Honeycomb

What Honeycomb does

Honeycomb (legal entity Honeycomb PS Ltd) is a UK-based, founder-owned consulting skills training company founded in 2018 by Deri Hughes, a former Bain consultant and CFO/COO of boutique consultancies. The company serves leaders of boutique and mid-size consulting firms, with a secondary segment of individual consultants, helping them build exceptional consulting teams through three training pillars: Client Delivery Skills, Leadership & Management Skills, and BD & Growth Skills Training. The commercial offering combines bespoke organisational training programmes, an open-enrolment Diploma in Core Consulting Skills (five modules at £1,899 per person), and the Consulting Skills Acceleration Service — a managed, annual-subscription L&D platform bundling a proprietary Consultancy Skills Competency Framework, Learning Pathways, a personalised learning dashboard, a curated content library, and managed L&D administration.

The underlying technology is a cloud-based learning management and delivery platform that supports competency mapping, personalised learning pathways, self-serve content consumption, and centralised reporting. Honeycomb differentiates through a codified competency framework (Deliver, Manage, Lead, Grow, Build Trust), a Campaign-Led Learning methodology (8-12 week time-bound, blended self-serve, peer, coaching, and nudges), and a network of approximately 20+ trainers who are current or former practitioners from Bain, McKinsey, BCG, PwC, EY, KPMG, Deloitte, IBM, and Accenture. Go-to-market is sales-led and content-led: founder-driven 30-minute Calendly intro calls, free workshops and webinars, plus an always-on content engine comprising The Skilled Consultant Substack (3,000+ subscribers), the Show Up! podcast (30+ episodes), and a Download Hub of reports and eBooks. The company is 100% founder-owned with no external funding, is led jointly by founder-MD Deri Hughes and MD Colin Mann (ex-PwC, joined 2023), and reports brand metrics of 4.7/5 average client rating and +80% NPS over the 12 months to June 2025. Recent strategic activity includes the January 2026 co-publishing partnership with New Minds on The Consulting People Report 2026 and the May 2026 publication of The Exponentialist Junior Consultant, both positioning Honeycomb in the AI-and-talent conversation for consulting leaders.

Name

Honeycomb

Legal name

Honeycomb PS Ltd

Website

https://honeycombps.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Honeycomb Consulting Skills Training is a UK-based, founder-owned firm that delivers consulting skills training and managed L&D services to boutique and mid-size consulting firms and individual consultants across client delivery, leadership, and business development disciplines.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Consulting Skills Training

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Learning & Development (L&D) & Training Management (EDABAIAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Learning Management (LMS) & Talent Development (BPACAPAG), Learning, Training & Corporate Education Consulting (BPAHAGAE), Vertical/Industry-Specific LMS (e.g., Healthcare, Safety, Aviation, Government) (EDAFAAAM), Skills, Competency & Capability Management (Skills Frameworks, Badging within LMS) (EDAFAAAE)

Keywords

• Consulting skills training
• Leadership development training
• Professional learning services
• Business development training
• Managed learning development

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Training Services: Honeycomb generates revenue through bespoke training programmes delivered to consulting firm teams. Training covers Client Delivery Skills, Leadership & Management Skills, and BD & Growth Skills. Services are priced per person for open enrolment courses or as packaged programmes for organisational clients.
2. Consulting Skills Acceleration Service: Managed Learning & Development service providing organisations with competency frameworks, learning content libraries, live training, and administrative L&D support. Positioned as a cost-effective alternative to employing an internal L&D Manager. Typically sold as an annual subscription.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Honeycomb designs and delivers consulting skills training for consulting firm teams across three pillars — Client Delivery Skills, Leadership & Management Skills, and BD & Growth Skills — offered as bespoke training programmes, open-enrolment sessions, and the Diploma in Core Consulting Skills. Its flagship Consulting Skills Acceleration Service is a managed L&D subscription bundling a Skill Development System (Competency Framework, Learning Pathways, Performance Review), a curated Training Content Library, a Personalised Learning Dashboard, and centralised L&D reporting.

Product overview

Honeycomb Consulting Skills Training is a consulting skills training company that helps consulting team leaders develop exceptional teams. The offering consists of three core training pillars (Client Delivery Skills Training, Leadership & Management Skills Training, and BD & Growth Skills Training), supplemented by the Consulting Skills Acceleration Service platform which provides a Skill Development System, Training Content Library, Personalised Learning Dashboard, and Managed L&D Service. Additional offerings include the Diploma: Core Consulting Skills (a five-module program), the Consulting Skills Accelerator Toolkit, the Show Up! Podcast, The Skilled Consultant newsletter/blog, and research reports including The Consulting People Report 2026 and The Exponentialist Junior Consultant.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Client Delivery Skills Training Training for consultants at all levels (from Analyst to Partner) focused on developing client delivery skills, building trusted client relationships, and delivering great outcomes for clients. Sold as bespoke programmes to consulting firms.
• Leadership & Management Skills Training Training helping consultants transition from doing to delegating, hold performance conversations, act as coaches, and influence how the firm operates, with focus on building resilience to succeed. Sold as bespoke programmes to consulting firms.
• BD & Growth Skills Training Business development and sales skills training covering building reputation, meeting new clients, understanding their problems, writing proposals, and closing deals; demystifies sales and tackles the psychological fear of sales. Sold as bespoke programmes to consulting firms.
• Consulting Skills Acceleration Service Comprehensive managed L&D service providing a Skill Development System (Competency Framework, Learning Pathways, Performance Review), Training Content Library, Personalised Learning Dashboard, Live Training, and Managed L&D with regular centralised reporting on learning activity and impact. Sold as an annual subscription marketed as a cost-effective alternative to an internal L&D Manager.
• Diploma: Core Consulting Skills Five-module diploma delivered online in 3.5-hour sessions covering Structured Problem Solving, Building Trust With Clients, Writing Recommendations, Slides & Presentations, and Project Management Foundations. Includes interactive exercises, simulations, role-plays, and individual feedback. Priced at £1,899 per person for the full diploma or £495 per single module, with £1,499 per person for Consultancy Growth Network members.
• Consulting Skills Accelerator Toolkit A toolkit providing practical consulting skills development resources for leaders of boutique consulting firms, accessible through the Resources section of the Honeycomb website.

Quantifiable outcome

• 78% increase in learning hours achieved using Campaign-Led Learning methodology at one client firm
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• New MindscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Co-publishing partnership for The Consulting People Report 2026. Honeycomb collaborated with New Minds (led by MD Caroline Boston) to research and publish the annual report on consulting talent and leadership. The report covers topics including AI impact on consulting, changing talent models, and provides a practical playbook for consulting leaders.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Development Dimensions International (DDI): Large global leadership and talent development provider serving enterprise clients across industries with leadership training content and managed services. Comparable in managed-L&D proposition but at significantly greater scale.
• BTS: Global professional services firm focused on business simulation, capability building and leadership development for Fortune 500 clients; overlaps with Honeycomb in consulting-firm upskilling but at much larger scale and broader scope.
• Korn Ferry (Leadership Development): Global organisational consulting firm whose Leadership Development Solutions division offers training, coaching and capability programmes to enterprise and professional-services clients. Overlaps in consulting-firm upskilling within a much broader portfolio.
• Insights Group (Insights Discovery): Global learning and development organisation selling psychometric-based training and consultancy to corporates. Comparable in trainer-network distribution model and professional-services training focus, but with a broader L&D catalogue.

Direct peers

• The Mind Gym: UK-founded boutique corporate training company delivering short, interactive behaviour-change programmes to corporates, with a similar trainer-led, content-IP-driven model and a strong managed-L&D proposition. Highly comparable in target buyer (people leaders), delivery style (workshops + digital), and product positioning (behavioural and soft-skills training).
• Acumen Academy: Specialist training provider for the consulting and professional services sector offering skills programmes for analysts through to partners. Closely comparable vertical focus, audience (consulting firms), and structured-learning product.
• Praesta: Executive coaching and leadership development firm specifically serving consulting and professional services firms in the UK; directly comparable buyer persona (consulting leaders) and high-touch service model.
• Fierce Inc: Corporate training company focused on workplace conversations, leadership and culture, sold via workshops and digital programmes to enterprise buyers. Comparable trainer-led, content-IP-based model with similar GTM motion.
• New Minds: UK consulting-industry specialist training and research firm led by Caroline Boston; Honeycomb's published co-author on The Consulting People Report 2026. Operates in the same boutique-consulting training niche with overlapping buyer personas.

Emerging players

• BetterUp: Tech-enabled coaching and L&D platform combining AI, content and a coach network; competes with Honeycomb's blended self-serve-plus-coaching model in the leadership and skills-development category, though without the consulting-firm vertical specialisation.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HoneycombPs
• YouTubeopen.spotify.com/show/1cg4AHuAldSdnb02sgI012
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/honeycomb-ps

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Honeycomb