What our Clients Say About Us
"The coaching and mentoring I received under the Train to Gain Leadership and Management Grant enabled me to step back from the day-to-day operations of the business and focus on the strategic needs of the company. Peter Desmond provided me with an independent and expert sounding board to consider a number of issues that I was facing as a director a small business. I recommend coaching with Peter. He is encouraging, and consistent. With his support I’ve learned things about myself that I didn’t know, and I was showed a different approach to assess what I really want to do regarding my professional career and how prepare myself for it in terms of priorities and mental aptitude toward the goal. Thanks to his guidance I feel I have a clearer idea of where I'm going.”
Pilar Jimenez, Manager, AESA (UK)
"I undertook Train to Gain Leadership and Management training with Peter Desmond of Growth International, and found the experience very valuable. Peter was able to focus my mind on key challenges facing our organization and challenged some basic assumptions I had held without thinking. He also helped work through some solutions with a logic and clarity that would be a luxury in the normal pressure of day-to-day management."
Frank Wingate, CEO, West London Business
"When our Finance Director left, we needed urgent help to tide us over until we could find a new person for the position. We contacted Growth International who provided us with a part-time finance director and other resources to assist with our cash flow management. The people they provided fitted well within our corporate culture, which was very important to us."
David Brooks, Managing Director, The Inbucon Group
"Peter Desmond, as Visiting Fellow of Richmond College, lectured on two modules of Financial and Managerial Accounting of our MBA programme to classes of up to 25 students. The approach that Peter used in lecturing is aimed at helping the students to understand how accounting techniques and principles can assist them in their future work as managers in a commercial environment. Whilst technical issues are important to grasp, the interactive approach that Peter uses with case studies and major financial analysis projects of publicly quoted companies allowed the students to bring accounting into their everyday business experience. I have been pleased to have Peter on the teching staff and hope that we can continue to develop the Accounting course in the future to ensure that our students gain meaningful and relevant instruction on a potentially dry topic."
Michael Smith, Director, Richmond American International University in London
“Peter's enabling style of coaching provided me with a reflective and practical approach to learning about my leadership style and how I could improve it. The benefits of our work together have been felt by both myself and my team. I look forward to working with Peter again in the future.”
Ian Barratt, Chief Executive, Institute of Management Consultancy.
"Peter Desmond worked as consultant with Business Link as Acting Head of Finance of Business Link London City Partners (BLLCP), Integration Project Manager for the integration of BLLCP with 8 other Business Links, and finally as Interim Financial Controller of Business Link for London over a four year period. He showed remarkable ability to adapt to these various roles. He provided sound financial information and advice to the management team and board. He was a good communicator at board level and supportive of other management colleagues and the staff in the teams that he led. He introduced clear management accounting structure, and embedded financial accountability with in BLLCP. He managed a turnaround in middle management attitudes leading to improved budgeting and value for money. Peter exceeded my expectations in how he contributed to the development of the business. I would both recommend him and use his services again."
Ermine Evans, ex CEO Business Link for London
"Peter Desmond coached me during a period of significant business change for me, when I needed to plan and implement a business development strategy and to make challenging decisions. When he and I began our work together I was feeling both overwhelmed and excited about the business. Peter’s approach was goal-orientated, and I welcomed this. He facilitated me skilfully to articulate my goals so that they were specific, measurable and time-bound, and he helped me to test whether they were also achievable and realistic, while at the same time stretching me. He was always organised and prepared for the sessions. He created a safe, supportive, non-judgmental space in which I was able to articulate my concerns and confusions, and indeed feel happy about the issues they involved. He both brought his considerable business experience and insights to ensure that my judgments and plans remained realistic, and reflected back what he was hearing from me, which gave me new clarity and perspectives, and the confidence to tackle challenges in new ways. He helped me explore more possibilities, and in a more expansive way, than I would have done on my own. He applied techniques selectively and in a way which was appropriate for specific circumstances. With Peter’s support I became more aware of my motivations and drivers, and felt I was really sorting my issues, not simply arbitrarily, but knowing how and why I was making my choices, with a medium-term perspective as well as a short-term perspective. Peter was completely empathetic to my agenda and my style: the methods he applied tapped in to my approach and were therefore very meaningful for me. He combines clarity with empathy, and is a good listener. I achieved my goals in every respect, and furthermore felt more confident and purposeful about the direction I wanted to take my business in. The impact of that, in turn, was felt in every business function, and in the increased efficiency which resulted. The learning which I drew enabled me to change the way I approached all business situations by being more focused on priorities."
Lindsay Wittenberg, Executive and Career Coach