In this episode of the Unlocking Value podcast, John Howard speaks with Andy Strickland, Partner at Palatine Private Equity.

Andy has spent more than a decade backing ambitious Professional Services founders and management teams, often at the point where external investment is being considered for the first time. He shares Palatine’s philosophy of Positive Equity, an approach that focuses on partnership, sustainability and people-led growth.

Together, John and Andy talk about what private equity really means for leaders in professional services. They explore how the right investment partner can help firms grow responsibly, strengthen culture and create long-term value.

Key discussion points include:

• What Private Equity looks like in practice and what it means for founders
• How Palatine’s value-enhancement approach supports sustainable growth
• Why integration and culture are central to successful buy-and-build strategies
• The real sources of private-equity capital and its wider economic impact
• The questions founders should ask before choosing an investment partner

For founders and leaders in professional services, this is a clear and practical conversation that removes the uncertainty around private equity and shows how investment – done the right way – can unlock lasting value for people, businesses and communities.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth

Guest: Andy Strickland, Partner at Palatine Private Equity.

In this episode of the Unlocking Value podcast, John Howard speaks with leadership coach and former consultancy partner Richard Jones about one of the hardest things to get right in professional services: senior leadership transitions.

On paper, it sounds simple: bring in a talented new leader to help the business grow. In reality, it’s far more complex.

Richard and John talk about why these moments are so high-stakes and why more than half of senior hires fail within 18 months. They explore the messy web of explicit and implicit expectations, the challenges of navigating strong internal cultures in mid-sized firms, and the paradox of hiring for difference while instinctively resisting it.

Richard draws on years of research and first-hand experience to reveal what makes transitions succeed. He explains why leadership changes must be treated as a team game, how to build a safe environment for new leaders, and why maintaining high standards matters most when everything feels uncertain.

The conversation covers:

• The impact of complex, unspoken expectations on both sides of a hire
• The paradox of seeking difference while resisting change
• How mid-sized firms can prepare their culture for new leadership
• Why successful transitions are a team effort, not a solo challenge
• How leaders can create psychological safety without lowering the bar
  
  

For leaders navigating growth, or anyone responsible for bringing senior talent into their firm, this episode offers a candid look at the complexity of transitions and how, with the right mindset and preparation, they can become moments of real progress.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth

Guest: Richard Jones, Board Advisor at OLIA

In this episode of the Unlocking Value podcast, John Howard speaks with Craig Herd, founder of Consultancy Growth.

Craig shares his journey from door-to-door sales at 19, to becoming National Sales Director with a team of 55, to working with a growth enablement consultancy, and now leading his company, Consultancy Growth, which helps UK boutique consultancies build growth systems that actually work. He explains his six pillars of consultancy growth and what consultancy-specific sales and marketing needs to look like in order to become a genuine ROI-driven growth engine, rather than a costly black hole.

The conversation covers:

• Why “marketing only matters if it goes somewhere”
• The six key stages of the client journey: lead generation, lead nurture, sales, delivery, retention and ascension
• How to avoid the founder sales trap and enable teams to sell effectively
• The risks of expecting written proposals to do too much heavy lifting in a sales process
• The often-missed opportunities in retention and expansion into bigger client problem spaces

For consultancy leaders, this episode offers a practical blueprint for building long-term value and avoiding common growth pitfalls.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Craig Herd, Founder of Consultancy Growth