How to Grow a Firm Without Losing Its Culture With Richard Shaw

Look into the "3 Ways to Generate Leads With Your Podcast" E-book for free here on our website! (https://ghapodcast.com)Want to solve Branding and Lead-Gen for good for your B2B Business? Download our Completed Playbook for FREE: https://ghapodcast.com/b2b-podcasting-secrets-pod**********************************************************************Before founding GenNorth, Richard Shaw spent years building businesses, teams, and client relationships inside major professional services firms including Arcadis and Mace. At Mace, he established and grew its consultancy presence across Yorkshire and the North East and was responsible for the delivery of construction projects totalling more than £500 million.In 2021, Richard took that experience and founded GenNorth, an advisory and project management firm focused on the built environment. The business has since doubled in size in each of its first three years and sustained more than 50% year-on-year growth, while expanding its capabilities across advisory, project and programme management, and cost and commercial management.What makes Richard's story particularly relevant to professional services leaders is how that growth has been paired with a deliberate focus on people and client relationships. GenNorth has reported a client satisfaction score of 4.8/5 and an employee NPS of 100, and was named a Sunday Times Best Place to Work 2026 in the Small Business Construction & Building Materials category. We explore the decisions behind that growth and what Richard is learning as he takes the firm into its next stage.Proposed Interview Structure:1. You had a successful career leading teams inside large firms like Arcadis and Mace. What made you decide to leave that environment and build GenNorth, and what did you want to do differently with your own firm?2. What specific problem is GenNorth helping clients solve today, and why does solving that problem matter so much to you personally?3. Who are your ideal clients at GenNorth today, and within those organisations, who usually holds the decision to bring you in and hire the firm?4. You’ve grown GenNorth remarkably quickly since 2021. Where is new business coming from today, and what have you found works best for building trust and consistently attracting the right clients?Current Acquisition Channels: Referral Sub Question: Professional services are so relationship-driven, what do you think about podcasting as a way for firms like yours to build trust and create new business opportunities? 5. Your clients often have complex buying processes involving multiple stakeholders, frameworks, and procurement. How do you approach that sales process at GenNorth, and what have you learned about turning a strong relationship into a signed engagement?6. Once you’ve won a client, what do you do at GenNorth to make sure they want to keep coming back, and how do you build those relationships into long-term partnerships rather than one-off projects?7. As the leader of a fast-growing professional services firm, where do you find yourself most challenged right now, if at all? 8. Looking ahead, where do you see the biggest opportunity for your work over the next few years? **********************************************************Know more about Richard ShawWebsite Link: https://www.gennorth.co.uk/Connect with Richard Shaw on LinkedInLinkedIn Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-shaw27/ Apply to be a guest on The Principal Podcast:https://ghapodcast.com/application-to-be-a-guest-on-consulting-leaders/