Episode 27: Emma Flin – How ‘Buy and Build’ Drives Growth and Value in Professional Services
Unlocking Value Podcast, episode twenty-seven In this episode, John welcomes back Emma Flin, an investment director at Sovereign Capital Partners, a private equity firm that focuses on backing and growing mid-market tech and professional services businesses. Having first spoken to Emma back in episode 3, we were keen to talk to her again and learn […]
Episode 26: Venkata Nori and Hari Sethalapathy – From Zero Clients to 400 Staff: Building a Global Oracle Consultancy on Trust and Outstanding Service
Unlocking Value Podcast, episode twenty-six Hari Sethalapathy and Venkata Subbarayudu Nori are two of the three co-founders of Winfo Solutions, a global Oracle consulting business that has grown from three people with no clients to more than 400 staff across a dozen countries in just 11 years. Both spent years delivering major transformation programmes inside […]
Episode 25: Andrew Brown – Fresh From Exit: How Founder Independence and a Great Team Secured the Deal
Unlocking Value Podcast, episode twenty-five In this episode, John is joined by Andrew Brown, founder of Acuity Business Solutions, a consultancy he built and led for almost 20 years before overseeing its sale to the Scandinavian group Lumera in December 2025. Garwood had the privilege of advising Andrew through the transaction. With the deal only […]
Episode 24: Nick Synnott – The Personal Cost and Payoff of Building a Founder-Led Business
Unlocking Value Podcast, episode twenty-four In this episode, John is joined by Nick Synnott, founder of Create Engage and host of the long-running “Climb in Consulting” podcast. Many listeners will know Nick for his work on marketing in the consulting sector, but this conversation takes a different angle. John and Nick talk about Nick’s journey […]
Episode 23: Rob Garner, Luk Smeyers & Deri Hughes – The Four Forces Shaping Consulting in 2026
Unlocking Value Podcast, episode twenty-three This episode is a little different from our usual format. Rather than a one to one conversation, we are sharing the audio from a recent webinar hosted by Deri Hughes of Honeycomb Consulting Skills Training, joined by Luk Smeyers from The Visible Authority and Rob Garner from Garwood Growth. Together, […]
Episode 22: Dan Figueiredo – A Microsoft Insider’s View on AI in Consulting
Unlocking Value Podcast, episode twenty-two AI is firmly on the agenda for professional services firms, but many leaders are still working out what it really means in practice – for delivery, governance, people, and trust with clients. In this episode of Unlocking Value, John Howard speaks with Dan Figueiredo, a senior leader at Microsoft whose […]
Episode 21: Lizzie Meadowcroft – Professional Services Deals from Both Sides of the Table
Unlocking Value Podcast, episode twenty-one Lizzie Meadowcroft is part of the value creation team at LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group. She works closely with management teams across the LDC portfolio, supporting growth, integration and development. Before joining LDC, Lizzie built a career advising businesses on mergers and acquisitions. She spent almost […]
Episode 20: Claire Simm – Leadership Lessons from Growing Professional Services Firms
Insights on leading well as firms grow, roles evolve and outside expectations increase. Claire Simm is Managing Director and Global Head of Regulatory Consulting at Kroll. She has built her entire career in professional services, moving between Big Four firms, entrepreneurial boutiques and global organisations – and seeing first-hand how leadership, culture and expectations change […]
Episode 19: Unlocking Christmas
Reflections on our 2025 conversations and what comes next To round off the year, the show takes a slightly different shape. In this brief episode, John reflects on some of the common themes from conversations in 2025 and says thank you to the guests and listeners who’ve shaped the series. He also looks ahead to […]
Episode 18: Olly Purnell – The Anti-Exit Strategy: Building a Consultancy Designed for Long-Term Independence
Independence. Long-term ownership. Growth. What it takes to build a consultancy that lasts. In a sector where scaling often leads to external investment or an eventual sale, what does it look like to build a consultancy that grows, stays independent and develops a long-term ownership model for its people? Olly Purnell is the co-founder of Q5, […]