SGFE is a tight-knit family of business coaches, consultants and entrepreneurs.

SGFE has worked with hundreds of national and international enterprise & SME businesses spanning across industries to set and implement successful growth, funding and exit strategies.

The team achieves success through our proven and unique blend of coaching and consulting, and firmly believes in using both a commercial and cultural approach.

Every SGFE coach has at one point or another been in a business owner’s shoes, and we all fundamentally believe empathising with our audience is paramount in building fruitful and sustainable partnerships.

What Our Clients Say

“SGFE gave us a fresh new approach to how we position our business and how to use company culture as an asset. Company culture was the biggest eye opener for our business.”

Edward W
Managing Partner, Law Firm
“The biggest impact which SGFE had on our business was around culture and how that impacted the entire business. “

Danielle P
Vendor Relations, Finance Firm
“By working with SGFE we were able to grow our revenue from £13m to £15m and with the structures they have put into our business, we are looking to reach £19m by the end of the year.”

Alex R
CFO, Tech Firm

Nic Rixon
Founder

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Board & Team Training, CEO Coaching, International Speaker, Strategy Consultant, Revenue Systems, Sales Trainer. As a successful entrepreneur who has built and sold companies in manufacturing, property, training and commercial design, Nic knows about the challenges of growing a successful business and managing people.

He was one of the founding partners of Shirlaws, responsible for driving the growth of the business. In addition to consulting with hundreds of mid-tier businesses, he has worked with British Aerospace, Sony Pictures, HSBC, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Direct Selling Association and Oxford University.

Nic has also been invited to deliver keynote presentations at numerous Business Schools in the UK and Europe on business strategy.

Hobbies & Interests: Motorcycles, F1 Racing, Red Wine, Health & Fitness, Vinyl Collector, Reading, Personal Development

Skills: Board & Team Training, CEO Coaching, International Speaker, Strategy Consultant, Revenue Systems, Sales Trainer

Julian Oldfield
Co-founder & COO
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Julian is hugely experienced in running successful companies and uses this and his wealth of knowledge to drive strategy and build business skills in others. Put simply, he just loves helping forward thinking business leaders.

Hobbies & Interests: Julian’s mantra is to live life to the max…his social activities include enjoying family life, watching football, fitness training, worldwide travel, walking the family dog, socialising and coaching swimming. He also loves fine wine.

Skills: An expert in management structures, corporate innovation, finance reporting/management accounts and problem solving. Julian makes companies grow fast through embedding revenue, management and cultural systems and has applied these skills in a large number of SME and corporate clients.

Andrew Roberts
Chief Executive Officer

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Andrew has broad business experience ranging from global, multi-market, multi-category consumer goods and B2B service companies to SMEs and family-owned businesses.

He is people centric and strategic, but a pragmatic and agile business leader, consultant and coach.

An insight driven approach provides key beliefs to simplify, connect and provide direction through to execution and in doing so build business assets and value

Hobbies & Interests: Andrew’s great passion is rugby, as an ex-player and now coach. He also enjoys hockey as a spectator to his 3 children and would ski every week given the chance. 

Skills: Business Growth, Efficiency and Engagement.

Commercial and Cultural Strategy.

Route to Market, Customer, Channel, Category and Shopper.

Shekhar Varma
Business Coach
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Shekhar has 30 years’ experience as a business owner, international coach and trainer.

He works with executives and CEOs from diverse cultures around the world focused on helping them grow their business by facilitating insights and clarity that takes a plan from good to great.

He has extensive experience of working with leaders to develop a high-performance culture that creates a winning team.

Hobbies and interests: In his leisure time Shekhar is an enthusiastic lover of all thing’s food. He has his own twist on Indian cuisine that propelled him to the ¼ finals of master chef in 1999 and Mega chef in 2000. He is also a writer of screenplays and stage plays and has had two plays produced in the London fringe.

Skills: Shekhar specialises in contextual business planning, is a sought after coach and is skilful in putting clients at ease and listening. He will challenge and encourage you to push forward and expand your possibilities and potential.

Gemma Cubitt
Business Coach
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Gemma works with teams to improve their people agenda. This includes their culture,  operational effectiveness and training and development strategy to support business leaders.

With over 20 years’ experience in the Financial Services sector, she has worked with a wide spectrum of audiences including self-employed business owners, board executives and large outsourced operations teams.

Gemma is a qualified Insights practitioner, a Meyler Campbell business coaching graduate and our in-house Compass Indicator specialist.

Hobbies & Interests: Gemma enjoys spending time in the Cotswolds, walking her dog in the beautiful countryside. She loves eating out and spending time with friends and family.

Skills: Gemma is a creative problem solver enabling businesses to unlock their people potential. She enjoys high energy and innovative environments, where she can challenge clients in the art of the possible, both personally and professionally. She unlocks the potential of businesses and individuals to deliver improved performance.

Vicky Simpson
Vicky Simpson
Business Coach
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Vicky has worked in the legal sector for over 30 years assisting firms with business strategy, compliance and coaching. She has helped firms to achieve their business objectives, whilst supporting their management teams and staff.

Vicky drives team performance and productivity by embedding systems and processes with the culture of firms.

Hobbies & Interests: Vicky has a zest for life and helping others, both at work and on a voluntary basis. A keen cinema goer with a wide taste in entertainment, she is  a regularly concert goer as well. She also enjoys swimming immensely, quality time with family and friends, and loves a nice Frappuccino.

Skills: Vicky has been instrumental in the acquisition of firms, law firm start-ups, ABS, practice management, and has a particular expertise in compliance and business strategy. Vicky takes a proactive approach and is fully equipped to identify fundamental issues firms are facing, and working through them to provide positive solutions.

Phil Reakes | SGFE
Phil Reakes
Business Coach
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Phil has inspired many business organisations to reach their full potential. He has a track record of instilling the right disciplines and behaviours to achieve sustainable growth. He has many years working in corporates, as well as having run his own businesses.

Hobbies & Interests: Phil loves running to stay fit, is an avid football fan and even plays when given the opportunity. He has a large family and enjoys travelling the country to spend time with them. Phil is keen to help protect the environment and has changed his lifestyle over the last few years as a result.

Skills: Strategy consulting. Implementing management and cultural systems. Introducing process and financial management disciplines. Team and individual development plans.

Susie Burdekin

Susie Burdekin
Business Coach

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For over 20 years, Susie has worked in fast growth digital and marketing agencies from small independents to global networks.

During this time, she has founded, run, and grown businesses, including co-founding an award-winning brand partnership agency, and a youth transformation agency.

She has a passion for unlocking potential in people and businesses.  Beyond her business work, she has carried that forward as a volunteer business mentor for the Prince’s Trust Enterprise programme and Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IoEE).

Hobbies & Interests: She’s always had a passion for adventure, and she loves travelling the globe in search of that, photographing it all as she goes.  Day-to-day she loves a good book, a swim, and a great cocktail.

Skills: As well as having been a business leader, Susie is also a qualified executive and business coach.  She now combines her coaching with commercial experience to help business owners make the practical changes needed to take their business to the next stage, more focused, re-energised and excited about the future.

Kate Anderson | SGFE

Kate Anderson
Business Coach

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Kate has over 25 years’ experience as a business consultant supporting corporate leadership teams in gaining critical insights as precursor to designing and executing transformative change.  She specialises in B2B global value chains with a particular focus on tech, industrial and logistics.

An experienced Managing Director, Kate led pioneering global insights team, Breaking Blue through merger and acquisition and has founded her own agency.

She is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and a qualified change management professional.

Hobbies & Interests: Outside work, when not at a zoom HIIT class, running a half marathon, walking the dog or dancing with her mums’ street dance crew, you’ll find Kate with friends and family enjoying spicy food and a fiery chilli margarita or two.

Skills: Kate is a straight talking critical friend, adept in challenging constructively to help businesses identify strengths and weaknesses to adapt and flourish commercially.

She excels in agile thinking, intelligent reframing, horizontal innovation and transparent, resourceful ways of working.

Ben Vincent - SGFE

Ben Vincent
Client Services Director

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Ben is a forward-thinking and analytical business leader with a degree in Law and a Masters in Legal Practice.

He is passionate and experienced in sales and marketing, strategic planning and business development. At SGFE Ben is responsible for leading the growth of the UK client base.

He has spent some 20 years working on a range of assignments in a variety of sectors, including M&A, Real Estate Finance and Accountancy. To date Ben has worked for companies such as BARCAP, MARSH insurance, surveying firms, accountancy practices and marketing/design agencies.

Hobbies & Interests: Ben enjoys skiing and swimming when time allows from busy family life.

Skills: Business development/ sales are my passions.

Ben Vincent - SGFE

Mary Ann Smith
Business Coach

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Mary Ann is a highly experienced leader who has been coaching within global enterprise and corporate sectors for over 30 years.

She is also a successful company CEO, and Non-Executive Director so not only understands but has lived the challenges faced by CEO’s and experienced by staff in companies/large organisations.

She also has experience of coaching in highly technical, complex and challenging industries and is passionate about people and harnessing the power of diversity, specialising in team effectiveness, leadership development, behavioural change and conversations that create
influence and impact.

Skills: Coaching, leadership development

Whether you are looking to Fund, Grow or Sell your business, our team is on hand to help.