1What’s different about Berkeley for our clients?
I believe the biggest difference for our clients when working with Berkeley verses other consulting organisations is that the values that we work by are integral to the way we operate our business.
For example, we leave when a job is done and we don’t take jobs that aren’t suited to our skills and experience. This works as our consultants do not have any sales targets and therefore there is no motive to sell work that may not be needed or suited to our value proposition.
As another example, our culture is built on team-working, both within the partnership and across the consulting group. This works as neither partners nor consultants are performance managed against their peers – rather performance is individually assessed against a set of objective criteria. As a result, there is no disincentive to collaboration, meaning that the collective experience of the firm can always be brought to bear to help out clients and each other.
2What types of engagements excite you the most?
The engagements that excite me the most are the ones where we have the opportunity to make a genuine impact. Throughout my time at Berkeley to date, I have been involved with, and seen colleagues involved with, partnering clients on some of their most challenging problems, whether that be delivering specific projects of work, defining a roadmap to deliver on a strategic vision, or simply acting as an advisor to sound out ideas and develop thinking.
This opportunity to work with clients across different specialist areas and industries to help solve the problems unique to their circumstances is what makes working in consultancy so interesting and rewarding. The more critical and impactful the problem is, the more rewarding it is to solve.
3What are you passionate about in life?
Supporting Welsh rugby, in all its forms, is probably the truthful answer. If you’ve ever heard Land Of My Fathers sung in the Principality Stadium prior to kick-off of an important Six Nations game, you’ll get my drift. Equally important, though on a slightly more routine level, is looking after my two kids with my wife, enjoying all the joy, trials and tribulations that little people bring.
When I can, I also enjoy playing the drums, skiing, and the occasional game of squash, as well as road cycling – which I took up after joining Berkeley, thanks to the enthusiasm of The Berkeley Partnership Road Cycling Club.