In this episode of The Purposeful Strategist, Belden Menkus speaks with Scott Heath, CEO of DJH, about what it takes to grow a professional services firm at pace without losing the culture that made it work in the first place.

Scott joined DJH in 2003, and has led its transformation from a £4.5 million turnover business to one approaching £80 million in revenue across 16 UK sites. In their conversation, they discuss:

· Why culture comes before strategic fit in every acquisition decision — a lesson learned from a formative early experience when a cultural mismatch caused a team to walk out.

· The discipline of running lean: how managing the business tightly during early growth instilled principles that still govern how DJH operates today.

· How DJH used the first year of PE investment to build the operational platform — governance, technology, and client service infrastructure — before scaling further, and how that foundation now enables robust AI deployment and a specialist-led service model at scale.

· What Scott has learned about leadership as the firm has grown, particularly the shift from ‘doing’ to ‘listening,’ the power of ‘people-first’ values, and the importance of surrounding oneself with experts in their domain.

DJH: https://www.djhaccountants.co.uk/

Menkus & Associates: https://www.menkus.com/

Supported by Norman Broadbent: https://www.normanbroadbent.com/

Belden Menkus is the Managing Director of Menkus & Associates, a senior strategic advisory practice that provides strategic clarity for businesses with a public remit, where scrutiny is high, governance is complex, and the answers aren't obvious. His McKinsey training combined with more than 30 years working at Board and ExCo level gives him both the analytical rigour and the relational experience that complex, high-stakes leadership situations demand.

Belden hosts The Purposeful Strategist, a weekly podcast. It explores how senior leaders bring purpose to life through strategy and reflects the same questions that drive the consulting work.