The Storytellers

What The Storytellers does

The Storytellers is a London-based creative management consultancy founded in 2003 by Chris Spencer and Alison Esse, and since October 2023 a subsidiary of Accenture. The firm designs and delivers story-driven activation programmes for large complex enterprises — primarily Fortune 500 and FTSE 250 organisations — to help leaders align workforces, accelerate change, and unlock performance. Core offerings include strategy activation, business transformation, employee value proposition, leadership development (the Expert Storyteller Leadership Programme), sales transformation, culture change, operational improvement, post-merger integration, and customer experience. These services are delivered through bespoke, multi-year engagements combining consulting, executive facilitation, leadership development workshops, creative campaigns, films, and live or virtual events.

Underlying intellectual property centres on the proprietary Story-Driven Activation methodology (integrating narrative theory with change management), the Motivate-Means-Momentum three-level framework, and the Nine Drivers research framework. Complementary tools include the StoryLive immersive event platform and the Activation Healthcheck diagnostic. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales directly to C-suite executives and senior leadership teams, supported by thought-leadership content, webinars, summits, case studies, and partner referrals. Pricing is fully bespoke with no public disclosure, and engagements are typically multi-year. Notable clients include SAP, Baloise Group, Phoenix Group, Parcelforce, HSBC, Barclays, BP, Pfizer, Hilton, BT, Eli Lilly, Marks & Spencer, and Deloitte.

Name

The Storytellers

Legal name

The Storytellers Ltd

Website

https://thestorytellers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Storytellers is a London-based creative management consultancy (founded 2003, now part of Accenture) that designs story-driven activation programmes to help Fortune 500 and FTSE 250 leaders align workforces, accelerate transformation, and drive cultural change through bespoke multi-year engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting Services

NAICS

Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (711510)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Content & Messaging Strategy (Positioning, Narrative) (MPAAAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Conflict Resolution, Negotiation & Stakeholder Management Coaching (EDABANAK)

Keywords

• Management consulting services
• Business transformation consulting
• Change management advisory
• Strategy activation consulting
• Culture transformation services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Strategic Consulting Services: Bespoke consulting engagements including strategy activation, business transformation, leadership development, and culture change programmes. Engagements are tailored to client needs and typically involve interdisciplinary programmes integrating story-driven events, leadership development, learning solutions and creative campaigns.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Storytellers is a creative management consultancy that helps large complex organisations activate their people to execute strategy and accelerate change. They co-create emotionally compelling narratives with senior leadership teams to align workforces behind transformation initiatives, combining strategic consultancy with creative campaigns, immersive events, films, and leadership development programmes. Engagements span strategy activation, business transformation, culture change, post-merger integration, sales transformation, EVP development, operational improvement, and customer experience.

Product overview

The Storytellers is a creative management consultancy, part of Accenture, that offers a portfolio of story-driven consulting services designed to help organisations activate people and accelerate change. Their core methodology combines the art and science of storytelling to unlock extraordinary performance. The portfolio includes: Strategy Activation, Business Transformation, Employee Value Proposition, Expert Storyteller Leadership Programme, Sales Transformation, Culture Change, Operational Improvement, Post-Merger Integration, and Customer Experience services. Additional offerings include StoryLive (immersive event experiences), the Activation Healthcheck assessment tool, and the Nine Drivers Framework for strategy acceleration. These services are delivered through consulting engagements, workshops, masterclasses, events, and digital toolkits, rather than a software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategy Activation A consulting solution that helps organisations execute strategy and turn vision into action by inspiring, aligning and equipping their people through storytelling methodologies.
• Business Transformation Helps organisations transform by creating the emotional conditions people need to embrace transformational change through narrative-driven approaches.
• Employee Value Proposition (EVP) Assists organisations to attract, engage and motivate employees with a standout EVP that people believe in, using storytelling to create authentic employer brands.
• Expert Storyteller Leadership Programme A leadership development programme designed to equip leaders with storytelling capability to inspire, align and activate their teams, enabling accelerated change and transformed performance.
• Sales Transformation Partners with c-suite sales and revenue executives to transform sales organisations to innovate constantly and have outcomes-based customer conversations through narrative methodologies.
• Culture Change Helps organisations create strong cultures that tap into discretionary effort and unlock potential by uniting people behind shared values, goals, mindsets and behaviours through storytelling.
• Operational Improvement Helps organisations improve productivity, safety and operational standards through a culture of continuous incremental improvement using story-driven methodologies.
• Post-Merger Integration Helps organisations come through mergers and acquisitions successfully by helping people embrace a new story of integration.
• Customer Experience Helps organisations create customer loyalty and competitive advantage by empowering people to create extraordinary customer experiences through narrative frameworks.
• Activation Healthcheck A diagnostic tool that assesses organisational readiness to accelerate strategy, evaluating nine key drivers of successful activation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 70% of change programmes fail without proper activation; The Storytellers' approach makes transformations over 6x more likely to succeed (McKinsey, 2017)
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AccenturecoreOthers · 13 October 2023The Storytellers was acquired by and became part of Accenture in October 2023, after 20 years as an independent company pioneering story-driven change. This acquisition integrates The Storytellers' unique storytelling methodology with Accenture's broader consulting and transformation capabilities.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lane4: UK-based performance and leadership consultancy that blends applied psychology with storytelling to help senior teams perform under pressure. Directly comparable to The Storytellers in size, methodology, and FTSE/enterprise client focus.
• Wolff Olins: Global brand consultancy with a strong narrative and identity focus, now part of Accenture Song alongside The Storytellers. Both firms use storytelling as a strategic lever, though Wolff Olins centres on brand strategy and The Storytellers on organisational activation.
• Interbrand: Global brand consultancy known for strategic narrative, brand valuation, and organisational identity work. Overlaps with The Storytellers' culture change, EVP, and customer experience offerings from a brand-led rather than change-led starting point.
• Landor & Fitch: Global brand and design consultancy combining Landor's brand strategy with Fitch's experience design. Comparable to The Storytellers in using creative narrative to drive enterprise transformation and culture change for Fortune 500 clients.
• Moving Brands: Independent creative brand consultancy with strong storytelling and brand strategy capabilities. Comparable in size and in using narrative as a lever for enterprise transformation, EVP, and culture programmes.
• SomeOne: London-based creative brand and strategy studio working with FTSE and global brands on identity, narrative, and experience. Comparable to The Storytellers in size, geography, and storytelling-led approach to enterprise engagement.

Broad incumbents

• Edelman: Global communications and PR firm with a substantial brand storytelling and organisational narrative practice. Overlaps with The Storytellers on culture change, leadership storytelling, and corporate narrative work, but at much greater scale and broader service portfolio.
• Pentagram: Largest independent design consultancy with strong narrative and storytelling orientation across brand identity work. Comparable storytelling craft, but Pentagram focuses on visual identity and design whereas The Storytellers focuses on organisational activation.
• Korn Ferry: Global organisational consulting firm with deep leadership development, culture, and talent practices. Overlaps with The Storytellers on culture change, leadership development, and EVP work but delivers at much greater scale and with broader HR services.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global leadership advisory and executive search firm, with a culture and organisational consulting practice (formerly Senn Delaney). Comparable to The Storytellers on culture transformation and senior leadership storytelling but at materially larger scale and broader executive services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/storyacademy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Storytellers