About us

Our purpose is to help impact-driven organisations realise their ambitions for society. Our experienced, interdisciplinary team of consultants and partners brings a reputation for quality, excellence and partnership.

Our team

Our team of experts brings together the analytical capabilities of the private sector with significant experience supporting some of the world’s most successful charities, NGOs and foundations. Your consulting engagement will benefit from our multi-disciplinary, open approach.

  • Founder and Chief Executive of Firetail.

    He has over twenty-five years' experience as a strategy consultant and is an advisor to senior leaders in charities, NGOs, foundations and social enterprises.

    At Firetail he oversees our senior strategy and evaluation engagements.

    His clients include the United Nations, the Royal Society, the World Wide Web Foundation, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and many others. Andy also works as an advisor to a number of start-ups and social ventures.

    He has been involved as a Trustee and Governor in a number of organisations including the Democratic Society, the New Humanitarian and the Allington Trust.

    Prior to founding Firetail, Andy was Head of Strategy for Cancer Research UK, where he ran the Strategy Unit and Consumer Insight teams, covering fundraising, marketing and public engagement for the UKʼs largest charity. Previous to that, he was a founding member of a commercial strategy consulting firm, and worked for the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit.

    MA (Oxon), Politics, Philosophy and Economics, University of Oxford

  • Director

    Sandra brings over 20 years of experience successfully designing and delivering innovative strategy, advocacy, and policy solutions across the non-profit, government and philanthropic sectors. She has worked to solve tough challenges using a collaborative, people-centred approach across projects in health access and equity, global development, education policy, government accountability, and many others.

    Before joining Firetail, Sandra was a Strategy Officer with the Gates Foundation where she led, advised and collaborated on strategy development to advance the foundation’s global policy and advocacy efforts in Africa and South-East Asia. Prior to this, Sandra worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, where she led and facilitated large-scale government transformation projects for the federal government to ensure all Americans have adequate access to healthcare.

    Sandra is passionate about human rights advocacy and migrant protection. In 2011, she lived and worked in Berlin as a German Chancellor Fellow through the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, where she conducted research on the integration of migrant children in German society. More recently, she served on the Board of Pro-Choice Washington in Seattle, USA, a leading reproductive rights advocacy organization.

    MPA, International Development and MA, International Relations, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, USA

    BA, English Literature, Organisation and Human Resources, Washington University in St. Louis, USA

  • Senior Consultant

    Henry has a background in research and strategy. At Firetail, he conducted the market research that underpinned the newly formed Queen's Commonwealth Trust. He has advised the General Medical Council on how to make best use of its large datasets and potential business models to underpin its data products.

    He has evaluated Privacy International's Detecting the Controllers programme, and the National Housing Federation-led Homes for Britain campaign, which ran during the 2015 General Election. At an organisational level, he has evaluated the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats, an academic institute shared across five UK universities. He has helped several organisations develop their fundraising strategies, including the British Heart Foundation, King's College London and Anthony Nolan.

    Before joining Firetail, Henry spent five years as a research consultant, working across a range of projects in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Most recently, he worked for Nesta’s research and policy team, conducting comparative analysis of UK and US venture capital and researching innovation in the public sector. He has also worked as an analyst for the Cabinet Office and the Scottish Government. Henry is a member of the Social Research Association and proficient in the use of a range of data tools and techniques including, among others, Excel, SPSS, Tableau and R.

    MA (Hons), Politics, University of Edinburgh, First

    MA, Jurisprudence and Political Theory, University College London

  • Director

    Ben is a Director at Firetail. He is an experienced strategy, operating model, and futures thinking consultant, with 12 years of experience working in, and consulting for, UK Government and social progress clients..

    At Firetail, Ben has worked with the Royal Society to review the effectiveness of their governance, led the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Constitution and Governance review, undertaken a range of science and technology futures projects for Northern Ireland's Matrix panel, and supported a range of other clients with questions of strategy, operating model, and governance.

    Before joining Firetail, Ben’s work across the UK Government included leading the organisational design, development, and implementation of a new national horizon scanning unit.

    He also led multiple organisational maturity and operating model reviews for civil service units, including developing a new national innovation, science & technology function and helping them to redefine and refocus their innovation strategy.

    Ben has delivered a range of strategic foresight and futures analysis projects across Government, including a wide-ranging Future of Data report to help drive a UK Government organisation’s national data strategy and conducting strategic scenario analysis to inform UK Government investment decisions.

    Outside of work, Ben is  a trustee for a youth mental health charity in London and is a listening volunteer and training lead with the Samaritans, and has previously held branch leader and deputy director roles.

    BA (Hons), Philosophy & Mathematics, University of Southampton

  • Senior Consultant

    Nicola is a Senior Consultant at Firetail. She has led diverse strategy, research and evaluation engagements for the British Council, the Global Public Investment Network (GPIN) and digital rights organisation the Tor Project.

    Nicola delivered new research for The Fred Hollows Foundation on the impact of women leaders in the global health sector.

    Nicola has also worked with WWF International, Access Now, the Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR), and Macmillan Cancer Support.

    Prior to joining Firetail, Nicola worked at Lighthouse Strategic Leadership, a bespoke management consultancy based in Johannesburg, South Africa, supporting clients in health, FMCG, and telecommunications industries.

    Nicola brings previous experience as a researcher at the Brenthurst Foundation, a leading economic policy and governance think-tank, and at Amnesty International’s Southern Africa regional office.

    MA, Development Studies, University of the Witwatersrand

    BSocSci (Hons), Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and International Relations, University of Cape Town

  • Consultant

    Josh is a Consultant at Firetail with experience across strategy, evaluations, and futures projects. He has led several projects at Firetail including a multi-year impact evaluation for a major climate change campaign, and a foresight study of demand drivers for advanced connectivity for the Department for the Economy. Josh has also supported numerous other projects including a scenario planning study into the future of animal wellbeing for the RSPCA, and the development of a new strategy for the Meningitis Research Foundation.

    Prior to joining Firetail, Josh worked as an analyst at a financial investigations company, where his role centred around research and data analysis. He has also worked in the finance sector in Hong Kong and spent time at a non-governmental organisation in Hanoi.

    Josh is proficient in the use of Excel, SPSS and Stata.

    BSc, Economics, University of Birmingham

  • Finance Manager

    Elisabeth is the Finance Manager at Firetail responsible for invoicing, budgeting, financial management, HR management and operations.

    An experienced AAT qualified accounting technician, she previously worked as a finance manager in a variety of SMEs including firms in education and industry.

    Elisabeth is fluent in English and German.

  • Associate Consultant

    Before joining Firetail, he worked as a Research Assistant at the National Defence University in Helsinki, where he contributed to foreign policy and strategy research, and authored a paper on the medium-term implications of EU and NATO strategy in the 2020s. Anttoni also worked on projects to monitor global responses to the war in Ukraine and conduct a long-term strategic review of China’s military build-up.

    Anttoni brings previous experience in business development and partnership building approaches at a range of start-ups across the urban mobility and social media sectors.

    With an academic background in European Politics as well as Business Administration, Anttoni is well versed in qualitative and quantitative research methods. He is proficient in the use of Excel and R.

    Anttoni is a native Finnish speaker, and also speaks English and German.

    MSc, European Politics and Policy, University College London

    BSc, International Business Administration, Erasmus University Rotterdam

  • Associate Consultant

    Madeleine is an Associate Consultant at Firetail.

    Before joining Firetail, Madeleine worked in strategic communications in Paris. Her role involved focused market research on the financial, industry and public affairs environment in France and abroad.

    Madeleine worked as a volunteer researcher for the Covid-19 Domestic Violence Task Force UK/EU in Cambridge, a student-led project advocating for policy change on gender-based violence in the UK and EU. Madeleine brings writing and research experience as a former editor for the King’s College London Policy Research Centre.

    As part of her master’s degree, Madeleine evaluated the relationship between the Austrian far-right and radical narratives of asylum-seeker criminality through a broad qualitative analysis of social media data. She collaborated in an Erasmus EU4Law research project developing understanding of the implications of Rule of Law Conditionality for the functioning of the EU in the 2020s.

    Madeleine has a background in languages and speaks French and German. She has taught both in the UK and abroad, as well as English as a foreign language.

    MA, European Studies (German Specialism), King’s College London and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

    BA (Hons), Modern and Medieval Languages, University of Cambridge

  • Associate Consultant

    Having recently joined Firetail, Lucy contributes a rich background in European policy, migration studies, and arts-based community engagement.

    She brings experience from the Royal Ballet and Opera, where she supported high-impact philanthropy initiatives and contributed to CRM systems to optimise donor relationships.

    Her previous work at Dartington International Music Festival involved managing multi-week arts programs and outreach for bursary and internship opportunities, while earlier, at the British Council in Hamburg, she led English language activities for students aged 10 - 18, adapting for remote teaching during the pandemic.

    Lucy holds a Master’s in European Studies, notably earning high marks while studying at Sciences Po, Paris, for her analysis of EU migration strategies in Niger.

    She also holds a Bachelor’s in Modern Languages (German and Italian).

    Lucy speaks English, German, French, and Italian.

Our partners

We work with a network of partners that support Firetail on a project basis. These established professionals provide additional background, expertise and insight. Our partners are valued for their in-depth topic knowledge, unique skillset and extensive experience in their field.

Interested in being part of our network?
If you or your organisation have experience in a particular sector, industry or skill and see opportunities to work together, get in touch. 

Please send an email to recruit@firetail.co.uk 

  • Sustainability, ESG and social impact

    Nick is an experienced strategy consultant, executive coach and a qualified non-executive director, with a specific focus on sustainability, ESG and social impact. He has 30 years of professional experience in the Corporate and Non-Profit sectors, supporting organisations to articulate their purpose, develop strategies, rethink their business model and create frameworks and toolkits for managing and reporting on impact. Nick has lived and worked in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Indonesia and Australia; and has conducted projects in a number of other countries.

    Nick started his career in Frankfurt and London as an investment banker, including with Kleinwort Benson. He subsequently spent four years with WWF in Switzerland and Indonesia before joining Bain in Australia as a consultant. More recently, Nick was the interim Head of Research and Consulting at NPC where he led the process for refreshing NPC’s strategy and driving strategic business development. Prior to that, Nick was a Director of SVA Consulting in Australia, supporting a broad range of clients from small start-ups to large government departments to develop strategies and business models to increase their impact.

    Nick also works as an executive coach and as an advisor to number of organisations. He is currently a non-executive director of a UK-based ESG software start-up, a Singapore-based social enterprise incubator and hub, and an Australian non-profit sporting body.

    MBA, INSEAD

  • AI and data science

    Fran is a leading expert and advisor to government and health actors on issues relating to data and AI. She is a data science and data strategy specialist with broad experience in cutting-edge analysis, and AI and data science technologies.

    Fran is a board member at the Ada Lovelace Institute, an independent research and deliberative body with a mission to ensure data and AI work for people and society, and at Action against Age-Related Macular Degeneration. She is the VP of Data at Healx, which focuses on the potential of AI for rare diseases.

    Until recently, she was a board member at Bethnal Green Ventures, a leading tech for good funder, and a founding trustee at DataKind UK, a nonprofit harnessing the power of data science and AI in the service of humanity.

    Through these experiences, she has a hands-on knowledge of the dynamics of the AI startup and scale-up world, as well as a practical understanding of the relevant AI technologies and most recent innovations.

    BA, Maths & Philosophy, University of Oxford

  • Technological, political, and social change

    Michael Harris is an experienced researcher and writer who has worked across numerous sectors including education, technology, innovation, government, public services, and urban planning. He has produced more than a hundred leading reports for organizations, both his own writing and working with some of the most important scholars across many fields. His work has been featured in national media including BBC News, The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, and Prospect magazine, as well as numerous leading academic journals. He has also used his experience to build up effective policy and research teams for a succession of organisations, increasing their impact on government policy and practitioners in many sectors.

    Michael's research interests have included reforming education so it harnesses the latest technologies, how leading businesses and organisations innovate in radical new ways, rethinking how public services can be organised to better serve people's needs and save money, and challenging the closed way in which much government policy is developed. Most recently he has focused on planning for the most challenging future trends, such as climate change, population growth, economic and technological disruption, and the worldwide erosion of trust in political institutions.

    Michael has also published four books about planning for the future, encompassing challenges such as environmental destruction, technological disruption, political instability, and generational change. He is currently working on his fifth book, about the metaverse. He is based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and teaches and researches digital technologies at the International College of Digital Innovation at Chiang Mai University.

    BA and PhD, University of Sheffield

  • Smart, resilient and sustainable cities

    Stephen is Founder and Director of City Global Futures, a leading Smart and Sustainable Cities consultancy. He draws on 20+ years of senior level experience and works with cities, government bodies, communities, universities and businesses across the West of England, the UK and around the world.

    Stephen was formerly Director of Futures at Bristol City Council. At the Bristol City Council, he took a strategic lead on Smart Cities, environmental sustainability, urban resilience and international strategy. His department achieved many successes for Bristol such as securing the title of European Green Capital 2015. Stephen took strategic responsibility for ensuring effective delivery of these programmes, working closely with the Mayor and city leaders, engaging the community as well as academic and commercial partners in projects ranging from smart meters to open data and autonomous vehicles to city operations and securing inward investment.

    Stephen also set up “Bristol is Open”, a joint venture Smart City Company owned by the City Council and the University of Bristol. He took the role of Director of City Experimentation, developing the pipeline of Internet of Things projects. Previously Stephen set up and ran Connecting Bristol, a city digital partnership that connected the city to a national network of 10 leading digital cities and to Government. Stephen was named Local Government Innovator of the Year for this work on technology and democracy.

    Stephen is a Fellow of the University of Bristol Digital Futures Institute and a Trustee of the Architecture Centre. He is actively involved in research on Digital Placemaking. Stephen has a severe, genetic eyesight condition. In 2019 he joined the board of the Bristol Sight Loss Council where he works on employment and transport opportunities for blind and visually impaired people.

    MSc, Social Research Methods, University of Surrey

    BA, Fine Art, Leeds Beckett University

  • Open Web, Data, Digital Rights, Technology & Society

    Josema is a seasoned manager, strategist, and executive with over 25 years of experience in open Web and digital rights. He was the Interim CEO of the World Wide Web Foundation, the organisation founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the Web’s inventor to promote the open Web as a public good and a fundamental right.

    During his 12-year tenure, he played a crucial role in strategy and development and established and managed partnerships and multi-stakeholder networks that united hundreds of organisations. Josema was also the eGovernment Lead at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the organisation developing open standards and guidelines that make the Web work.

    He has served on expert groups at the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, the Open Government Partnership (OGP), the European Commission and ICANN. Educated as a software engineer, he worked as an IT analyst, consultant, and trainer early in his career. He founded a web start-up in 1997.

    BSc, Computer Science, Universidad de Oviedo

Our clients

Our clients work around the world on the greatest challenges facing society, from global health to climate change, from science and innovation to human rights, to democracy and beyond. They are united by the scale of their ambition and their desire for positive social progress.

Our values

Our culture is important to us. Our values are the foundation of that culture. Our values were developed by the team, and represent who we are, what we stand for and how we behave.

They describe who we aspire to be, with our clients and with each other.

We are positive

We believe in people
We focus on answers
We are optimists

We are collaborative

We solve problems together
We build long-term relationships
We know diversity is a strength

We succeed and fail together
We support and care for each other
We trust each other

We are one team

We respect ourselves and our clients
We take responsibility
We tell the truth and do what is right

We work with integrity

We are curious

We are interested in the world around us
We listen and seek to understand
We never stop learning

We care about the impact of our work
We commit to high standards
We hold ourselves accountable

We do work that matters

Firetail is proud to be officially certified as a B-Corp, which demonstrates our commitment to social impact, as well as high environmental and social standards. We are also proud members of the 1% for the Planet coalition. Learn more about our how these certifications help us to live our values here.

Work and careers

People at Firetail come from different backgrounds, but we all share common traits. We’re practical optimists, working openly and with purpose towards social progress. We believe in the power of ideas, grounded in evidence and insights, to help transform the world around us. 

Consulting at Firetail gives you the opportunity to make a positive impact while using your strong analytical and strategic consulting skills.

At Firetail you will advise leading organisations that work at the cutting edge of social progress. We look for skilled individuals that are committed to positive social change. 

To learn more about our people and their experience of working at Firetail, read some of our alumni stories.

Firetail is an equal opportunity employer. We value the difference inclusivity and diversity make. 

Current roles

Firetail is currently recruiting for Associate Consultants.

For more information and instructions on how to apply, please download the candidate pack linked below.

Application deadline: Friday 16th August, 2024.

Associate Consultant candidate pack.