What Narrate does

Narrate is a sole-practitioner management consulting firm operated by Tony Quinlan and registered as Narrate SARL in France, with operational roots in the United Kingdom (Dunstable and London). The firm helps senior leaders, teams, governments, and international development organizations navigate complex organizational challenges through coaching, workshops, keynote speaking, strategic and board advisory, and narrative research, drawing on the SenseMaker® narrative-based research methodology and the Cynefin sense-making framework.

The core technology stack is methodological rather than software-based: SenseMaker® is a registered trademark used for large-scale story collection and analysis, paired with the Cynefin framework for sense-making across different problem domains. The service portfolio comprises Keynote Speaking, Complexity Training, Complexity Coaching & Mentoring, Unlocking Team Potential, Narrative Research, Global Strategic Intelligence, Strategic Advisor, Board Advisor, and the SenseMaker methodology. Notable client engagements span Pfizer (sales confidence), Unilever (R&D team merger), UNDP, BRAC, Girl Effect (Rwanda/Ethiopia SenseMaker studies), HMRC, UK Cabinet Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, WHO, AstraZeneca, CISCO, Deutsche Telekom, Aviva, Pitney Bowes, United Utilities, and Home Credit.

Narrate operates a sales-led, direct-engagement go-to-market model. No standard pricing is published; engagements are quote-based, custom, and frequently structured as multi-year contracts that begin with a free 15-minute exploratory conversation. Demand is generated through Tony Quinlan's personal website, a 100+ post blog archive, a Substack newsletter ('wtfnext'), and social media presence on BlueSky and Threads. The business is privately held by Tony Quinlan with no external investment, no M&A activity, and no disclosed revenue.

Name

Narrate

Legal name

Narrate SARL

Website

https://narrate.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Narrate is a sole-practitioner management consulting firm, operated by Tony Quinlan, that delivers business transformation, complexity coaching, and SenseMaker® narrative research to senior leaders, governments, international development organizations, and global enterprises via bespoke engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611), Other Management Consulting Services (541618)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Change Management & Transformation Consulting (BPAHAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Change Management & Transformation Leadership (EDABAAAD), Change Management & Transformation (Org/HR) (BPACAJAD), Organization Design & Change Management Consulting (BPAHACAD)

Keywords

• Business transformation consulting
• Complexity science advisory
• Narrative research services
• Organizational change consulting
• Leadership coaching services

Headquarters

HQ city

Dunstable

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Professional Services: Tony Quinlan provides business transformation consulting services including keynote speaking, complexity training, coaching and mentoring, narrative research, and team workshops. Services are delivered directly to clients on a custom engagement basis.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Narrate is a management consulting practice that helps senior leaders, executive teams, and entire organizations navigate complex change through coaching, workshops, keynote speaking, narrative research, and strategic advisory. Services draw on complexity science and the SenseMaker® methodology to translate everyday stories and lived experiences into actionable insights for transformation, team development, culture change, and adaptive management in corporations, governments, and international development organizations.

Product overview

Narrate is a consulting practice operated by Tony Quinlan offering a portfolio of professional services centered on business transformation and complexity management. The core offerings include Complexity Training, Complexity Coaching & Mentoring, and Unlocking Team Potential, supplemented by Narrative Research, Global Strategic Intelligence, Strategic Advisory, Board Advisory, Keynote Speaking, and Sensemaker methodology. These services are delivered through one-on-one coaching, workshops, and custom engagements rather than a software product. The approach combines complexity science expertise with practical leadership experience to help organizations navigate uncertainty and drive lasting change.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Keynote Speaking Keynote speaking engagements where audiences are equipped with stories and practical approaches to navigate complex challenges, transforming passive listeners into motivated changemakers. Targeted at corporate, government, and development audiences.
• Complexity Training Training programs that equip change-makers with practical approaches to navigate uncertainty, influence complex situations, and help others thrive in complexity. Designed for organizational leaders and transformation teams.
• Complexity Coaching & Mentoring Leadership coaching focused on developing the capacity to work with complexity advantageously, helping leaders spot possibilities that others miss. Not traditional leadership coaching but rather capability development for navigating complex situations.
• Unlocking Team Potential Team development services that shape conditions to unlock innovation, strengthen resilience, and transform how teams tackle complex challenges. Turns a team's natural complexity into competitive advantage.
• Narrative Research Research methodology using everyday stories and lived experiences of employees, customers, citizens, or communities to reveal possibilities for change that standard surveys and feedback tools miss.
• Global Strategic Intelligence Strategic advisory services helping organizations see challenges in new ways and find solutions that work with human nature. Targeted at senior leadership navigating complex strategic questions.
• Strategic Advisor Advisory services for senior leadership dealing with tricky organizational issues where standard approaches are not effective. Provides ongoing strategic counsel on complex organizational challenges.
• Board Advisor Advisory services for board-level decision-making on complex organizational challenges and transformations. Supports boards in navigating complexity and shaping strategic direction.
• SenseMaker® Methodology A narrative-based research methodology and registered trademark for gathering large-scale story collection and analysis to identify social patterns and behaviors. Used to understand lived experiences at scale, e.g., girl-centered evidence gathering in Rwanda and Ethiopia.

Quantifiable outcome

• Engineering director in Silicon Valley workshop realized they've been treating culture change as a technical problem - enabling mindset shift
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

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.

• CynefinCocoreTechnology or IntegrationCynefinCo appears as a past client or collaborator. Cynefin framework is a conceptual framework used for sense-making that Tony Quinlan works with. The framework offers five sense-making contexts or domains to help people address different types of problems.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Heidrick & Struggles: Heidrick's Leadership Advisory practice addresses senior-leader development and organizational effectiveness comparable to Narrate's Complexity Coaching & Mentoring and Board Advisor offerings, with a global enterprise client base.
• Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry's Leadership Development and Organizational Consulting practices serve enterprise clients on executive coaching, culture change, and transformation — overlapping with Narrate's Complexity Coaching and Team Potential offerings.
• Bain & Company: Bain's Organization and Change Management practice serves multinational clients on transformation mandates comparable to Narrate's enterprise engagements, with broader geographic footprint and larger engagement teams.
• McKinsey & Company: Global management consulting incumbent serving many of the same Fortune 500 and government clients (Pfizer, Unilever, AstraZeneca) that Narrate serves. Comparable at the level of buyer and engagement type, though Narrate occupies a niche methodology position rather than competing head-on.
• BCG (Boston Consulting Group): BCG's Organisational Design and Change Management practices overlap with Narrate's transformation and complexity work, serving similar multinational and government buyers with broader, scaled delivery capabilities.
• Deloitte (Consulting): Deloitte's Human Capital and Transformation practices address many of the same senior-leader change management and organizational design problems Narrate serves, at significantly greater scale and breadth.

Direct peers

• RHR International: RHR International specializes in executive coaching and leadership development for senior leaders, closely matching Narrate's Complexity Coaching & Mentoring, Strategic Advisor, and Board Advisor service lines.
• Cognitive Edge: Founded by Dave Snowden, Cognitive Edge is the originator of the SenseMaker® methodology and Cynefin framework that Narrate uses. It is the most direct methodological peer and a potential partner or competitor in narrative research and complexity-based consulting.
• CynefinCo: CynefinCo is explicitly named as a partner/collaborator of Narrate and operates in the same sense-making and complexity consulting space. Direct overlap in framework usage (Cynefin) and target buyer (senior leaders navigating complexity) make it a close comparable.

Emerging players

• Volans: Volans is a boutique strategy and innovation consultancy working on systems-level change and complexity with multinational and government clients, comparable in scale and posture to Narrate and addressing overlapping buyer needs in transformation and narrative-led change.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Narrate_uk
• Facebookfacebook.com/narrateuk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/narrate-ltd

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 Narrate