Testimonials

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Nick during the last 10 months.  He has provided us with invaluable support within the Sales and Operational aspect of our business.  The consultancy project that he has undertaken had very clear and tight goals and objectives which he helped us to develop and which have been achieved. Indeed, our sales department has subsequently become a very successful and aligned department something which we had previously been wanting to achieve but had been unsuccessful.

Sophie Harber
Managing Director, David Harber Ltd

Nick joined Alitex in 2012 and, from 2013 through to 2020, he worked alongside me as director in the business.

Nick possesses a number of key leadership attributes, but a particular strength is his ability to seek out and maintain strategic clarity. I believe this to be a rare skill.

His knack for filtering the complexity of any business issue into bite-sized and easily understood components enabled Alitex to take positive, disciplined and sustained, strategic steps throughout his time with us.

Coupled with his innate integrity, honesty and consistency, I believe that Nick has a unique skill for bringing an immediate and much needed advantage to any business owner.

Tom Hall
MD and Owner, Alitex Group

I have worked with Nick for the last eight years as he guided a new acquisition from a ‘brand shell’ to a company manufacturing product….profitably.

He is clear of vision and determined in resolve and goes the extra mile to deliver. He understands business from a senior board level perspective and, during his tenure, he built a strong and loyal team with an enthusiasm for life that was refreshing.

Importantly in these days, Nick has done it, not just talked about it. With an honest, straightforward personality, mixed with humour as necessary, he is a good friend as well as a business partner.

I recommend him highly on all levels.

John Lawson
MD, Harrier Garden Developments

Having worked for and alongside Nick for over six years, in both his roles as director of Alitex and managing director for Marston & Langinger, I can honestly say I have rarely met anyone with such rapid intellect, sustained drive and a calming influence that brings the very best out of the people and teams he works with.

Nick has the ability to quickly cut through the layers of the business and reach the heart of the issue and to then articulate his thoughts in a clear and logical manner, in a language that is understood by all.

I have worked in a number of professions and different career paths over the years before meeting Nick; he stands out as someone who can genuinely relate to anyone, at all levels within the business, always bringing with him a personable and positive injection of energy on every task he encounters. He manages to combine the perfect blend of a high-level, ‘zoomed out’ perspective whilst maintaining a focused lens on the detail.

Without doubt, Nick comes highly recommended by anyone who has the opportunity to work with him. He draws on his experience and natural talent within the business world to help influence and steer your goals and objectives.

Mark Cooper
GM, Marston & Langinger

I worked with Nick for a year on a project initially focused on reorganizing the sales team and strategy in a small owner-managed company of under 40 employees. The project was detailed and wide-ranging: from developing the team structure, identifying the staffing requirement, leading the recruitment of new people, onboarding, training, developing a bottom-up sales budget and helping us to create appropriate KPIs to monitor the sales team to improve resource and other planning.

Nick is rigorous, analytical and conscientious, recognizing what data is needed to make good decisions and how to develop detailed change management plans, but he is also sensitive to team dynamics and understands how carefully change has to be managed. Given his early success with the sales function his role expanded into helping us with plans for the operations and marketing departments, and giving strategic advice to the Board.

He has a sharp intellect and is a quick judge of character, identifying issues early on. He has a rare understanding of the particular challenges of expanding founder-led business. He is a direct communicator, a strong character and a natural leader who is not afraid to give robust advice. I enjoyed working with Nick and learnt a lot from him and he contributed significantly to the business during this project.

Alex Musson
Non-Executive Director, David Harber Ltd

I have hired many business consultants in my career, with little to no success. They have included personal coaches, financial wizards, peer mentors, marketing masters and unorganized organizational experts. They all entered my business with a predetermined carpet bag of tricks and advice with little to no research and the wonderful ability to talk a great deal while having their ears “wide shut”. This continued to happen until, one day, I met Nick through business colleagues!

During our initial meetings, it was clear to me that Nick really listens. He asked quality and relevant questions and took a genuine interest in my perspective. He only gave advice at a later date, once he fully understood both me and my business and had considered the options. He has a disciplined, natural approach towards structure and organization and, right from the get go, this journey was about me and not himself.

This was six years ago and since then we have had a lot of success together. Although the opportunities and challenges in my business have changed, the constant has been Nick. He is always there with ideas, thoughts and advice. Most of all, however, he is there with questions that challenge me, that make me think and which have, ultimately, made me a better business professional and person.

In sum, through Nick’s depth of experience, both as a business leader and sea captain, he passionately understands the importance of listening and taking the team with him.

His goal is not to be the captain of your ship; it’s all about helping you at the helm.

Joe Hickson
President, JMH Consulting LLC, USA

Nick worked with our business for a little under a year. His main aim was to help our business restructure its sales team and grow our sales. As an operations director, managing a sales team was a new task I’d been asked to take on as part of my development and Nick’s advice and guidance proved so valuable that I started to turn to him for help on many other topics. Nick’s knowledge is world class, not only does he understand the luxury market but he can also articulate his thoughts into well considered strategic plans. I feel I have developed a broad understanding of sales due to Nick’s coaching and from that our restructured department is currently thriving. I put this 100% down to Nick’s advice and guidance.

Nick’s approach was not only high level, he was also willing to roll his sleeves up and really understand the business with me, ensuring we had time together to really look at the data and truly understand it. It was during these sessions that Nick’s advice helped me to create a sales plan and a matching operations plan. These plans have proved invaluable at keeping the business on track.

Pete Hood
Operations Director, David Harber Ltd

Nick successfully waded through the intricacy of our business and was able to clearly map out the best way to achieve our growth aims. Our plans have created lots of changes within the business, but because of Nick’s impressive communication, the whole business has become aligned to our aims and as a result more energised about what the future will bring.

Personally, with Nick’s help I have become a better leader for myself, my team and the business. I cannot recommend Nick’s services enough; if you are in business looking to create a growth plan and stick to it, speak to Nick.

Jack Chalkley
Sales Manager, David Harber Ltd

I first met Nick as one of his customers. In simple terms, he revolutionised our lives by properly qualifying our needs and actually getting things done!

As our friendship developed, we enjoyed discussing how Taylorism was slowly but surely undermining Western capitalism. We both admire the teachings of W Edwards Deming, but Nick still recognises the value of certain aspects of Neo Taylorism!

Suffice it to say, Nick is now a leading management consultant and, in my opinion, is almost alone in understanding the long-term benefits of customer-based leadership. He simply can’t be doing with the short-term, figure-based approach.

His new book reflects the above with brilliant flavourings based on his seafaring experiences!

Robert Glossop MBE

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The Cabin, 9 Lion Road, Nyetimber, West Sussex, PO21 3JZ