Insights & Tools
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England and Wales population growth slows sharply as net migration falls
Population growth in England and Wales slowed to 0.4% in the year to mid-2025 as net international migration fell sharply. The figures point to an ageing population, weaker workforce growth and widening regional differences with significant…
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Tough Mudder and Spartan: From Obstacle-Race Rivals to a Global Endurance Platform
Tough Mudder and Spartan transformed obstacle racing into a global fitness industry before financial collapse, acquisition and the COVID-19 pandemic threatened their future. This extensive case study examines their origins, contrasting brand strategies, event economics, safety…
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The BBC: From Wireless Pioneer to Public-Service Media at a Crossroads
From its beginnings in wireless radio to its current struggle with streaming, declining licence numbers and global media competition, the BBC has shaped British culture for more than a century. This extensive strategic case study examines…
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LEGO: The Brick That Became a Global System of Play
From a small Danish carpenter’s workshop to the world’s most powerful toy brand, LEGO has built a global business around one brilliantly simple system of play. This detailed case study examines LEGO’s history, near-collapse, remarkable turnaround,…
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Gymshark: From Bedroom Brand to Global Fitness Challenger
Gymshark is one of the most important British consumer brand stories of the last twenty years. It began in 2012 with Ben Francis, then a 19-year-old student from the Midlands, selling fitness supplements online and making…
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Magnet Group: From Yorkshire Joinery to Kitchen Retail Turnaround
Magnet is one of the best-known names in the British kitchen market. For more than a century, it has been associated with joinery, fitted kitchens, showrooms, trade customers, design appointments, home renovation and the practical business…
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A.G. Barr and Irn-Bru: Scotland’s Soft Drink Champion in a Global Drinks Market
A.G. Barr is one of the most unusual companies in British food and drink. It is not the largest soft drinks company in the UK. It does not have the global firepower of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Keurig…
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SpaceX: The Company That Turned Space Into Infrastructure
SpaceX is no longer just a rocket company. That sentence is the key to understanding both the excitement and the risk around its planned public listing. For most of its history, SpaceX was understood as Elon…
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Tesco plc: Britain’s Supermarket Giant and the Fight to Stay Dominant
Tesco is one of the great British business stories. It began with Jack Cohen selling surplus groceries from a market stall in London’s East End in 1919. It became a national grocer, then a supermarket chain,…
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Wilko: The High Street Favourite That Lost Its Way
Wilko was one of those retailers that many people did not fully appreciate until it disappeared. It was practical, familiar and useful. You went in for batteries, paint, pegs, pet food, storage boxes, shampoo, bird seed,…
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Black & Decker: From Power Tool Pioneer to Budget DIY Brand
Black & Decker is one of those brands that carries a particular kind of memory. For many people, especially those who grew up in homes where their father or grandfather had a Black & Decker drill…
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Greggs: From North East Bakery to Britain’s Food-to-Go Powerhouse
Greggs is one of the most remarkable British retail stories of the last century. It began as a small North East bakery business, delivering eggs and yeast by pushbike to families in Newcastle. Today it is…
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Jaguar Land Rover: Heritage, Reinvention and the Risk of Modern Luxury
Jaguar Land Rover: Heritage, Reinvention and the Risk of Modern Luxury A full business analysis and strategic review Jaguar Land Rover, now usually styled as JLR at corporate level, is one of Britain’s most important industrial…
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Morrisons: From Bradford Market Stall to Private Equity Turnaround
Morrisons is one of the most distinctive names in British grocery. It is not the biggest supermarket. It is no longer safely part of the “Big Four” in the way it once was. It is not…
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Costa Coffee: From London Roastery to Coca-Cola’s Difficult Coffee Bet
Costa Coffee is one of Britain’s most recognisable consumer brands. For many people, it is the default coffee shop: predictable, familiar, warm, widely available and rarely far away. It is on high streets, retail parks, motorway…
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WHSmith: From Railway Bookstalls to Global Travel Retailer
WHSmith is one of those British businesses that looks deceptively ordinary. For generations it was part of the furniture of the high street: newspapers, paperbacks, birthday cards, school stationery, chocolate bars at the till, and Post…
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Consultation plan
A consultation plan is a practical management and governance tool used to set out how an organisation will seek, collect, analyse and respond to views before making or finalising a decision. At its simplest, a consultation…
