Define | De-risk | Deliver
Supporting founder-led product businesses when a new physical product becomes commercially critical and the margin for error is small.
Experience
20 years in the industry, including founding, growing and exiting one of the UK’s leading product design consultancies. Over that period, I led hundreds of product programmes, helping clients create £92m in value across consumer, healthcare and technical product sectors.
Alongside consultancy work, I have also founded and launched my own physical products, taking ideas from early concept through to market launch, including listings with major retailers such as John Lewis.
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Perspective
My experience brings a dual viewpoint. I understand both how products are developed and what it means to carry the commercial risk as a business owner.
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Having spent years inside the agency model, I’ve seen clearly where it works – and where projects often fail. Agencies are excellent at design and delivery within a defined brief, but they are rarely set up to challenge whether the brief is right, slow things down early to reduce risk, or stay accountable once work is handed over.
Many product failures aren’t design failures.
They result from decisions made too early, misaligned incentives, emotional decision making, unnecessary complexity or a lack of commercial discipline.
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​Bridging the gap
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This work is designed to close that gap. By shaping the right project before design begins, guiding it alongside agency input and staying involved through the critical stages of manufacture and launch, it typically reduces rework, avoids costly dead ends and keeps timelines tight. The aim is not to add another layer, but to ensure the right activity happens at the right time, for the right reasons.
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Team​
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A key part of this approach is access to a trusted network built over two decades. Depending on the project, this may include manufacturers across the UK, Europe, the US and the Far East, experienced IP attorneys, branding and digital specialists and other proven partners. That means projects can move quickly with the right expertise in place, without businesses having to assemble and manage a fragmented supply chain themselves.
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The role is deliberately focused: providing senior product leadership on high-stakes development projects where clarity, direction and commercial judgement matter most, while allowing internal teams to stay focused on running the business.