Services

The right support for the problem in front of you.

Focused expertise for a particular challenge, or experienced leadership across a wider piece of work.

Training · Advisory · Interim leadership · Consulting · Facilitation

Core services

Grocery, retail, leadership and change.

Each engagement is shaped around the audience, the commercial context and what needs to be different afterwards.

01 · Grocery compliance

GSCOP training & advisory

For suppliers trading with the UK's designated grocery retailers. Practical, scenario-based support that helps people understand their rights, obligations and options without damaging important commercial relationships.

  • Board and senior-team briefings
  • National account and sales-team training
  • Advice on live or complex situations
  • Dispute and delisting guidance
  • Ongoing advisory support

The result: informed, confident and professional retailer engagement.

Explore GSCOP Training

02 · European supply chains

EU Unfair Trading Practices

Training for suppliers in the agricultural and food supply chain, covering the EU UTP Directive and the relevant country additions in the markets where they operate.

  • Live online or in-person training
  • Board, commercial and sales audiences
  • Realistic examples and discussion
  • Country-specific additions where relevant

The result: a practical understanding of protection, responsibilities and local differences.

Explore EU UTP Training

03 · Supplier capability

Retail consulting

Helping suppliers understand what retailers value, how buyers assess opportunities and what a credible, retail-ready proposition looks like.

  • Retailer safaris and in-store analysis
  • Buyer-mindset workshops
  • Supplier-readiness assessment
  • Listing pitch and meeting preparation
  • Category and proposition positioning

The result: a proposition expressed in the language of shopper demand, margin, rate of sale and category fit.

Explore The Retail Consultant

04 · Organisational change

Business transformation

Leadership for complex change, grounded in first-hand experience of building and deploying operating models across functions and countries, and using PRINCE2, Agile, Lean and Six Sigma approaches appropriately.

  • Operating model design and deployment
  • Project and programme management
  • Process and workflow improvement
  • Technology-enabled change
  • Cross-functional integration

The result: simpler, more scalable ways of working that people can actually use.

Discuss a transformation

05 · Independent leadership

Board advisory, NED & interim executive

Commercial and operational judgement for boards, leadership teams and organisations that need experienced senior capacity for a defined period.

  • Non-executive and advisory roles
  • Interim COO or Transformation Director work
  • Board and trustee governance
  • Strategic challenge and financial oversight
  • Stakeholder alignment and handover

The result: clear decisions, proportionate governance and delivery kept connected to strategy.

See governance experience

06 · Risk and conduct

Competition Law & Bribery Act training

Supplier-focused training designed to reduce uncertainty around retailer processes, negotiations, promotions and the boundaries around hospitality and benefits.

  • Competition Law essentials
  • Bribery Act implications
  • Hospitality and benefit boundaries
  • Promotional and pricing compliance

The result: teams that can spot risk, ask the right questions and trade more confidently.

View compliance training

Additional services

Useful expertise that does not fit in one box.

Some business problems cut across functions. These services can stand alone or form part of a broader engagement.

Facilitation

Design sprints & better meetings

Structured design sprints, catalytic meetings and facilitation that help groups make decisions, test ideas and move forward.

Visit FRED
People and performance

Business coaching

Practical coaching for solo business owners, managers and corporate leaders, connecting personal choices with business outcomes.

Visit The Big Red Square
Place and community

High Street & BID consulting

Support for councils, town-centre teams, businesses and BIDs, informed by first-hand board experience during a major town-centre redevelopment.

Discuss a place project
Independent sectors

Hair, beauty, hospitality & small business

Commercial, operational and customer-experience support for independent businesses, including high-contact service sectors.

Visit Business As Unusual
International

Central & Eastern Europe

Market, partner and operating support between the UK and Central and Eastern Europe, with lived experience in Poland, Czechia and Bulgaria.

International consulting
Responsible business

Sustainability & B Corp

Help for organisations exploring sustainability, eco-ethics, impact and the practical path towards B Corp certification.

Sustainability support
Communication

Business copywriting

Clear copy for advertising, presentations, documentation, processes and training — written for the people who need to act on it.

Discuss a writing project

How I work

Direct, collaborative and proportionate.

01

Understand

Clarify the real issue, the people involved, the constraints and what a useful outcome would look like.

02

Shape

Agree the right form of support — training, advice, interim leadership, project delivery or a sensible blend.

03

Deliver

Keep the work practical, communicate clearly and leave the organisation stronger, not dependent.

If your need spans more than one service, that is usually where the most useful work begins.

Explain the challenge