Blending C-level experience, advisory and executive coaching, to deliver consulting solutions centred around genuine business needs, Beyond the Blueprint is looking to capitalise on a growing demand amid clients for flexible, tailored consulting. Helping to build that offering, the firm has welcomed Charli Kumar, Jen Wright, Cheryl Calverley and Will Worsdell as partners.
Founded in 2023, the firm’s responsive proposition has seen Beyond the Blueprint grow rapidly, working with boards and leadership teams at companies including Octopus Investments, Just Group and Next 15, among others. It serves these clients with a unique partner-only model, ensuring expertise and flexibility in every engagement – but as it continues to grow, this requires further expansion, and the firm has subsequently added four new members to its partner team.
The latest additions include Charli Kumar, a former Sky streaming business managing director, and Jen Wright, a data and AI transformation leader who has led change campaigns at KFC, BT and Specsavers. Also joining are Cheryl Calverley, award-winning CMO and former CEO of Eve Sleep, who more than quadrupled the profitability of the business, and Will Worsdell, a global brand strategist and former agency founder who built and globally scaled The Park, a multi-million-pound marketing services business.
Wright stated, “Having led and coached growth, technology transformation and AI-driven change in major organisations, I know that it’s this combination of experience, creativity and focus on the individual leaders in the room that truly helps businesses rise to their biggest challenges. Beyond The Blueprint’s integrated approach to human dynamics and business mechanics is what really drew me in.”
They join co-founders, ex-Big Four consultant Patrick Ugeux, and former O2 Telefónica expert Gareth Hussey, to help respond to rising demand for a more integrated approach to growth.
Commenting on the news, Ugeux, who was an associate partner with Deloitte, explained, “We’ve been struck by how deeply our approach resonates with leaders and investors. By expanding the business, we can support more boards and leadership teams through systemic change, not just by shaping strategy, but, as trained executive coaches, by tackling the human dynamics that enable it.”
Demand for agility
McKinsey & Company research showing that 70% of business transformations still fail, often due to a disconnect between vision, team alignment and execution. In that environment, there should be a greater appetite for consultants, who can assist with change and build strategies to get the most out of new technologies and operating models. But satisfaction rates with the largest consulting firms has taken a knock in recent years.
For example, one eye-catching report suggested only one-in-ten respondents believed the MBB strategy giants were worth hiring – while recent years have also seen the Big Four management consulting firms in the UK scale back hiring amid a plateau in demand. Most often, reasons behind this include dissatisfaction with a one-size-fits-all tool-kit bigger firms bring to the table, and a lack of adaptability between different clients.
Amid this, a growing cohort of boutique or mid-market alternatives are looking to capitalise on the growing desire for tailored consulting. As an advisory brand founded to help businesses address challenges with responsive, holistic solutions, Beyond the Blueprint is just one firm making waves amid that growing segment of challenger brands. Other firms to have recently launched on these terms include Steppingstone, Axiom and Pura Advisory.