What Livework does

Livework is a privately held, UK-headquartered business transformation consultancy founded in 2001, specializing in service design and customer-centric change management for large enterprise and public sector organizations. The firm delivers a portfolio of consulting services organized around six codified practices—Envision and Plan for Change, Deliver Tangible Change Initiatives, Embed Change Operations and Journey Management, Establish and Grow Change Capabilities, Measure and Govern Change Performance, and Enhance Employee Experience and Service Culture—delivered across vertical practices including Connected Health, Humanising Government, Retail, Manufacturing, Financial Services/Insurance, and Sustainable Futures. The core methodology relies on co-creation with frontline staff, customer journey mapping, service blueprinting, and proprietary frameworks (Customer Centricity Framework, Three Velocities of Sustainable Transformation, Agile-CX Integration Methodology, CX Playbook) developed over two decades.

The business operates on a professional services model with custom, quote-based enterprise engagements sold through direct senior-level relationships and bolstered by thought-led demand generation across websites, LinkedIn, podcasts, and industry conferences. Livework runs 4 global studios (London, Rotterdam, São Paulo, plus an additional location) with localized websites in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch, and has served 400+ clients including adidas, KONE, Transport for London, Gjensidige, KLM, E.ON, Ultimaker, and Zilveren Kruis. Revenue is generated from multi-year transformation programs, training/Academy capability-building engagements, and discrete project work; the firm is owned by its founding partners (Ben Reason, Luis Alt) with no disclosed external institutional investment.

Name

Livework

Legal name

Livework

Website

https://liveworkstudio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Livework is a privately held UK-headquartered business transformation consultancy, founded in 2001, that delivers service design and customer-centric change programs to large enterprise and public sector clients across 4 global studios.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Consulting & Advisory Services: Livework provides strategic consulting engagements for business transformation, service design, and customer experience improvement. These are typically long-term, high-value engagements with enterprise clients spanning multiple years.
2. Training & Capability Building: Livework delivers skill-based training modules, coaching on the job, and learning journeys to build internal capabilities within client organizations. This includes both standardized and customized training programs.
3. Project-Based Engagements: Discrete service design projects including customer journey mapping, service blueprinting, experience prototyping, and organizational change initiatives. Projects range from quick pilots to comprehensive multi-phase transformations.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Livework is a global business transformation consultancy that sells service design and design-led change consulting to large enterprises and government agencies. Its core offerings are organized around six service themes (envisioning change, delivering change initiatives, embedding change operations, building internal change capabilities, measuring change performance, and enhancing employee experience and service culture) delivered across industry-vertical practices including Connected Health, Humanising Government, Retail, Manufacturing, Financial Services, and Insurance. Engagements are multi-year, custom, and quote-based, supported by proprietary methodologies such as the Customer Centricity Framework and the Three Velocities of Sustainable Transformation Framework.

Product overview

Livework is a global business transformation consultancy specializing in service design, with four global studios in London, Rotterdam, São Paulo, and additional locations. The company offers a portfolio of consulting services organized around six core practice areas: (1) Envision and Plan for Change, (2) Deliver Tangible Change Initiatives, (3) Embed Change Operations and Journey Management, (4) Establish and Grow Change Capabilities, (5) Measure and Govern Change Performance, and (6) Enhance Employee Experience and Service Culture. These services are delivered across multiple industry verticals including Connected Health, Humanising Government, Retail, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Insurance, and Urban Development. Livework also provides proprietary frameworks such as the Customer Centricity Framework, Service Design Methodology, CX Playbook, and Sustainable Futures Practice. The company has served over 400 clients including adidas, Kone, Transport for London, E.ON, KLM, Gjensidige, and Ultimaker. With 24 years of experience, Livework focuses on design-led organizational change, customer experience transformation, and employee experience improvement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Envision and Plan for Change Strategic consulting service that helps organizations understand their current state, define change objectives, and create actionable plans for transformation initiatives. Sold to senior leaders at enterprise and public-sector clients as a standalone engagement or as the entry point to multi-year transformation programs.
• Deliver Tangible Change Initiatives
• Embed Change Operations and Journey Management
• Establish and Grow Change Capabilities
• Measure and Govern Change Performance
• Enhance Employee Experience and Service Culture
• Connected Health Practice
• Humanising Government Practice
• Retail Transformation Practice
• Manufacturing Services Practice
• Sustainable Futures Practice
• Innovation by Design Practice

Quantifiable outcome

• Gjensidige jumped from 56th to 11th in Norwegian Customer Satisfaction Barometer in 4 years
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• IDEO: Pioneering design and innovation consultancy that helped define human-centered design and service design as a discipline. Directly comparable to Livework in methodology, client base (large enterprises seeking design-led transformation), and boutique-to-mid scale.
• Frog Design: Global design and strategy firm specializing in product, service, and brand design for enterprises. Comparable to Livework in delivering design-led transformation and customer-centric innovation engagements with marquee global clients.
• Method (GlobalLogic): Design and engineering consultancy focused on customer experience, product design, and digital transformation. Directly comparable in service design methodology and enterprise client base; now part of GlobalLogic, giving it greater delivery scale.
• Huge: Digital experience agency offering customer experience, product design, and transformation services to global brands. Competes with Livework for enterprise CX and service design mandates, particularly in retail and consumer goods verticals.
• ?What If (now part of Smith & Beta): Innovation and service design consultancy with a strong European presence, focused on customer-centric innovation and business model design. Highly comparable to Livework in approach and enterprise client profile.
• Ustwo: Global digital product and service design studio with studios in London, New York, and other major hubs. Comparable to Livework in service design, customer experience, and design-led transformation engagements for large enterprise and public sector clients.
• Work & Co: Digital product and service design consultancy serving global brands and institutions with end-to-end design, strategy, and engineering. Overlaps with Livework on enterprise service design and CX transformation engagements.

Broad incumbents

• Fjord (Accenture Song): Global design and innovation consultancy inside Accenture, focused on service design, customer experience, and digital transformation for the world's largest enterprises. Overlaps with Livework's service design and CX transformation offerings but with materially larger scale and broader capability stack.
• McKinsey & Company (McKinsey Design): Global management consulting leader whose McKinsey Design practice competes directly with Livework for enterprise CX and design-led transformation mandates. Represents the most significant incumbent threat given its scale, C-suite access, and ability to bundle design work into larger transformation engagements.
• Deloitte Digital: Digital transformation arm of Deloitte that includes significant service design, customer experience, and design-led change capabilities. Competes for the same enterprise transformation wallet as Livework, often with bundled strategy, technology, and operations offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/livework
• Instagraminstagram.com/theliveworker
• Xx.com/liveworkstudio
• Facebookfacebook.com/liveworkgroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Livework