Bridging the Chasm of Northern Ambition and Prosperity

Robert White, Founder - True North

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What if Northern businesses joined forces to unlock the region’s full potential? For Robert White, founder of True North, networks that facilitate collaboration and support could be the catalyst for this movement. The North has no shortage of ambition or innovation, yet a persistent disparity in productivity and prosperity remains. True North was founded to address this – connecting purpose-led organisations, fostering collaboration, and turning shared insights into meaningful action.

Launched in 2023, True North empowers businesses in the North to work together to unlock their full potential. Now connecting 408 purpose-led organisations, from privately owned, owner-managed businesses to social enterprises, the network amplifies the collective impact of these businesses. The goal is simple: create a platform for innovation, ensure these businesses have a voice, and provide a support network to help them succeed and scale their impact across the region.

In a previous episode, we spoke with Nik White, Managing Partner at Brabners, who shared insights into the firm’s approach to purpose-led business. Now, Robert White, CEO of Brabners and the driving force behind True North, joins us to dive deeper into the network he founded to unite purpose-driven businesses across the North of England. His passion for fostering collaboration between businesses shines through in True North, which he believes is the key to tackling the region’s long-standing challenges.

In this episode, Robert discusses why businesses can no longer wait for top-down solutions and how creating a connected, purpose-led community is key to achieving practical solutions. He shares how True North is empowering businesses to overcome the North’s productivity challenge, creating a platform for positive, meaningful change. He also explores how regional clusters and inter-business collaboration can drive innovation, why small, purpose-driven businesses are crucial to the region’s economic transformation, and how initiatives like Northern Stars are challenging outdated stereotypes about Northern enterprise.

Robert White

Fuelling Growth with Purpose: The Cycle of Success

Mike Scott, Senior Partner/ James Beatton, Managing Partner- Cripps

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Can purpose drive a firm’s growth and success? In 2022, Mike Scott, Senior Partner at Cripps, first appeared on The Purposeful Strategist, discussing how Cripps aligned its purpose with business strategy. In this episode, Mike returns, joined by James Beatton, Managing Partner at Cripps, to reflect on the progress of their five-year strategy, how their purpose continues to fuel growth, and the culture they have managed to maintain.

Cripps is a leading UK law firm, ranked among the top 100, with over 500 lawyers and B Corp certification. Their reputation for delivering exceptional legal services while staying true to their values has been key to their success. Cripps’ mission to ‘be the difference’ has shaped their culture and strategy, leading to continuous growth and a meaningful impact on clients, communities, and the planet. In 2024, the success of their purpose-driven approach was recognised with the title of Independent Law Firm of the Year.

In this episode, Mike and James discuss how aligning values with business decisions shapes client experiences and drives profitability. This cycle of growth and purpose enables Cripps to reinvest in purpose-driven initiatives, creating a cycle where success fuels further impact. They also explore how purpose alignment has been key in Cripps’ successful mergers, with shared values and cultural synergy driving seamless integrations. The conversation extends to the evolving role of technology in the legal industry, examining how AI and automation streamline processes, reduce administrative burdens, and empower teams to focus more on building meaningful client relationships.

Mike Scott and James Beatton

Balancing Long-Term Purpose with Short-Term Business Needs

Sara Bailey, Senior Partner- Trowers & Hamlins

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Sara Bailey first appeared on The Purposeful Strategist in 2023, sharing the ambitious changes Trowers & Hamlins was undertaking and her drive to improve social mobility in the legal profession. Now, returning to the podcast, she reflects on the progress of those plans – what’s worked, what’s been challenging, and how she ensures long-term purpose isn’t lost in short-term demands. With over 30 years of experience in complex real estate and regeneration projects, she has played a key role in shaping the firm’s strategy and leadership. As Senior Partner, she continues to embed purpose and values into the firm’s long-term vision, ensuring they remain actionable day-to-day.

Trowers & Hamlins is an international law firm known for providing commercial advice that helps businesses and governments tackle future challenges. Established in 1777, the firm has evolved through multiple identity changes and mergers, now operating globally with offices in Dubai, Malaysia, and Singapore. As a people-driven business, its purpose centres on delivering innovative solutions for clients while maintaining a commitment to collaboration, culture, and responsible business.

In an era where businesses face pressure to cut costs and drive efficiency, true growth requires more than financial targets – it demands space for people to innovate, develop, and lead. But in a fast-paced environment, where immediate priorities often take over, how can leaders ensure that big-picture goals, like embedding purpose, driving innovation, and fostering inclusion, don’t get lost in the urgency of the present?

In this episode, Sara reflects on the progress of the firm’s transformation plans, sharing insights into their 2030 strategy and the steps they’re taking to embed purpose at the heart of their growth. She discusses how she balances long-term ambitions with short-term business realities, fosters an inclusive culture, and leads with empathy while ensuring commercial success. Sara also touches on the role of AI in law, the importance of their equal-sharing model in strengthening collaboration, and why having a trusted advisor outside the firm has been essential to her leadership journey. Alongside her work, she speaks candidly about her personal mission to improve social mobility in the legal profession, why progress has been slow, and how she hopes to drive real impact in the years ahead.

Sara Bailey

Law Firm Finds Its True North

Nik White, Managing Partner- Brabners

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In business, you get the behaviours you reward, says Nik White, Managing Partner at Brabners, a leading UK independent law firm. That’s why the firm has built its values into the criteria for promotion and reward.

Making the firm’s purpose and values explicit has helped Brabners recruit the right people and manage the dynamics in the partner group. The effort has also helped maintain the unique Brabners culture as the firm grows.

In this episode of The Purposeful Strategist, Nik discusses the firm's commitment to community engagement, the significance of B Corp certification, and the need for authenticity in purpose and strategy.

Listen to the conversation, and let us know what you think in the comments.  

Nik White

Building Trust in Health Research

Matt Westmore, CEO - Health Research Authority

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The Health Research Authority (HSA) was established in 2011 with the core purpose of protecting and promoting the interests of patients and the public in health and social care research. For the past three years the HSA has focused on accelerating the research approval process, and ensuring the right level of diversity and inclusion in clinical trials. As the authority begins to develop its next three-year strategy, we asked Chief Executive Matt Westmore about progress to date, and what the UK needs to do to maintain its competitive position as a research powerhouse.

Our discussion covers the significant advances in health research during the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of public trust in the research process, and how the National Health Service gives the UK a competitive advantage in attracting research projects from around the world.

Listen to the conversation on the latest episode of The Purposeful Strategist.

Matt Westmore

Engagement Clarifies Purpose

Graham North, CEO - Anstey Horne

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Between transmission and receipt, a lot can get lost or distorted in a leader’s communications. This can lead to big differences in what employees perceive and what leaders intend. The only way to know is to engage.

That’s why Graham North, Chief Executive Officer at Anstey Horne, has made employee engagement one of the key themes of his leadership, and used it to help articulate the firm’s purpose. Graham is an expert advisor on specialist property issues and a seasoned business leader.  He has been responsible for creating a renewed energy and growth at Anstey Horne, while developing a leadership cadre to drive continued growth. 

Anstey Horne is the leading authority in specialist surveying services including Rights of Light, Party Walls, Neighbourly matters, Building Surveying, Project Management, Cost Consultancy and Fire Consultancy. It traces its London roots back to 1795. The business now employs about 120 people and operates across the UK.

Listen as Graham describes the firm's evolution, purpose, and strategic objectives on this episode of The Purposeful Strategist.

Graham North

Drones Deliver This Company’s Purpose

Simon Thompson, Group CEO - Windracers

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Windracers, the UK-based manufacturer of self-flying aircraft and avionics, was founded to help humanitarian agencies get essential supplies to remote communities during emergencies and disasters.

The company’s ULTRA MK2 aircraft, a low cost, self-flying, fixed wing cargo plane, will be used by Aviation Sans Frontieres this year to deliver supplies for humanitarian organisations in Africa. With a payload of over 100kg and a range of 1,000 km, ULTRA has flown reconnaissance and resupply in Ukraine, geological and wildlife surveying in Antarctica, parcel delivery off the Scottish and English coasts, wildfire missions, and dropped medical supplies by parachute. 

Windracers believes that the craft is also ideally placed to help achieve its commercial ambition to be “the best value end-to-end cargo drone solution in the market”.

Group Chief Executive Officer Simon Thompson explains how Windracers balances its humanitarian purpose with its commercial objectives, on this episode of The Purposeful Strategist.

As CEO of Windracers Group, Simon focuses on design, product R&D, fundraising, strategic partnerships and global growth of the company. Simon was CEO of Royal Mail and has held senior leadership roles across multiple industries in global companies such as Apple, Honda, HSBC and Motorola.

Windracers was conceived to provide essential logistical support to humanitarian agencies looking to sustain communities through emergencies where transportation links are poor.  Their solution was designed to provide a robust, cost-effective alternative to expensive, crewed aviation for reaching local and remote villages quickly and effectively.

The Windracers system – aircraft, software and operational services - has emerged at the forefront of uncrewed, autonomous aviation and its application and utility for middle-mile logistics is relevant to a wide range of sectors and situations.

Simon Thompson in front of Ultra MK2