About
Hi there.
My name's Simon Houghton, and I'm a specialist in developing SMEs to improve their productivity and profitability.
I have 20 year career as a management consultant, and a few degrees including a masters in sport psychology, and have worked with sportsmen and women across a range of sports such as tennis, swimming, rowing, rugby, golf and triathlons, from county to Olympic standard.
I started my career as a “Big 4” consultant, and have worked on business strategy, organisational transformation, performance improvement and executive coaching for over 20 years – for established FTSE100 clients as well as SMEs and start-up businesses - for a variety of industries including professional services, public sector, healthcare and energy.
I come from an entrepreneurial family, and my heart is really in working with small businesses that want to be great - wanting to grow, improve operations and generate greater productivity and profit. I am both business consultant and executive coach rolled into one.
I recognise that doing significant large scale change is not practical for SMEs, so I have created my own performance improvement and innovation approach that delivers value without significantly impacting the workforce.
As an example, one client, a recruitment consultancy improved their profitability by 25% after my involvement.
I'm the author of the business book "From the touchline to the boardroom" - a book that informs leaders on what they can learn from elite sport - covering culture transformation, motivation, performance improvement and leadership. The book is available from Amazon.
Some coaching/consulting client testimonies:
“Simon’s impact was immediate. He elevated our thinking in a clear, structured way to allow real results without excessive time or process which is key for a small business like ours”
Lisa Rushmere, Former MD, Beringer Tame
"Simon worked with me for approximately 5 months, and during that time I have found his support and coaching incredibly helpful. From being ‘stuck in a rut’ and unsure of where my career and life was heading, I worked through these issues with Simon and am now much clearer about my goals and ambitions. Simon’s key abilities are to listen and to challenge, and this is what helped me get to the real issues I was facing. He made me think beyond my comfort zone and pushed me with calm persistence. His commitment to seeing me reach my goals made all the difference! I feel a different person as a result of Simon’s coaching, and I would recommend him to anyone looking to get the most out of their career or life. He gets results!"
Arpita Sharma, Client Service Leader, Slalom.
“Simon’s expertise is behavioural change and his focus is on solving organisation challenges allowing for organisations to get things done in a non-threatening environment. Simon is the best in his field that I have ever worked with over the 37 years of my career.”
John Matson, Associate Partner, IBM
"Simon's coaching was a tremendous help in driving me to achieve my goals. His reflective, patient approach really helped me to see the way through a some self-imposed hurdles and he helped me create a clear vision for where I needed to go to achieve success at work. In no small part to Simon’s excellent coaching skills, I have now set up my own small company alongside my main career and feel really fulfilled with working life."
James Adamson, Senior Team Leader, NHS (Manchester)
"Simon is a behavioral change advisor, who has been instrumental in guiding our organization during the challenging transformation ... through coaching and engagement which has been extremely helpful. He has also been offering me personal leadership coaching which has helped me develop my skillset to be better prepared to deal with challenges during this time of change in our organization."
Natasha Valle, Former Oil Sands Strategy Lead, ConocoPhillips
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