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 as firms grow.

In this conversation, John and Claire explore what it really takes to lead well in professional services as scale and complexity increase. Claire shares how her leadership approach has evolved over time, why sales and business development should feel natural rather than awkward, and how trusted relationships sit at the heart of long-term growth.

Drawing on her due diligence experience, Claire also offers a grounded perspective on what external scrutiny tends to reveal about professional services firms – where leaders are often surprised, what gets exposed when someone starts asking detailed questions, and why preparation, responsiveness and judgement matter long before any formal process begins.

Key discussion points include:

• How leadership roles change as professional services firms grow
• Shifting from delivery to developing others without losing quality or credibility
• Why sales and business development should feel normal, not forced
• What external scrutiny often reveals about how firms are really run
• The role of preparation, data and responsiveness in building confidence during a transaction process
• Why trust and judgement underpin long-term value in professional services

For founders, partners and senior leaders building professional services firms, this conversation offers a thoughtful, experience-led view on how credibility is built over time – and how leaders earn trust through the decisions they make when things get harder, not easier.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Claire Simm, Managing Director and Global Head of Regulatory Consulting at Kroll

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 what’s coming next.

Thanks for being part of the show. We’ll see you in 2026!

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth

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, the organisational health consultancy that has grown from a small London start-up into a global firm operating across multiple regions, all without private equity or a planned exit. Instead of organising their business around an eventual transaction, Olly and his co-founders focused on purpose, long-term stewardship and the belief that advisory is a vocation.

This episode explores the decisions that shaped the firm’s early years and the operating principles that allowed Q5 to scale with focus and consistency. Olly discusses how broadening ownership strengthened commitment across the organisation and why different firms choose different paths depending on the futures they want to build.

John and Olly examine what resilience looks like inside a consultancy. They discuss how leadership choices, cultural discipline and a clear sense of identity help boutique firms compete effectively and why the craft of advisory still matters in an AI-enabled world.

Key discussion points include:

• What it takes to build a consulting firm from zero and the early decisions that matter most
• How to scale a firm organically, without a grand plan
• Why Q5 resisted investment offers and broadened ownership among employees
• How ownership shapes culture, accountability and long-term performance
• Why independence can be a competitive advantage for boutique consultancies
• How AI and technology can elevate the consulting craft without replacing it
• Why advisory remains a vocation and what it means to build a firm designed to last

For founders, partners and leaders who want to build consultancy firms on their own terms, this conversation offers a practical blueprint for independence, culture and long-term value creation.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Olly Purnell, Managing Partner at Q5