Challis & Company

What Challis & Company does

Challis & Company is an integrated strategic leadership consultancy founded in 2012 and headquartered at Level 12, Chifley Tower, 2 Chifley Square, Sydney, Australia. The firm provides executive advisory and leadership consulting services across five interconnected service lines: Executive Leadership coaching, Assessment & Feedback, Talent & Succession, Team & Culture, and Board Reviews. Clients are boards and nomination committees, CEOs and executive teams, and listed, private and not-for-profit organisations navigating appointments, transitions, performance inflection points, organisational change, and governance improvement. The practice is led by Executive Director Hannah Challis, a Registered Psychologist with more than 30 years of experience in leadership assessment and organisational psychology, drawn from senior roles at Accenture, SHL (Sydney and Chicago), and Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) where she served as Global Head of Talent leading a global team of 25 across EMEA, North America, Asia and Australia.

The business operates as a professional services firm with a single revenue stream generated through confidential, quote-based advisory engagements billed under multi-year contracts. Distribution is entirely direct, sourced through relationship-based business development with senior executives and board members rather than marketing or productised channels, and supported by minimal digital presence focused on the principal's LinkedIn profile. There is no proprietary technology platform, no API, no integrations, no AI/ML capability, and no app; intellectual property is limited to three registered trademarks ("Challis", "Tomorrow's leaders today", and a stylised "C" target & arrow logo).

Challis & Company Pty Limited (ABN 48 161 244 613) is an Australian proprietary limited company with no parent company, no external investors, no subsidiaries, no disclosed funding rounds, and no public financial reporting. Headcount sits in the 1-10 range with stated employee counts not publicly disclosed; the firm appears to operate as a boutique practice anchored on the principal consultant. Operating geographies include Australia with claimed international reach via the principal's prior global network, though there are no offices or formal entities listed outside Sydney. The principal also holds current and prior non-executive director and board observer roles at the Sydney Jewish Museum, The Shalom Institute at UNSW, Jewish Communal Appeal, and the Australian Psychological Society.

Name

Challis & Company

Legal name

Challis & Company Pty Limited

Website

https://challis.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Challis & Company is a Sydney-based executive advisory firm providing leadership coaching, assessment, succession, team effectiveness, and board review services to boards, CEOs, and senior leaders across listed, private, and not-for-profit organisations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Leadership Consulting

NAICS

Human Resources Consulting Services (541612), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

C-Suite & Senior Executive Coaching (EDABANAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Talent Management & Leadership Advisory (Succession, Performance, Culture) (BPACAJAH), Strategy, Decision-Making & Business Acumen Coaching (EDABANAH), Team & Group Executive Coaching (Leadership Teams) (EDABANAF)

Keywords

• Executive coaching
• Leadership assessment
• Board effectiveness
• Succession planning
• Organisational consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Executive Advisory and Leadership Consulting: Professional services revenue generated through advisory engagements with boards, CEOs, and senior leaders. Services include executive coaching, leadership assessment, talent and succession consulting, team and culture work, and board reviews. Engagements are confidential, direct, and tailored to organisational context.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Challis & Company provides executive advisory and leadership consulting services through five interconnected service lines: Executive Leadership coaching for CEOs and senior leaders, Assessment & Feedback (executive and leadership assessment, psychological profiling, 360-degree feedback, team and culture diagnostics), Talent & Succession consulting (candidate evaluation, succession planning, high-potential identification, onboarding support), Team & Culture effectiveness work, and independent Board Reviews (board and committee effectiveness reviews, chair and director feedback). Engagements are confidential, direct and tailored to each organisation's governance, transition or growth context.

Product overview

Challis & Company is a leadership advisory firm offering a unified suite of executive consulting services. The core offering consists of five interconnected service areas: Executive Leadership coaching, Assessment & Feedback, Talent & Succession, Team & Culture, and Board Reviews. These services are delivered by principal consultant Hannah Challis and focus on executive appointments, transitions, performance inflection points, and organizational change for boards, CEOs, and senior leaders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Executive Leadership Coaching One-on-one coaching for CEOs and senior leaders on current challenges such as role transitions and first-100-day priorities, stakeholder and board engagement, decision-making under pressure, leadership style and personal impact, and navigating conflict, complexity and competing expectations.
• Assessment & Feedback Rigorous, independent assessment to support selection, development and succession decisions, including executive and leadership assessment, psychological profiling, 360-degree feedback processes, team and culture diagnostics, and written advisory reports for boards and nomination committees.
• Talent & Succession Consulting Support for boards and executives to strengthen leadership depth and continuity, including candidate evaluation for executive and critical roles, design and facilitation of succession planning processes, identification of high-potential leaders, and structured onboarding and early-performance support for senior hires.
• Team & Culture Effectiveness Leadership team effectiveness work including leadership team reviews and resets, addressing dysfunctional dynamics or unresolved conflict, clarifying decision rights, accountabilities and ways of working, and supporting teams through change, integration or restructuring.
• Board Reviews Independent board and committee effectiveness reviews tailored to the organisation's context and governance maturity, including board performance and composition reviews, chair and director feedback, committee effectiveness assessments, evaluation of board-management alignment, and governance process and information flow review. Combines confidential director surveys and interviews, observation where appropriate, and structured written reporting with practical recommendations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Clearer priorities and sharper focus for senior leaders
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Sydney Jewish MuseumminorOthersHannah Challis recently joined the board of the Sydney Jewish Museum as an observer. This is a board advisory role that deepens her understanding of governance and organisational dynamics in practice.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• ghSMART & Company: Specialist leadership advisory firm focused on CEO and executive team effectiveness, assessment and succession. Closely comparable as a boutique that works with CEOs and boards on talent decisions and leadership team performance, similar scale and premium positioning to Challis.
• Signium Global: Boutique international executive search firm with leadership advisory and board practice. Comparable boutique positioning to Challis, serving boards, CEOs and senior executives on senior-level appointments and leadership consulting, with overlap in APAC and global mandates.
• Heidrick & Struggles: International executive search and Heidrick Consulting leadership advisory firm. Comparable in addressing boards and CEOs on executive assessment, leadership development, succession and team effectiveness, particularly for listed and large enterprise clients.
• Egon Zehnder: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm that combines C-suite recruiting, board advisory, executive assessment, team effectiveness and succession work. Closely comparable to Challis across service lines, target buyer (boards, CEOs, nomination committees) and premium positioning, with substantially larger delivery capacity.
• Boyden: Global executive search and leadership consulting firm with a strong presence in Australia. Directly comparable in serving boards and CEOs on succession, executive assessment and senior leadership mandates across listed, private and NFP clients in APAC.
• Spencer Stuart: Global leader in board, CEO and senior executive search with a strong board effectiveness and governance practice (Spencer Stuart Board Index). Directly comparable to Challis on board reviews, executive assessment and succession advisory for publicly listed and large private clients.
• Russell Reynolds Associates: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm serving boards, CEOs and senior executives. Comparable in offering executive assessment, succession planning, leadership team effectiveness and board advisory to financial services, listed and NFP clients.
• Odgers Berndtson: International executive search and leadership advisory firm with deep UK and ANZ presence. Comparable to Challis on board effectiveness, executive assessment and succession services for chairs and CEOs of large listed and private organisations.

Regional players

• Stanton Chase: Global boutique executive search firm with significant APAC and Australian operations. Comparable to Challis in serving boards and CEOs on senior executive search and leadership advisory, with overlapping client base across listed and private organisations in the region.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Large global organisational consulting firm spanning executive search, leadership development, assessment, succession and team effectiveness. A broader incumbent whose leadership advisory services directly overlap with Challis' core offerings across listed and large private clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/challisco
• Xx.com/ChallisCo
• Facebookfacebook.com/ChallisCompany

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Challis & Company