Our Consultants.

Businesses wanting the best advice, need access to the right minds; consultants who are pragmatic and down-to-earth, with genuine experience and insight.

Like tools in a toolbox, where the craftsman chooses the specific tool for a specific job, our broad range of consultants offer specific advice to suit the opportunity or issue.

Meet The Consultants.

Gemma Boss

Brand & Strategic Consultant

Peter Brennan

Peter Brennan

Performance and Logistics Consultant

Robert Chalk

Vision & Strategic Consultant

James Hayward

James Hayward

Strategic and Brand Consultant

Andrew Jackson

Vision & Leadership Consultant

Lisa Prescott

Lisa Prescott

Vision & Strategic Consultant

Nick Sprague

Nick Sprague

Board Performance Consultant

Jonty - Resized

Jonty White

Manufacturing, Process & Growth Consultant

Sam Mullins

People & Culture Consultant

Gemma Boss

Brand & Strategic Consultant

A brand and strategy specialist for over 17 years, Gemma has consulted and challenged clients such as Electrolux, P&G, Dartington Crystal, Tri-Wall Europe, Alcatel-Lucent, Nexus Open Systems, and the Marine Biological Association on their visionary thinking and brand and marketing strategy. She has a unique way of helping companies see clarity through the perceived confusion and is passionate about helping a business define their brand.


From her time at Leo Burnett London and running her own brand consultancy before joining Chalk + Ward in 2012, Gemma has vast experience working with all size of business in both the B2C and B2B markets. She devised the Chalk + Ward proprietary Core Values approach – a brand positioning process which has seen us help and guide clients towards determining exactly what is at the heart of their business and understanding how these values should guide their decision making across every aspect of what they do.


Her clarity of vision and ability to see the bigger strategic picture and drive what’s best and right for clients, even if it’s against the odds, is what brings success.

Peter Brennan

Performance and Logistics Consultant

Peter brings a wealth of entrepreneurial and practical experience in improving SME manufacturing, supply & distribution and capital equipment businesses. He has significant business development and strategy execution experience together with management of complex B2B distributor networks, improving salesforce effectiveness, transforming operational productivity, leading portfolio strategy planning and determining international market entry plans.

Peter has been involved in M&A negotiations, including synergy assessment, due diligence preparation and post-merger integration and has led a number of transformations and cost reduction programmes. He thrives on aligning vision and strategy with “day to day” tactical plans to secure and support profitable growth.

Peter was previously Group MD of Vapormatic for 16 years a global £50m aftermarket subsidiary of John Deere ($34b) and a member of the WW Leadership group. He is a Mechanical and Production Engineer, with Commercial Law experience and an MBA from the University of Exeter.

Robert Chalk

Strategic Consultant

Robert founded Chalk + Ward in 1998. A visionary thinker, he’s someone who looks at problems and find opportunities, not only solutions. Having challenged and consulted at CEO level for many years, his insight and ability to help clients create clear visions and strategies has been invaluable. He tells it straight and encourages clarity of future direction, then advises how to make things happen.

He has pioneered the drive to encourage clients to appreciate bravery within their business thinking, to increase their brand value and appreciate the importance of ‘Purpose’. 

He also conceived the idea of C+W Management Consultancy. Observing that the large London firms were acquiring creative and strategic agencies to bolster their offering, it was his vision that challenged and reversed this norm. He recognised the opportunity to lead with business vision and bring in highly skilled experts to cover off implementational problem-solving. 

Having been trained in strategic marketing at Ogilvy & Mather, he progressed to becoming MD of Saatchi & Saatchi’s regional network. It is his genuine nature and passion to make a difference to clients’ businesses, that has driven the ethos of the company. 

James Hayward

Strategic and Brand Consultant

James is strategist and creative project leader who partners with CEO’s & entrepreneurs to help develop brand-led thinking which improves decision making, increases meaningful customer connections & enhances employee engagement. 

He has 10 years consultancy experience with Intercontinental Hotel Group, Ennismore, London Olympics, Lucozade Sport & Savills plus variety of lifestyle & luxury consumer brands. Prior to this James served as an army officer, gaining practical insights into leadership, building teams, risk and crisis management.

Andrew Jackson

Vision & Leadership Consultant

A visionary thinker and a highly driven individual with over 30 years of leadership experience at the highest level.

Andrew works at Board and Senior Management level with a focus on leadership, competency and capability and is also able to advise across a wide range of business matters. He has vast experience in managing growth and business evolution through organic & strategic acquisitions and is a proven negotiator in multi-million-pound contracts, he also has a genuine passion for product development, innovation and marketing and knows what it takes to grow and develop a company. He has an intuitive and instinctive approach to reviewing, helping, and supporting businesses to improve performance and progression.

Andrew joins Chalk + Ward Management Consultants following 21 successful years as a CEO. His strong belief that the customer is central to business success was the driving force behind increasing revenue from £65m to circa £500m during his tenure. Andrew facilitated growth by developing the company’s culture, sense of purpose and values and established a UK market-leading brand.

Andrew’s input will drive business performance and deliver results!

Lisa Prescott

Strategic Consultant

During Lisa’s 15+ years with Chalk + Ward, she’s advised companies from SMEs to large corporates, on business vision, strategy and customer value maximisation. Consulting and challenging very much at CEO level, her expertise is focused on identifying opportunities, be it growth from existing customers (CRM / membership / engagement / markets) or identifying new avenues for exploration.

Lisa has an excellent strategic mind, with an eye for innovation and a talent for identifying commercial opportunities, her approach encourages clients to think outside the box and to pull out of the operational every day. She’s not a sit-on-the-fence person, a trait that’s highly valued by all.

She is experienced in a variety of sectors with a real passion, knowledge, and specialism for all things retail.

Nick Sprague

Board Performance Consultant

Nick is an enthusiastic entrepreneur with excellent people skills, vision and a keen eye for spotting opportunity. Happy to have courageous conversations with senior people and get to the nub of boardroom issues early to enable a joined up, future proof plan.

Having started Cobell Ltd. in 1999 and grown it to become a big player in the juice trading market, he and his Partners sold the business to Symrise PLC, a global flavour house with revenues exceeding 3 Billion Euros. Nick remains part time with the business heading up their business development department. He also runs Sprague Finance – one of the region’s most successful corporate debt recovery companies, is an active investor and Chair of a hi-tech medical device business and has interests in many start-ups.

Nick’s experience enables his clients to tap into his specialisms which include negotiating multi-million pound deals, corporate debt mediation and people orientated leadership skills.

Jonty White

Manufacturing, Process & Growth Consultant

Jonty has owned and run successful consumer focused businesses gaining extensive experience in food manufacturing, the start-up process, fast growth and building brands.

He is equally at home advising on processes, systems and distribution, as securing investment, managing growth and selling businesses, and now uses this experience advising businesses and passing on the lessons he has learnt.

For 11 years he founded, owned and ran Burts Potato Chips. A successful consumer brand and high growth business operating in an incredibly competitive market-place. He successfully exited in 2012, selling the business to Empire Food Brokers in London.

He then set up and ran Portlebay Popcorn gaining fast traction in the multiples and building another successful FMCG brand, before selling the business to Tayto in Northern Ireland.

Sam Mullins

People & Culture Consultant

Sam’s passion is seeing the impact on people as organisations grow and learn. Her career spans 25 years across a range of industries within the private and public sector, working at regional, national, and global level. Her areas of specialism are organisational change, leadership learning, strategic recruitment, workforce planning, coaching, mentoring, and facilitating.  As a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, Sam delivers guest lectures at the University of Exeter Business School and the University of Plymouth.

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