What businesses say after working with us

We brought Northkite in for the Operational Risk Session after a period of rapid hiring. The session surfaced three areas we had genuinely not looked at properly — nothing dramatic, but the kind of thing that can cause real friction if left unaddressed. The safeguards list we received was practical enough that we started working through it the following week.

I was a bit uncertain about whether a short session would produce anything genuinely useful, given what I've seen from advisory engagements in the past. It was more structured than I expected, and the written summary was clear and specific to our situation. The follow-up check afterwards was a good touch — they noticed we had not actioned one of the safeguards and asked why.

We engaged Northkite for the Governance Routine Project when we moved from eight to twenty-two staff over about a year. The templates they produced are things we still use daily. The routine outline helped us establish a monthly review meeting that has actually stayed in the calendar — which is not always easy with a growing team.

The ongoing advisory arrangement suits us well. I have a standing call each month and it keeps me focused on operational matters that I would otherwise postpone in favour of more pressing commercial concerns. James is direct, which I appreciate — he tells me when something needs attention rather than simply validating whatever I say.

We are a small hospitality business and I was not sure if this type of advisory was really intended for companies our size. It was. The session was adapted to our situation — no attempt to apply frameworks built for larger organisations. The deliverable was short and usable, which matters when you do not have a large management team to implement complicated recommendations.

What I found valuable was that the scope was stated plainly at the beginning. We knew exactly what we were and were not receiving. That clarity made it easy to explain to our board why we were engaging an external adviser and what the output would be. The governance routine templates have become a standard part of how we run our quarterly reviews.