What Higson does

Higson is a UK-based people development consultancy specializing in culture and behavior change, headquartered in London with a team of eight named practitioners. The firm delivers training, coaching, and culture benchmarking services to enterprise and mid-market clients, with an active roster of 30+ named organizations including Schroders, Triodos, Irwin Mitchell, Bates Wells, Elsevier, ITV, Cazenove Capital, Imperial College London, and Catch22. Core service lines span leadership training, sales training, presentation and pitch training, individual performance and productivity, psychological safety, communication, feedback culture, and one-to-one coaching, supplemented by proprietary structured offerings such as the Culture Benchmarking Assessment (an eight-pillar diagnostic), the Change Story Tool, the Change Readiness Bridge, and the Culture Pulse Survey.\n\nThe underlying methodology is grounded in organizational psychology and behavioral science, with several team members holding PhDs and credentials from Oxford, Cambridge, and other leading institutions. Higson operates a bespoke, quote-based B2B engagement model, delivering 328 workshops per year across formats including in-person facilitating, online training, coaching, and keynotes. The firm is a certified B Corporation with a current score of 146 (up from 113 at first certification), donates 20% of profits to charity through the Higson Foundation and partner organizations (Cool Earth, Free to Be Kids), and has expanded internationally through ongoing enterprise work with Schroders operating across four continents. Recent commercial extensions include Climate Activation Training, positioning the firm in the sustainability and ESG behavior space.\n\nFrom a revenue mechanics perspective, Higson is a people-led professional services firm with no disclosed software product, subscription, or asset-light revenue stream. Pricing is project-based and enterprise-tailored, and the firm's growth depends on senior practitioner utilization and new logo acquisition. The small team, high-touch delivery model, and absence of disclosed financial data constrain revenue predictability for external observers, though the credentialing trajectory (B Corp, Investors in People, Carbon Literate, Top 1% Employer) and client roster indicate a stable, reputation-driven business rather than a venture-scale growth vehicle.

Name

Higson

Legal name

Higson Consulting Limited

Website

https://consulthigson.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Higson is a UK-based people development consultancy delivering psychology-rooted training, coaching, and culture benchmarking to enterprise clients across financial services, legal, media, and education sectors. The firm operates an eight-person London team serving 30+ named organizations with proprietary assessment frameworks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting and Training Services

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Talent Management & Leadership Advisory (Succession, Performance, Culture) (BPACAJAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Learning Management (LMS) & Talent Development (BPACAPAG)

Keywords

• People development consultancy
• Leadership training workshops
• Organizational culture transformation
• Sales training programmes
• Executive coaching 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, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Training Workshops: Business training workshops delivered in-person or virtually, covering leadership, sales, presentation skills, resilience, communication, and productivity. Interactive sessions based on practical tools built on psychological principles.
2. Professional Coaching: Coaching services on leadership, sales, confidence, and mindset. Typically 6 sessions spaced roughly 3 weeks apart with actions set and reviewed between sessions.
3. Culture Benchmarking: Assessment service providing holistic snapshots of organizational culture with tailored recommendations and focus areas for training and embedding strategies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Higson is a people development consultancy that delivers bespoke training workshops, professional coaching, and cultural benchmarking assessments for enterprise and mid-market organisations. Services span leadership development, sales and business development training, pitch and presentation skills, psychological safety, individual performance, communication, productivity, and feedback culture. Engagements combine interactive workshops with one-to-one coaching and embedding strategies to produce lasting behavioural change.

Product overview

Higson is a people development consultancy offering a portfolio of training workshops, coaching, and assessment services designed to transform workplace culture and drive behavioural change. The core offerings include tailored leadership programmes, business development and sales training, pitch and presentation skills, individual performance enhancement, psychological safety development, communication improvement, productivity training, and feedback culture programmes. These services are complemented by cultural benchmarking assessments and coaching services (typically 6 sessions over 3 weeks). The company also operates special programmes including the Higson Foundation (pro-bono development for underserved individuals) and Climate Activation Training. A monthly Business Newsletter and Culture Pulse Survey provide ongoing client engagement tools. The company is structured as a Certified B Corporation focused on psychological principles, with 20% of profits donated to charity partners Free to Be Kids and Cool Earth.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Higson Foundation: An annual five-week pro-bono personal development and coaching programme for individuals who would not otherwise have access to such opportunities.
• Higson Podcast

Products and services

• Leadership and Managing Through Change Programme Tailored leadership programme empowering leaders to engage and enhance high performance, covering inclusive culture, motivating and coaching teams, creating psychologically safe environments, sharing impactful feedback, adapting leadership styles, and aligning to strategy.
• Business Development and Sales Training Training designed to help professionals create and strengthen client relationships as trusted partners, covering prospecting, networking, proposal writing, pitching, meeting facilitation, value proposition development, negotiation, and objection handling.
• Pitch and Presentation Skills Training Training to create and deliver impactful presentations and pitches to win business, covering pitch structure, value proposition articulation, audience engagement, delivery skills, and feedback integration.
• Individual Performance Programme Programmes to enhance individual and team performance by strengthening growth mindset, boosting productivity, building confidence, improving resilience, developing emotional intelligence, managing change, preventing burnout, and promoting inclusive culture.
• Psychological Safety Training Training programmes to develop trust and psychological safety within teams, including psychologically safe environments, strengthening trust, creating equal voice, promoting vulnerability, and enhancing listening and empathy skills.
• Communication Enhancement Training Programmes to improve communication within teams and with clients by understanding and adapting to different behaviour styles, recognising communication preferences, and writing inclusive emails and running inclusive meetings.
• Productivity and Effectiveness Training Training to enhance personal and team productivity by recognising focus periods, organising days around energy levels, avoiding multitasking, reducing stress, and using tools to manage time and prioritise tasks.
• Feedback Culture Programme Programmes to create a culture where honest, clear feedback is shared regularly for continuous improvement and growth, covering open feedback culture, constructive dialogue, and effective feedback delivery.
• Cultural Benchmarking Proprietary assessment service that evaluates business culture across eight pillars to provide a holistic snapshot of strengths and improvement areas, with tailored recommendations for training and embedding strategies.
• Coaching Services One-to-one coaching covering leadership coaching, sales coaching, confidence coaching, and mindset coaching, typically delivered over six sessions spaced roughly three weeks apart with actions set and reviewed between sessions.
• Higson Foundation Annual pro-bono five-week development programme for individuals who would not otherwise have access to personal development and coaching, providing confidence and core skills development with one-to-one mentoring and follow-up resources.
• Climate Activation Training Training that provides an understanding of the Climate Emergency and how the planet is impacted, designed to help organisations understand and respond to climate challenges.

Quantifiable outcome

• 57% increase in long-term retention when investing in team development
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers32 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Cool EarthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Higson donates 15% of profits to Cool Earth and runs their training and development. Cool Earth provides financial support to Indigenous peoples and local communities to protect rainforest. In 2023, Cool Earth supported over 59,000 people to protect 457,000 hectares of rainforest.
• Free to Be KidscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Higson runs Free to Be's annual fundraising event, raised £44,000 in 2024. Also helps the Free to Be team develop skills to win more funding bids, manage growth and scale their team. Team volunteers directly as part of their residential programmes.
• You Make ItminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAward-winning charity empowering women from racialised communities. Part of Higson's three-charity partnership portfolio aligned with mission for positive impact.
• Higson FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual pro-bono five-week programme for individuals who would not otherwise have access to personal development and coaching. Includes one-to-one mentoring, continual support, and follow-up resources.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Emerging players

• BetterUp: Digital coaching and leadership development platform with science-backed methodology. Adjacent competitor to Higson's coaching and leadership offerings, particularly for distributed teams.
• Mind Tools: Online learning and management development content provider covering leadership, communication, and productivity skills. Adjacent, with overlapping topic areas but a self-serve digital delivery model.
• Henley Business School: UK business school offering executive education, leadership coaching, and management development programmes. Competes for the same enterprise leadership development budgets as Higson.

Direct peers

• Lane4 Management Development: UK-based performance and people development consultancy applying performance psychology to leadership, team, and culture work. Closely comparable in scale, geography, and psychology-rooted methodology to Higson.
• Roffey Park Institute: UK-based leadership development and organisational change institute offering coaching, programmes, and research. Comparable in leadership/change focus and UK enterprise customer base.
• The Culture Builders: Boutique UK consultancy focused on organisational culture, leadership, and engagement programmes. Similar service scope (culture assessment, leadership development, workshops) and target buyer.
• YSC Consulting: Global leadership and coaching consultancy applying organisational psychology to executive development and culture change. Comparable in psychology-led approach, though operating at materially larger scale.
• Smarter Soul: UK culture, leadership, and employee engagement consultancy delivering workshops, training, and culture transformation programmes. Direct overlap with Higson's core offerings and buyer profile.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Global organisational consulting firm with leadership development, talent, and culture practices. Overlaps with Higson but at enterprise scale across a much broader portfolio of services.
• Deloitte Human Capital: Big 4 human capital practice offering leadership, culture, change, and learning services. Competitor for enterprise culture transformation mandates but at significantly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/higson

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Higson