Unlocking Value Podcast: Episode thirty-five

In this episode, John is joined by Duncan Ramsay, a Partner in the commercial team at ECI Partners, where he works closely with management teams to help scale and grow businesses across the portfolio. Before moving into private equity, Duncan spent time at PwC advising investors and businesses on commercial due diligence and growth strategy, giving him experience from both the consulting and investment side of professional services.

Having spent years evaluating, investing in and supporting consulting and professional services firms, Duncan brings a clear investor perspective on what really drives long-term value creation in the sector. The conversation explores what separates scalable firms from those that struggle to grow, why operational maturity matters far more than many founders realise and how AI is beginning to reshape both consulting delivery and the economics of professional services itself.

John and Duncan discuss:

  • What investors actually look for in a professional services business, including the importance of revenue quality, repeatability and operational scalability
  • Why forecasting, utilisation management and clean operational data become critical as firms grow and why leaving those foundations too late creates major challenges later on
  • The difference between relationship-led businesses and transactional consulting models and why customer advocacy is such a powerful driver of resilience and value
  • How AI is already changing professional services, from internal delivery workflows through to pricing models, productisation and the future structure of consulting firms
  • Why firms that properly codify their methodologies, workflows and intellectual property are likely to have a major advantage as AI adoption accelerates
  • What private equity involvement actually looks like in practice, including how investors support management teams through value creation planning, leadership evolution and scaling challenges
  • Why specialist boutique firms are increasingly gaining ground in the diligence market and how AI is shifting the value of judgement versus analysis

If you lead a consulting or professional services firm and are thinking about growth, scalability, operational maturity or the future impact of AI on your business model, this conversation offers practical advice and perspectives from someone who sees these challenges across dozens of firms

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🎧 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: Duncan Ramsay, Partner at ECI Partners

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And if you’d like to explore how Garwood Growth helps firms build value in practice, get in touch with the Garwood team for a conversation.