Most people become leaders because they’re good at what they do. Capable, dependable, trusted to deliver. But as responsibilities grow, many discover that what made them personally successful doesn’t automatically translate into leading a team or running a business well.

That transition increasingly fascinated me throughout my career — and it’s what I now spend my time working on with others.

I spent 25 years in commercial insurance broking. For the first half I was client-facing, working directly with business owners across engineering, manufacturing, logistics, construction, technology, professional services and real estate. For the last 15 years I was in senior leadership — running teams, integrating acquisitions and holding P&L responsibility. I learned first-hand how businesses grow, change and succeed, and equally, where and why they don’t.

Along the way I’m genuinely proud of:

• Growing a profitable business from £5m to £20m revenue
• Leading and developing a team of more than 100 people
• Integrating 8 acquisitions while keeping performance on track and bringing very different people and cultures together
• Nurturing a specialist practice that has since become globally recognised in its field
• Co-creating a personal development programme with more than 600 alumni, still running today

In leadership, personal success does not automatically create business performance.

Inspired by that conviction, in 2024 I added professional coaching skills to everything I’d learned and set up Kingswood Coaching.

Today I work with business owners, senior leaders and aspiring leaders who want to think more clearly, lead more effectively and create stronger business performance through the people around them.

My job isn’t to have all the answers. It’s to bring experience, perspective, honest challenge and genuine support — so leaders can find better answers for themselves, their teams and their businesses.