1 What’s different about Berkeley for you?

Berkeley really does put our clients at the heart of our business. Client relationships are our lifeblood. Accordingly, we have developed a business model that enables us to focus on what it is our clients really need, and which values successful client outcomes above all else. The consulting work I do is most rewarding when clients express their delight at what we have managed to achieve by working together, and I feel that Berkeley is designed to maximize the chances of achieving that success.
 

2 What’s been your biggest professional accomplishment?

Setting up a successful US business for Berkeley. I relocated to New York in the summer of 2016, following a series of lengthy discussions with my fellow Berkeley partners that ultimately led to me having a mandate to establish our first office outside the UK. It has been a hugely rewarding experience, and I am very proud of what we have achieved in our first years of operation.

There have been so many signature moments in that journey: setting up and registering our US entity; securing a work visa for our first transferee from London; winning our first US client; hiring our first US employee; and so many more besides. But seeing the interplay between the offices is a real source of pride: the ability to support our clients on two continents, the opportunities for our consultants to gain international experience; the common DNA that has been established between the offices, yet each operating in a way that reflects its local market.

The personal experiences that come with a move have also been really stimulating: getting to know the social side of New York; the experience of going to US schools for my kids; trips to explore New York state as well as travel further afield; and building new friendships.  
 

3 What are your goals and aspirations?

I think that I’d like to feel that I left Berkeley in slightly better shape that when I joined. It’s a legacy thing; can you look back over a long Berkeley career and point to those things that made a significant difference; helped us achieve a gear change in business performance; established a key element of how we work that has stood the test of time? 

Whether it be breaking into a new client and building a bed rock of key relationships; identifying a new service line and successfully taking that to our clients to help enable their businesses; helping develop the careers of those working with, and for, Berkeley and seeing those individuals go on to success and fulfilment; I’d like to look back and be able to see where I made a difference.  

I also want to feel – and I do – that I have continually built my own skills and experience, and maintained relevance as the market has moved and business trends have come and gone. And I would like to have used my time to build great relationships with colleagues and clients that will last beyond my time at Berkeley as those relationships turn into lifelong friendships.