7 Ways Business Consultants Help Public Sector Organisations
7 Ways Business Consultants Help Public Sector Organisations In today’s ever-evolving and complex world, public sector organisations in the United Kingdom face a multitude of challenges. The public sector works in a constantly changing environment due to budget constraints, regulations, and the need for better services to citizens. To navigate these challenges and maximise their […]
Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
How well is the world’s biggest “purpose-driven” company achieving its mission
Do you know that feeling when you’re thinking of buying something, let’s say a new car, and suddenly, you see them everywhere? Well, I am having that right now, but with company values – which is weird because I have been obsessed with values for over a decade. On Saturday I was in Westfield Stratford […]
Six Years Later, the Phone Rang
A strange and wonderful thing happened to me recently, someone I had met only briefly at a networking event six years ago rang my phone. Six years is an awfully long time. I’ve been divorced, changed business address three times, house twice, and even gotten a tattoo. The business has changed too. We’re more focused […]
Even if my life depended on it, if I had to convince someone to be purpose-driven, I wouldn’t start with values
There’s a common question people ask, it usually goes; “If you had to have someone take a football penalty for your life, which player would you choose?” As someone who has spent most of my career being dedicated to helping businesses be more purpose-driven, if some madman made a trap where you had to get […]
On the A1, a 70s-themed diner quietly humiliates every soulless service station in Britain.
I had a moment of absolute wonder, and it was at a service station. Now I don’t want a cold, grey, bazaar of boring when I want a welcome break in my moto.- I want a positive experience. I want Brightside. An experience I wasn’t expecting when all I needed was a drink. There is […]
Why We Developed “The Lodestone” Technique When Developing Products and Services
When Underpin builds products or services we have a bit of a mantra. “Does this move us closer to the people this exists for, or further away.” If the answer’s unclear, the work stops. The Lodestone We use customers as a lodestone. Not as a focus group. Not as a late-stage sense check. As the […]
Charities are not failing. We are starving the thinking that keeps them alive
As a member of the Institute for Social Value, I’d like to take a moment to respond to The Guardian’s article from last week. The Broken System of Charity Donation When people donate to charities, they expect their money to be spent on delivery. On food parcels, crisis lines, care workers, advice services. And they […]
COSM is awesome, and proves that 2026 will be the year of the experience
For a long time, businesses have tried to survive by fixing the surface.A better shop fit out. A refreshed menu. A cleaner brand. A marginally cheaper price. It is no longer working. In 2026, the dividing line is clear. People are not choosing where to spend their money based on product alone. They are choosing […]
What I learned in 2025: the quiet power of doing the little things
Almost everything I talked about, and did, this year came back to one unfashionable idea. Doing the small things properly still matters. Not the glossy things. Not the strategic slogans. The quiet, unremarkable details that rarely make it into reports or decks. Turning up on time. Explaining a decision clearly. Keeping a promise you did […]
Leon’s problem was never the food. It was the absence of the founder
John Vincent buying Leon back from Asda is being framed as a comeback story. Founder returns. Vision restored. Magic reignited. That framing is comforting. It is also incomplete. Because what the Leon story really says is that there’s a structural problem in how we build and scale organisations. Underpin talks endlessly about systems, process, governance […]