Tyneside Area
For a long time I performed the polished, has-it-together version of myself. I stopped, and I should have done it years ago. There's no finished version of you to arrive at anyway. You're a work in progress the whole way through, and what I'm after now is to be a more complete human being, to own the whole of yourself, the light and the shadow both, rather than show people only the half you'd prefer they saw. Curiosity over certainty, compassion over being right, treating people like people when the pressure makes that hard. They sound like soft principles. They're the first things to go when it gets difficult, and the ones I most want to be measured by. I'm ordinary and human and fallible like anyone, and I've long since made my peace with that. Now I'm building again. LevelFive is an AI-native digital product studio I co-founded with Alan Morris, though the model matters less than the reason behind it. We're here to help businesses reach a real outcome quickly, working software live and earning its keep in weeks, not a deck and a year of discovery. I put twenty-five years of building products behind that, because what people actually want is the result, and a partner who'll own it with them rather than bill for the hours. We do right by the customer, even when it costs us. After everything, it's the work I most want to be doing. Building hedgehog lab is one of the best things I've ever done. I co-founded it in 2007 with two laptops and borrowed furniture, and what started there grew into a global digital product consultancy. We raised nearly £10m across three PE transactions, acquired and integrated a company, came through two of the hardest markets the industry has seen, and built a culture I'm still proud of. I stepped down as CEO in December 2025. I also take on non-executive director and chair roles across sectors, and advise founders working through scale-up and turnaround. If you're a mid-market business or PE-backed scale-up that needs working software shipped, or a company looking to add a non-executive director or advisor, I'd welcome a conversation.
Co-founded LevelFive in 2026 with Alan Morris. We're an AI-native digital product studio for UK mid-market businesses and PE-backed scale-ups that need working software, not slides. The shape of the work: Small senior teams (two to three people, minimum ten years' experience) paired with AI agents through our internal operating system, Helix. Fixed prices for defined outcomes. No day rates. No timesheets. Working software in weeks, not quarters. Production-grade, and it goes live. End-to-end delivery: discovery, build, ship. The person who pitched the work does the work. What I do as Operator: Client relationships, scoping, pricing, positioning, brand. Build the senior associate network and decide who joins it. Sign off on every engagement scope and price. Hands-on delivery as a Forward Deployed Builder, alongside Alan and the network. Who we work with: UK mid-market businesses (£50M to £500M revenue) needing digital products built. PE-backed scale-ups doing technical work pre-close or post-acquisition. Founder-led companies with product ambitions ahead of their engineering capacity. Companies wanting AI implementation that ships and gets used. Founding commitments built into the company from day one: senior-only, fixed-price, AI-native delivery, small by design. Pledge 1% (profit, product, time) signed at incorporation. A code of conduct we hold as our digital Hippocratic oath, the same standard for everyone on the team. Public AI transparency policy aligned to NIST AI RMF and the EU AI Act.
Co-founded hedgehog lab in 2007 with the ambition to build a place where talented people could do the best work of their lives. My role as co-founder has always been broader than my responsibilities as CEO. It meant shaping the company’s DNA. its purpose, its culture, its craft. long before we had structure, processes or teams. As co-founder, I: ● Defined the original vision, culture and operating philosophy. Created the values, rituals and people-first ethos that still underpin the business, establishing the foundations that later delivered a 4.9 Glassdoor rating and multiple Great Place to Work recognitions. ● Set the long-term technology strategy through annual big bets. Consistently shaped the company’s technology direction by choosing and backing strategic shifts that kept us ahead of market curves. This included our evolution from web to mobile, then into digital product and eventually into an AI-first consultancy. ● Built the initial commercial engine from the ground up. Opened the first key accounts, established our reputation in Financial Services and personally originated the majority of early revenue that fuelled growth. ● Led the strategic evolution of the company. Made the major calls at pivotal moments, guiding the organisation through two turnarounds and multiple market reinventions. ● Built investor confidence and delivered a successful exit. Shaped the company narrative through periods of disruption, secured multiple PE investments and delivered a strong exit for Maven following the Covid turnaround. ● Provided the emotional centre of the organisation. Supported teams through high growth and tough markets, setting the tone, resilience and belief that carried the business forward. My contribution as a co-founder has always been about shaping the identity, direction and long-term resilience of the organisation, creating something that could grow well beyond me while staying true to its purpose.
Recent highlights: raised £7.3m from BGF, acquired and integrated a company, and led a turnaround following challenging 2023/2024 market conditions. Total PE capital raised to date: Just under £10m across three transactions. I focus on four areas in my role: Culture : I believe that culture eats strategy for breakfast and I see myself as the custodian of culture. Key achievements: built an employee experience that delivered a 4.9 Glassdoor rating and 100% CEO approval; placed multiple times on Great Place to Work lists; championed DEI and wellbeing; launched mental health support, flexible working and wider wellbeing initiatives; and spoke regularly at conferences as a thought leader on culture and employee experience. Strategy : Having a great culture by and itself does not drive business performance, so I spend a significant amount of time defining and executing strategy. Key achievements: led two turnarounds - first during Covid (after an initial 70% revenue drop, the year ended 10% up) and again in 2023/24, pivoting to an AI-first consultancy with our AI service line delivering 30%+ of revenue; previously repositioned the firm to a mobile/digital product specialism to capture demand. Growth : I led commercial and growth until late 2024, directly owning the Head of Sales remit at times and setting the marketing vision; I continue to drive new business and key relationships. Key achievements: directly responsible for 70%+ of revenue via new logo wins and key-account sponsorship; achieved #1 global ranking for mobile app development on Clutch; featured twice in the FT 1000 Fastest Growing European Companies; and delivered ~60% CAGR in the scale-up phase. Capital, M&A & Board : I managed investor relations, transactions and governance to support growth. Key achievements: completed three PE transactions total around £10m, including a successful exit for Maven; acquired and integrated Netsells; and returned the business to profitable growth via 2 turnarounds.
Back to being a maker after 19 years of running a consultancy. Doing the work I fell in love with at the start of my career: business and product strategy, engineering, and building. Rediscovering the craft. And doing the thing I love most: building something meaningful from zero. thredspan is Professional Services Intelligence for consultancies and agencies. The operational layer that helps leaders see around corners instead of just counting hours. Early alpha. Launching July 2026. Talking to consultancy leaders who want to shape what this becomes.
I was appointed Chair to support Health Call through its next phase as a digital health company building products that improve care across the NHS. My focus is to help the organisation strengthen its commercial model, sharpen its product and technology strategy, and operate with the discipline needed for long term sustainability. I work with the leadership team to bring strategic challenge and support across platform development, market positioning, governance and growth planning. I draw on my experience scaling digital platforms, leading turnarounds and building product focused consulting organisations. The aim is to ensure Health Call continues to deliver best in breed digital solutions while remaining a commercially sustainable investment for the Trust.
As Non-Executive Director (Digital) at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, I bring independent oversight and strategic challenge to the Trust’s digital transformation. I focus on ensuring that innovation in data, technology and cybersecurity delivers real impact for patients, improves operational performance and supports staff across the organisation. I use my expertise in digital strategy and governance to champion technology adoption, guide major transformation projects and help the Trust harness data, AI and emerging technologies. My role is to shape a culture of inclusion, continuous learning and digital maturity that future-proofs healthcare delivery for the communities we serve. I Chair the Information, Management & Technology Committee (Digital) and also a member of the Audit, People & Culture, and Remcom Committees.
Associate NED role during onboarding to progress into NED.