https://amzn.to/3uLfZoc Find Your Why by Simon Sinek - https://amzn.to/3fXrOCh Dilts’ Logical Levels - https://bit.ly/3wOmuYw

Adrian Bettridge, Managing Partner at Baringa Partners, discusses his upbringing, challenges faced during Baringa's growth, and advice for consulting leaders. They also touch on the impact of not drinking alcohol, developing self-belief, and the role of wives during lockdown. The importance of long-term perspective in business and recommended books are also highlighted.

Angus Ridgway, a McKinsey veteran and peak performance expert, shares insights on success attributes in consulting careers, positive living habits, and celebrating small changes for big goals. The podcast delves into distinguishing success from failure in consulting, transitioning from challenges to acceleration, and standing out with unique qualities in the industry.

In today’s episode of Climb In Consulting I speak with Tom Hewson, Senior Partner at RedCompass Labs, the specialist consultancy that helps financial institutions accelerate their payments and financial crime programmes. Tom’s journey to where he is today has been rather unorthodox and is a great lesson in following your passion and being attuned to the opportunities that can come from it. Over his career he’s gone from running his own record label, to IT contracting, through to launching RedCompass Labs, which he and the team have built into a consultancy of over 100 financial services specialists with offices across the globe. With such a varied career there was a lot for us to dig in to in this one and Tom and I talk about a whole range of really important topics for any consultant. Many of which I’ve not discussed with any other guest before. We cover everything from his early days in music all the way through to his approach to leading the RedCompass Labs team today, and quite a bit in between. Some of the highlights include: - Why following the money is never the right decision and how to cultivate happiness through finding your passion, whether that’s within consulting or outside of it. - Tom’s advice on building a highly diverse team – having created a team with over 20 nationalities represented – what he looks for at interview and why cultivating the ‘immigrant mindset’ could be the key to your career success. - And what you should think about if you’re looking to give back to your industry, the benefits of overinvesting in CSR and the return that RedCompass Labs have seen from their own initiative, the RedCompass Labs RedFlag Accelerator, the most comprehensive global database of Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking red flags specific for the financial sector. I really enjoyed this conversation with Tom. We cover a lot of different, and at times, deep topics, that I know you’re really going to enjoy. Having been pointed to Tom by my friend James Mitra at JBM, I was expecting a good interview and Tom certainly exceeded those expectations. Whether you’re trying to find your passion and break into the consulting industry, or you’re looking to learn how you can build a highly diverse team in your current firm, I know you’re going to get a ton from this episode. Get in touch with Tom via email at – tomh@redcompass.com Check out RedCompass Labs at – https://labs.redcompass.com/ Specific things discussed in the show Competing For The Future by Gary Hamel and CK Prahalad – https://amzn.to/3dxz87I The Empty Raincoat by Charles Handy – https://amzn.to/3dA4f2x

Today’s episode is a big milestone for the show, it’s episode 80 of Climb In Consulting! When I started the show three years ago I never expected it to achieve what it has. I originally started the show as a hobby, something to give back to the industry, something to learn from. I thought I'd get a couple of listeners – mainly being my family – and it would be mothballed after just a few episodes. Needless to say that wasn’t the case, and here we are 80 episodes later. I want to say a big thank you to you, my listeners, as without you the show would never have got to where it is today and it's because of you that I keep the show going. I love doing the podcast and my guests really enjoy it, but if there was no one listening, there'd be no point to it. As today is episode 80 I wanted to do something a little bit different and take a break from our usual interview format, to bring you a solo episode on a topic that myself and the team at Create Engage are getting a lot of questions on – What does marketing for consultancies look like ‘post-Covid’. As we slowly exit lockdown and go back to ‘normal life’ many consultancies are starting to think about what this means for their marketing. Will digital marketing disappear? Should I be cancelling my webinars and booking boxes at Twickenham instead? Will remote and flexible working impact my marketing strategy? In today’s episode I answer these questions and share the top four things that you’ll want to be focusing on for your post-Covid marketing strategy. In today’s episode I explain: - Why you need to be starting a podcast today and the hidden benefits it can bring to your consultancy. - Why webinars aren’t going anywhere fast and what you’re missing out on if you aren’t running regular webinars for your firm. - How email has helped our clients during Lockdown and the reasons you should be building it in to your marketing strategy post-Covid. - And the tiny change you can make to your digital marketing to dramatically improve lead generation. The consulting market is ever changing and that’s never been truer than it is today. Just as the world was turned on its head as the global pandemic started, we expect to see the same as we leave lockdown and your marketing has to respond accordingly. Whether you’re just starting out and want to know how you can set your new consultancy on the best path for success, or you’re a large boutique looking to refresh your marketing strategy, you’re going to get a lot from this one. Specific things discussed in the show Podcast: Episode 65 – Creating ROI generating marketing that delivers results – bit.ly/3mFGsRC Podcast: Episode 49 – How to create your own industry leading podcast – bit.ly/3t6a6BF Blog: Your Digital Marketing Framework – bit.ly/2PFsm6J eBook: The digital marketing secrets of the UKs fastest growing Management Consultancy- bit.ly/3myNTK3 eBook: No meetings? No problem: How to use marketing to grow your consultancy’s business development pipeline during the Coronavirus outbreak – bit.ly/3dOMafN

In today’s episode of Climb In Consulting I speak with James Constable, CEO and Founder of Albany Beck, the specialist financial services consultancy that’s disrupting the industry with their unique approach that balances leading subject matter expertise with cost effective delivery. Now full disclosure, Albany Beck are a client of ours, but it didn’t start like that. I originally approached James to appear on the podcast but one thing led to another and here we are. Having worked with James and the Albany Beck team for coming up to six months now, it was great to sit down with him for the podcast and talk about the Albany Beck story from the beginning. While I knew some of the journey he and the team have been on, there was lots I didn’t, and this conversation was my chance to find out all about it. Having started his career in contractor recruitment, James founded and grew Albany Beck to become one of the leading contractor resourcing firms in the banking industry. This success ultimately led him to sell part of the business to private equity. But that’s not where the story ends. Having worked in recruitment for over 15 years, James and his team felt that they could see the problems with both the contracting and traditional consulting models, and knew there must be a better way, so they launched their new consulting offering, or Albany Beck 2.0 as it’s sometimes called. Their unique model, something that James goes in to detail on in our conversation, has seen them go from strength to strength. Growing from a team of just the founders, to over 170 consultants in less than 18 months. And as James explains in today’s episode, that’s just the beginning of their growth journey. We go into a whole host of topics in this conversation, including: – Why James and the team decided to launch Albany Beck and the client conversation that started it all off. – How they were able to scale the business so quickly and their secrets to making their model a success. – And James’s advice for anyone considering striking out on their own, the conversations you should have with your significant other before doing so, and why Jeff Bezos’s wife deserved every cent of the divorce settlement she got. It was great to catch up with James outside of our day-to-day work together and have a conversation for the podcast. Working with the Albany Beck team, we see first-hand the great work they do and the business they’re building, and I really enjoyed having a chat with James to share his insights, learning and experience with you for the podcast. Whether you’re looking for advice on starting your own firm or considering how your consultancy will need to adapt its business model to keep pace with the competition, I know you’ll get a ton from this episode. Get in touch with James at – https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-constable-a7b6633/ Check out Albany Beck at – https://www.albanybeck.com/ Specific things discussed in the show Who Moved My Cheese by Dr Spencer Johnson – https://amzn.to/3ckO3BB Loosing My Virginity by Richard Branson – https://amzn.to/3smAdnL

For regular listeners to the show, you’ll know what this episode is about, but for those of you who are new or have only started listening recently, let us give you a little explanation. Every few months we like to take a break the usual format of the podcast and give you something slightly different. That’s where the idea for this episode came from. Our guests give so much great advice and nowhere is this truer than in their answers to the very last question that we ask in each interview. What one piece of advice would you give to someone just starting their career in consulting, someone at Manager level and someone approaching Partner. We love hearing both the similarities and differences in advice and know that many of you do too. But scrolling through multiple episodes to find this great advice at the end can be tedious and that’s why we bring them together, into these advice round up episodes. Today you will hear from a whole host of guests from the last 6 months of Climb In Consulting. They’ve come from a range of backgrounds, a range of different consultancies and all have some really unique insights to share, and in this episode we bring them together. In this episode you’ll hear advice from: Mike Newlove – Wavestone James Callander – Freshminds Tricia Nelson – EY Jeff Cronkshaw – LanciaConsult Jeff Dill – Vynamic Gemma Pfister – Vynamic Professor Joe O’Mahoney – Consulting Mastered Tara Lajumoke – FT Strategies Simon Williams – DMW Group Dean Taylor – IMD Group David Stoddard – Barnett Waddingham We always love listening back to these round up episodes as it reminds us just how much great advice our guests share and we know you’ll get a ton from listening to it. We hope you enjoy!

In today’s episode of Climb In Consulting I speak with David Stoddard, the Chief Operating Officer at Barnett Waddingham, a leading independent professional services consultancy across risk, pensions, investment and insurance, with a team of over 1,330 people across the UK. David has had an incredibly varied career, having worked across many of the big names in consulting including Accenture, EY and Baringa. The last of which is where we first met, on a project for one of David’s Life & Pensions clients. Over the last 25 years David has moved from consulting into industry and back again and navigated multiple continents at the same time. It’s this varied experience of successfully managing multiple career transitions that makes him the perfect guest for the show, and we go into each of these transitions in today’s episode. We cover a ton in this conversation, and discuss a range of topics, including: - David’s move from Accenture to LBG and how he was able to successfully make the leap and climb the career ladder, ultimately running their 3,000-person Life and Pensions Ops function. - Moving abroad, why David and his family chose Australia, and his top tips for anyone thinking of making a similar move. - And David’s advice on growing a consulting practice, whether you’re doing so in a big established player or a start-up consulting firm It was great to catch up with David and learn more about his story, both from before we worked together at Baringa and since. I learnt so much I didn’t know and there’s some great practical advice in this episode, both professional and personal. If you’re thinking of making the jump out into industry, or maybe you’re considering going from a global firm to a boutique, I know you’re going to really enjoy this conversation with David. Get in touch with David at – https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidstoddard/ Check out Barnett Waddingham at – https://www.barnett-waddingham.co.uk/ Specific things discussed in the show Pick yourself up by Nat King Cole - https://bit.ly/3ux0Tnb The first 90 days by Michael Watkins – https://amzn.to/3khljvy Why should anyone be led by you by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones – https://amzn.to/3kdU4lE The art of happiness by the Dalai Lama – https://amzn.to/3qPUZv9 Cultures and Organisations by Geetre Hofstede - https://amzn.to/2MpT6Gu The Leadership pipeline by Ram Charan - https://amzn.to/3kozcs2

In today’s episode of Climb In Consulting I speak with Dean Taylor, CEO at IMD Group, the specialist digital transformation and training consultancy focused on delivering complex change in the secure and public sector environments. Dean’s story is rather unique and one that I’m sure will resonate with a lot of you. Unlike many of my previous guests who’ve started their own consulting businesses in their 20s or 30s, Dean started his entrepreneurial journey later in life. Having already held senior roles in both Government and Consulting he decided to strike out on his own and launch IMD Group. A business which he has grown into a team of over 140 in just 6 years. Since being introduced by our mutual friend Ben Chapple at Circle Performance, Dean and I have got to know each other well and it was great to have a chance to speak to him for the podcast and share his journey and his insights with you. We cover a lot in this one and go into detail on a whole host of fascinating topics, including: - Dean’s journey with IMD, and how he turned it from a failing training company into the £16 million business it is today. - Dean’s take on leading a business through lockdown and his advice for others on how to support your team through this difficult time. - And Dean’s perspective on learning and development for both consulting leaders and military leavers to help you both give the best to your team and get the best from them. I really enjoyed catching up with Dean for this interview. Pre-lockdown we’d planned to do this at my kitchen table over a beer and while sadly we had to have this conversation remotely, it didn’t affect the great insights and stories that Dean was able to share. Whether you’re running a consulting business or you’re listening to this podcast as a military leaver, looking to get in to consulting, I know you’re going to enjoy this one. Get in touch with Dean at – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-taylor-64291a2/ Check out IMD at – https://www.imd-group.co.uk/ Specific things we discuss in the show: Margaret Thatcher's Autobiography - https://amzn.to/36XMpm3 Jeremy Corbyn’s Autobiography - https://amzn.to/2MGBJSc