Ex Sky & Barclays leaders join Beyond the Blueprint for growth

Four former senior executives from Sky, Barclays, Deloitte and KFC have joined Beyond the Blueprint, a UK growth advisory firm, to support its expansion and client demand.

The new partners—Cheryl Calverley, Will Worsdell, Charli Kumar, and Jen Wright—each have held high-level positions across a range of industries, including media, finance, consulting, fast-moving consumer goods and technology. All are accredited executive coaches and bring significant experience from their roles in founding, scaling and transforming companies at various stages of development.

They join the firm's co-founders, Patrick Ugeux, previously of Deloitte, and Gareth Hussey, formerly with O2 Telefónica. The decision to bring in additional partners comes in response to what the company describes as a growing desire among UK business leaders for more integrated approaches to growth amid complex changes driven by technology and economic uncertainty.

Sector experience

The arrival of the new team members expands Beyond the Blueprint's coverage across sectors including technology, retail, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), direct-to-consumer, and financial services. The firm reports increased client interest in strategies addressing the dual challenge of significant market shifts and opportunities emerging from advances such as artificial intelligence.

Cheryl Calverley, who previously served as Chief Executive at Eve Sleep and more than quadrupled the company's profitability, joins alongside Will Worsdell, former founder of a global marketing services agency. Will built and scaled this business to a multi-million-pound operation. Charli Kumar is noted for her tenure as Managing Director of two Sky streaming businesses, and recognition as one of the UK's Top 50 Women Gamechangers in TV. Jen Wright has led substantial digital, data and AI transformation initiatives for clients such as KFC, BT and Specsavers.

In addition to the new hires, co-founders Ugeux and Hussey contribute their own histories of navigating business transformation. Patrick Ugeux has held significant roles shaping strategic change at organisations such as Clear Channel and Liberty Global, while Gareth Hussey managed the multi-billion-pound consumer P&L at O2 UK, delivering growth through the pandemic and advising scale-up enterprises at Octopus.

Growth model

Founded in 2023, Beyond the Blueprint offers a partner-only business model combining board and senior team advisory with executive coaching. The firm reports work with board and executive teams at companies including Octopus Investments, Just Group plc and Next 15 plc, and focuses on enabling growth through events such as post-merger integration, new business ventures and significant strategic shifts.

The company's approach, which blends strategic advisory with attention to organisational dynamics and executive coaching, is designed to address the common pitfalls in business transformation. Research cited by the firm suggests that 70% of business transformations fail, often because of gaps between strategic vision, team alignment and practical execution. Beyond the Blueprint aims to close these gaps by addressing both technical and human factors.

"We've been struck by how deeply our approach resonates with leaders and investors. By expanding the business, we can support more boards and leadership teams through systemic change, not just by shaping strategy, but, as trained executive coaches, by tackling the human dynamics that enable it," Patrick Ugeux, co-founder of Beyond the Blueprint, said.

"Having led and coached growth, technology transformation and AI-driven change in major organisations, I know that it's this combination of experience, creativity and focus on the individual leaders in the room that truly helps businesses rise to their biggest challenges. Beyond The Blueprint's integrated approach to human dynamics and business mechanics is what really drew me in," Jen Wright, former KFC leader and partner at Beyond the Blueprint, said.

The newly strengthened team at Beyond the Blueprint reports growing engagement from clients looking for advisory support that bridges strategy, leadership and organisational culture. The firm is currently expanding its operations and pursuing business growth across EMEA and North America.