Rachel Whitmore
Founding partner, operations
Ran a £12m packaging company for nine years before founding the firm. Specialises in supply-chain restructuring and warehouse workflow design.
How we started
In 2014, our founder Rachel Whitmore was running a £12m packaging company in West Yorkshire. She hired a large consultancy to help restructure her supply chain. The project took nine months, cost six figures, and the final report sat in a drawer because nobody on the consulting team understood how her warehouse actually operated.
She sold the business in 2015, took a year off, then started Growth Advisory Experts with one rule: every consultant must have managed a real team, with a real budget, in a real company. No career consultants. That principle still holds.
The firm opened with three people in a shared office near Leeds station. By the end of 2018 we had seven consultants and a waiting list. Today we are twelve, and we still say no to about a third of the enquiries we receive because fit matters more than revenue.
Our values
Four commitments that shape every engagement we take on.
Operator credibility
Every partner and senior consultant has at least seven years of line-management experience in industry. We have run warehouses, managed sales teams, built software products and negotiated supplier contracts. That background means we spot practical problems a slide-deck consultant would miss.
Measurable outcomes
Before we start, we agree on a specific number: pipeline growth percentage, cost reduction target, or days-to-close. If we cannot define a number, we do not take the project. Vague objectives lead to vague results.
Honest timelines
We tell clients how long a change will realistically take, not how long they want to hear. A pricing restructure might need twelve weeks of customer testing. We would rather lose a pitch than promise eight and deliver something half-baked.
Knowledge transfer
Our goal is to make ourselves unnecessary. Every engagement ends with documented processes, trained staff and a handover session so the client can run the new system independently.
Our journey
2016 – founded in Leeds
Rachel Whitmore, David Carr and Priya Nair launched the firm with three initial clients, all in manufacturing. First-year revenue: £280k.
2018 – expanded into professional services
Hired two consultants with backgrounds in law-firm operations and accountancy practice management. Opened our second practice area.
2020 – remote delivery model
Adapted our on-site discovery process to a hybrid format during lockdowns. Developed a proprietary diagnostic questionnaire that clients complete before our first visit, cutting on-site time by 30%.
2022 – exit planning practice
Brought in Marcus Hale, a former M&A adviser, to lead succession and exit work. Completed first three exit-preparation engagements, resulting in combined sale proceeds 22% above initial broker valuations.
2024 – 187 engagements milestone
Reached 187 completed projects. Published our first annual benchmarking report covering mid-market operational efficiency across Yorkshire and the North of England.
Meet the partners
The people who lead your engagement from diagnostic to handover.
David Carr
Partner, revenue growth
Former commercial director at two SaaS companies. Rebuilt the sales process at a Leeds-based software firm that grew from £3m to £11m ARR in three years.
Priya Nair
Partner, professional services
Managed operations at a top-50 UK law firm before joining. Focuses on professional-services firms that need to improve utilisation rates and fee-earner productivity.
Marcus Hale
Partner, exit and succession
Spent twelve years in M&A advisory at a mid-market investment bank. Has advised on 40+ transactions with enterprise values between £5m and £80m.