About Us

Unlike traditional business consultants, we are able to draw on personal experience of working within different sectors – private, public ,and not-for-profit. We offer individual expertise, but it is by putting our strategic minds and contrasting career backgrounds together that we help you achieve your organisation’s most important goals for the more values-driven world we all live and work in today.

Graham Hopkins

Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering; Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society; Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers; FRSA. Sits on the Industrial Fellowship Group of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Previously sat on the RAEng Leadership Group for Diversity and Inclusion; DEFRA Secretary-of-State-appointed Board Member of the Cotswolds National Landscape.

Particular areas of expertise and interests:

Senior-level exec experience and expertise in global industry; lean enterprise, engineering innovation, sustainable development, high-performance culture, infrastructure strategy, change management; B-Corp accreditation.

Jenny Hopkins

Former CEO of a lived-experience disability charity. FRSA. Now partway through a PhD research study on the impact of marketisation on local deaf charities in England. Creator of The Boiling Frog blog and ‘Tools for Charities’. Director and Trustee of two charities.

Particular areas of expertise and interests:

Strategy and governance for small charities and start-up businesses; how to be values-led and growing sustainably; partnership working; B-Corp accreditation.

A unique combination of skillsets for you to tap into.

Working with Penleaf, you’ll find we offer a unique combination of skills and experience that is suited to our world today and offers a genuinely fresh perspective. Following years of building individual reputations in our respective sectors, we reject growth-at-all-costs outdated business consultancy methods in favour of a more fluid, proactive mindset that recognises how modern organisations must adapt to a different kind of operating environment: one where stakeholders demand that businesses align financial goals to positive environmental and community impact, and where charities can demonstrate professionalism and sustainable practices alongside ‘doing good’.

Our clients value our strengths in facilitating discussions they describe as insightful, sensitive, and inspiring. Using a blend of knowledge, experience and expertise gleaned from working at huge global business level to regional charity level, we can guide you on the smart processes of larger corporations while capitalising on the inherent strengths of small organisations in community engagement and partnership working.

Becoming a B Corp may or may not be an aim for your organisation, but the benefits of being values-led are clear for any organisation in today’s world. We’ll help you adapt and excel, ensuring your organisation is poised for lasting success.

Our Ethics Statement

For Penleaf, good business and ethics go hand in hand. We believe all organisations benefit from being aware of their social, economic and environmental impact and their responsibilities to pursue the social good. We also believe organisations are better enabled to deliver on their mission and thrive when they are well run and perform to the highest standards of transparency and accountability to their stakeholders.

Our Values and Ethics Shape the Way We Work

The core of our value system is working with integrity, delivering on our promises, and protecting confidentiality.

Communicating professionalism & quality in everything we do

Actively listening

Sharing our expertise with openness & respect

Working collaboratively with in-house teams you introduce us to

Only making promises we can keep

Respecting client confidentiality at all times

Living Our Values

At Penleaf, we talk a lot about sustainability, social impact and environmental awareness. They have to be more than ‘greenwash’. These are values we hold true in every part of our professional and private lives.

Here are ten value achievements we have made over the past two years:

We certified as a B Corp in January 2022 as one of the highest scorers in the UK in the categories of Governance and Community.
We have committed always to working with local suppliers with strong ethical credentials, and to give preference to under-represented groups wherever possible.
We have donated nearly 6% of our turnover to charitable causes.
We have reduced our carbon footprint over two years by 40%.
We have invested in renewable energy sources by installing solar panels to our building.
We have committed to a flexible working practice to encourage better work/life balance.
We have strongly discouraged any out-of-office-hours working and communications with clients or colleagues.
We have offered iron-clad satisfaction guarantees to all our clients.
We have provided a significantly discounted service rate to under-served groups.
We have each volunteered 6 hours or more every week to good causes.

We welcome you to contact us for an initial discussion.

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