When the business has to change
Ambrose and Bell is an operator-led consulting firm. We help you decide what has to change, then work with your team to deliver it.
The challenges we are brought in for
Growth has outrun the structure
Revenue has grown but margins have not, and decisions that belong lower down still go to the top.
Not winning enough new work
A few people bring in most of the sales, and the pipeline is too thin to plan growth on.
The transformation is slipping
A funded programme has missed its dates or its budget, and the benefits in the business case have not arrived.
The AI spend is not paying back
The business has paid for AI tools and pilots, but the processes around them have not changed, so the savings have not appeared.
The deal is not delivering
The business you bought is still run the way it was before the deal.
A founder or senior leader is stepping back
The client relationships and the big decisions sit with one person, and nobody else is ready to take them on.
The top team is pulling apart
Each director is pushing a different priority, so decisions stall at the top.
A key supplier contract no longer fits
The contract was written for a different business, and both sides now spend more time on disputes than on the work.
What we do
Strategy and Operating Model
When a business needs a new direction, or is not delivering the one it has. We set the goal and the plan with your leadership team, design the operating model and, where you want us to, lead the execution.
View Strategy and Operating Model →Strategy
- Strategy and Operating ModelWhen a business needs a new direction, or is not delivering the one it has. We set the goal and the plan with your leadership team, design the operating model and, where you want us to, lead the execution.
- Commercial ExcellenceWhen a business runs well and is not winning enough new work. We design the go-to-market, sales system, pipeline and pricing, including for founder-led firms, and put them in place with your team.
Transformation
- Transformation Programme LeadershipAn independent assessment of a programme that is missing its dates or its benefits. We tell the board why and what to change and, if the board asks us to, lead the recovery.
- AI and AutomationWhen AI and automation spend is not yet showing a return. We find out why, design how the business should run the work, and lead the programme on your side while your team or your suppliers build the systems.
- Sourcing and Supplier PartnershipsWe act for you, the buyer, and help your team choose its suppliers and integrators, prepare the negotiation, and build a contract that holds up for both sides over its life.
Leadership
We work alongside your own people throughout, so the skills stay in the business when we finish.
Two ways to work with us
Consulting
Our consulting services across strategy, transformation and leadership. Each starts with a diagnostic, and we agree the scope with you before work begins.
View consulting →Interim leadership
CEO, MD, COO and executive team roles, full-time or fractional. Each runs to ninety-day milestones, with the exit agreed at the start.
View interim →Senior-led, with associates chosen for each brief
Our principal has run businesses as managing director and carried the profit and loss. Our associates have held senior roles in industry.
The people you meet in the first conversation do the work, and stay on it to the end.
Our principal's leadership record
Results from roles our principal held at the firms named. Clients are not named.
Pro bono for charities and social enterprises
We give senior consulting time, at no fee, to registered charities and social enterprises with income above £1 million. Each offer is five days of our effort, and asks one to two days of your people’s time. We take on one engagement at a time.
Latest insights
Articles on operating models, transformation and leadership.