Photography by Agata Noweta

Our team

Our team of experts brings together the analytical capabilities of the private sector with significant experience supporting some of the world’s most successful charities, NGOs and foundations. Your consulting engagement will benefit from our multi-disciplinary, open approach.

  • Founder and Chief Executive of Firetail.

    He has over twenty-five years' experience as a strategy consultant and is an advisor to senior leaders in charities, NGOs, foundations and social enterprises.

    At Firetail he oversees our senior strategy and evaluation engagements.

    His clients include the United Nations, the Royal Society, the World Wide Web Foundation, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and many others. Andy also works as an advisor to a number of start-ups and social ventures.

    He has been involved as a Trustee and Governor in a number of organisations including the Democratic Society, the New Humanitarian and the Allington Trust.

    Prior to founding Firetail, Andy was Head of Strategy for Cancer Research UK, where he ran the Strategy Unit and Consumer Insight teams, covering fundraising, marketing and public engagement for the UKʼs largest charity. Previous to that, he was a founding member of a commercial strategy consulting firm, and worked for the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit.

    MA (Oxon), Politics, Philosophy and Economics, University of Oxford

  • Director

    Ben is a Director at Firetail. He is an experienced strategy, operating model, and futures thinking consultant, with 12 years of experience working in, and consulting for, UK Government and social progress clients..

    At Firetail, Ben has worked with the Royal Society to review the effectiveness of their governance, led the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Constitution and Governance review, undertaken a range of science and technology futures projects for Northern Ireland's Matrix panel, and supported a range of other clients with questions of strategy, operating model, and governance.

    Before joining Firetail, Ben’s work across the UK Government included leading the organisational design, development, and implementation of a new national horizon scanning unit.

    He also led multiple organisational maturity and operating model reviews for civil service units, including developing a new national innovation, science & technology function and helping them to redefine and refocus their innovation strategy.

    Ben has delivered a range of strategic foresight and futures analysis projects across Government, including a wide-ranging Future of Data report to help drive a UK Government organisation’s national data strategy and conducting strategic scenario analysis to inform UK Government investment decisions.

    Outside of work, Ben is  a trustee for a youth mental health charity in London and is a listening volunteer and training lead with the Samaritans, and has previously held branch leader and deputy director roles.

    BA (Hons), Philosophy & Mathematics, University of Southampton

  • Senior Consultant

    Henry has a background in research and strategy. At Firetail, he conducted the market research that underpinned the newly formed Queen's Commonwealth Trust. He has advised the General Medical Council on how to make best use of its large datasets and potential business models to underpin its data products.

    He has evaluated Privacy International's Detecting the Controllers programme, and the National Housing Federation-led Homes for Britain campaign, which ran during the 2015 General Election. At an organisational level, he has evaluated the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats, an academic institute shared across five UK universities. He has helped several organisations develop their fundraising strategies, including the British Heart Foundation, King's College London and Anthony Nolan.

    Before joining Firetail, Henry spent five years as a research consultant, working across a range of projects in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Most recently, he worked for Nesta’s research and policy team, conducting comparative analysis of UK and US venture capital and researching innovation in the public sector. He has also worked as an analyst for the Cabinet Office and the Scottish Government. Henry is a member of the Social Research Association and proficient in the use of a range of data tools and techniques including, among others, Excel, SPSS, Tableau and R.

    MA (Hons), Politics, University of Edinburgh, First

    MA, Jurisprudence and Political Theory, University College London

  • Senior Consultant

    Nicola is a Senior Consultant at Firetail. She has led diverse strategy, research and evaluation engagements for the British Council, the Global Public Investment Network (GPIN) and digital rights organisation the Tor Project.

    Nicola delivered new research for The Fred Hollows Foundation on the impact of women leaders in the global health sector.

    Nicola has also worked with WWF International, Access Now, the Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR), and Macmillan Cancer Support.

    Prior to joining Firetail, Nicola worked at Lighthouse Strategic Leadership, a bespoke management consultancy based in Johannesburg, South Africa, supporting clients in health, FMCG, and telecommunications industries.

    Nicola brings previous experience as a researcher at the Brenthurst Foundation, a leading economic policy and governance think-tank, and at Amnesty International’s Southern Africa regional office.

    MA, Development Studies, University of the Witwatersrand

    BSocSci (Hons), Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and International Relations, University of Cape Town

  • Consultant

    Josh is a Consultant at Firetail with experience across strategy, evaluations, and futures projects. He has led several projects at Firetail including a multi-year impact evaluation for a major climate change campaign, and a foresight study of demand drivers for advanced connectivity for the Department for the Economy. Josh has also supported numerous other projects including a scenario planning study into the future of animal wellbeing for the RSPCA, and the development of a new strategy for the Meningitis Research Foundation.

    Prior to joining Firetail, Josh worked as an analyst at a financial investigations company, where his role centred around research and data analysis. He has also worked in the finance sector in Hong Kong and spent time at a non-governmental organisation in Hanoi.

    Josh is proficient in the use of Excel, SPSS and Stata.

    BSc, Economics, University of Birmingham

  • Consultant

    Anttoni is a Consultant at Firetail with diverse experience across strategy, evaluation and futures work. He led the strategy development process for Leeds United Foundation and has delivered various research and impact evaluation projects for clients working in climate, development and education. Anttoni has also supported on projects with Northern Ireland’s Matrix panel, Global Public Investment Network, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

    Before joining Firetail, he worked as a Research Assistant at the National Defence University in Helsinki, where he contributed to foreign policy and strategy research, and authored a paper on the medium-term implications of EU and NATO strategy in the 2020s. Anttoni also worked on projects to monitor global responses to the war in Ukraine and conduct a long-term strategic review of China’s military build-up.

    With an academic background in European Politics as well as Business Administration, Anttoni is well versed in qualitative and quantitative research methods. He is proficient in the use of Excel and R.

    Anttoni is a native Finnish speaker, and also speaks English and German.

    MSc, European Politics and Policy, University College London

    BSc, International Business Administration, Erasmus University Rotterdam

  • Associate Consultant

    Having recently joined Firetail, Lucy contributes a rich background in European policy, migration studies, and arts-based community engagement.

    She brings experience from the Royal Ballet and Opera, where she supported high-impact philanthropy initiatives and contributed to CRM systems to optimise donor relationships.

    Her previous work at Dartington International Music Festival involved managing multi-week arts programs and outreach for bursary and internship opportunities, while earlier, at the British Council in Hamburg, she led English language activities for students aged 10 - 18, adapting for remote teaching during the pandemic.

    Lucy holds a Master’s in European Studies, notably earning high marks while studying at Sciences Po, Paris, for her analysis of EU migration strategies in Niger.

    She also holds a Bachelor’s in Modern Languages (German and Italian).

    Lucy speaks English, German, French, and Italian.

  • Finance Manager

    Elisabeth is the Finance Manager at Firetail responsible for invoicing, budgeting, financial management, HR management and operations.

    An experienced AAT qualified accounting technician, she previously worked as a finance manager in a variety of SMEs including firms in education and industry.

    Elisabeth is fluent in English and German.

Our partners

We work with a network of partners that support Firetail on a project basis. These established professionals provide additional background, expertise and insight. Our partners are valued for their in-depth topic knowledge, unique skillset and extensive experience in their field.

Interested in being part of our network?
If you or your organisation have experience in a particular sector, industry or skill and see opportunities to work together, get in touch. 

Please send an email to recruit@firetail.co.uk 

  • Strategy, research, and evaluation

    John is an independent strategy, research, and evaluation consultant with 20+ years of experience in exploring questions of evidence, efficacy, value and impact in the social sector. John is a co-founder of Stories of Change, a new partnership exploring the relationship between vision, evidence and narrative in the social sector.

  • AI and data science

    Fran is a leading expert and advisor to government and health actors on issues relating to data and AI. She is a data science and data strategy specialist with broad experience in cutting-edge analysis, and AI and data science technologies.

    Fran is a board member at the Ada Lovelace Institute, an independent research and deliberative body with a mission to ensure data and AI work for people and society, and at Action against Age-Related Macular Degeneration. She is the VP of Data at Healx, which focuses on the potential of AI for rare diseases.

    Until recently, she was a board member at Bethnal Green Ventures, a leading tech for good funder, and a founding trustee at DataKind UK, a nonprofit harnessing the power of data science and AI in the service of humanity.

    Through these experiences, she has a hands-on knowledge of the dynamics of the AI startup and scale-up world, as well as a practical understanding of the relevant AI technologies and most recent innovations.

    BA, Maths & Philosophy, University of Oxford

  • Health care, Education, and Life Sciences

    Kate is the Founder and Director of Sanna Consulting. With over two decades of experience spanning healthcare, academia, and large-scale transformation, she has led complex change programmes and operated at Board level across multiple organisations. Most recently, Kate served as Director of Transformation and Director of Portfolio at King’s College London, where she oversaw enterprise-wide initiatives valued at more than £350m and built empowered, high-performing teams that delivered lasting impact.

    Kate’s earlier career was rooted in the NHS, where she held senior leadership roles at the Royal Marsden, Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s Health Partners, and King’s College Hospital. Her work has consistently bridged the worlds of healthcare, academia, and the private sector—driving transformative change across some of the UK’s most respected institutions.

    Her expertise spans digital programme delivery, strategic partnership development, and operational excellence, with a proven ability to translate strategy into execution. A values-driven and collaborative leader, Kate creates the conditions for innovation, accountability, and people to thrive. Through Sanna Consulting, she helps clients turn strategic ambition into tangible outcomes—mobilising major programmes, leading cultural change, and delivering sustainable value across health, life sciences, and higher education.

    BSc (Hons) Pharmacology (1st class), University of Leeds

  • Technological, political, and social change

    Michael Harris is an experienced researcher and writer who has worked across numerous sectors including education, technology, innovation, government, public services, and urban planning. He has produced more than a hundred leading reports for organizations, both his own writing and working with some of the most important scholars across many fields. His work has been featured in national media including BBC News, The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, and Prospect magazine, as well as numerous leading academic journals. He has also used his experience to build up effective policy and research teams for a succession of organisations, increasing their impact on government policy and practitioners in many sectors.

    Michael's research interests have included reforming education so it harnesses the latest technologies, how leading businesses and organisations innovate in radical new ways, rethinking how public services can be organised to better serve people's needs and save money, and challenging the closed way in which much government policy is developed. Most recently he has focused on planning for the most challenging future trends, such as climate change, population growth, economic and technological disruption, and the worldwide erosion of trust in political institutions.

    Michael has also published four books about planning for the future, encompassing challenges such as environmental destruction, technological disruption, political instability, and generational change. He is currently working on his fifth book, about the metaverse. He is based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and teaches and researches digital technologies at the International College of Digital Innovation at Chiang Mai University.

    BA and PhD, University of Sheffield

  • Smart, resilient and sustainable cities

    Stephen is Founder and Director of City Global Futures, a leading Smart and Sustainable Cities consultancy. He draws on 20+ years of senior level experience and works with cities, government bodies, communities, universities and businesses across the West of England, the UK and around the world.

    Stephen was formerly Director of Futures at Bristol City Council. At the Bristol City Council, he took a strategic lead on Smart Cities, environmental sustainability, urban resilience and international strategy. His department achieved many successes for Bristol such as securing the title of European Green Capital 2015. Stephen took strategic responsibility for ensuring effective delivery of these programmes, working closely with the Mayor and city leaders, engaging the community as well as academic and commercial partners in projects ranging from smart meters to open data and autonomous vehicles to city operations and securing inward investment.

    Stephen also set up “Bristol is Open”, a joint venture Smart City Company owned by the City Council and the University of Bristol. He took the role of Director of City Experimentation, developing the pipeline of Internet of Things projects. Previously Stephen set up and ran Connecting Bristol, a city digital partnership that connected the city to a national network of 10 leading digital cities and to Government. Stephen was named Local Government Innovator of the Year for this work on technology and democracy.

    Stephen is a Fellow of the University of Bristol Digital Futures Institute and a Trustee of the Architecture Centre. He is actively involved in research on Digital Placemaking. Stephen has a severe, genetic eyesight condition. In 2019 he joined the board of the Bristol Sight Loss Council where he works on employment and transport opportunities for blind and visually impaired people.

    MSc, Social Research Methods, University of Surrey

    BA, Fine Art, Leeds Beckett University

  • Open Web, Data, Digital Rights, Technology & Society

    Josema is a seasoned manager, strategist, and executive with over 25 years of experience in open Web and digital rights. He was the Interim CEO of the World Wide Web Foundation, the organisation founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the Web’s inventor to promote the open Web as a public good and a fundamental right.

    During his 12-year tenure, he played a crucial role in strategy and development and established and managed partnerships and multi-stakeholder networks that united hundreds of organisations. Josema was also the eGovernment Lead at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the organisation developing open standards and guidelines that make the Web work.

    He has served on expert groups at the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, the Open Government Partnership (OGP), the European Commission and ICANN. Educated as a software engineer, he worked as an IT analyst, consultant, and trainer early in his career. He founded a web start-up in 1997.

    BSc, Computer Science, Universidad de Oviedo

Our clients

Our clients work around the world on the greatest challenges facing society, from global health to climate change, from science and innovation to human rights, to democracy and beyond. They are united by the scale of their ambition and their desire for positive social progress.
Go to case studies

Our values

Our culture is important to us. Our values are the foundation of that culture. Our values were developed by the team, and represent who we are, what we stand for and how we behave.

They describe who we aspire to be, with our clients and with each other.

We are positive

We believe in people
We focus on answers
We are optimists

We are collaborative

We solve problems together
We build long-term relationships
We know diversity is a strength

We succeed and fail together
We support and care for each other
We trust each other

We are one team

We respect ourselves and our clients
We take responsibility
We tell the truth and do what is right

We work with integrity

We are curious

We are interested in the world around us
We listen and seek to understand
We never stop learning

We care about the impact of our work
We commit to high standards
We hold ourselves accountable

We do work that matters

Firetail is proud to be officially certified as a B-Corp, which demonstrates our commitment to social impact, as well as high environmental and social standards. We are also proud members of the 1% for the Planet coalition. Learn more about our how these certifications help us to live our values here.

Work and careers

People at Firetail come from different backgrounds, but we all share common traits. We’re practical optimists, working openly and with purpose towards social progress. We believe in the power of ideas, grounded in evidence and insights, to help transform the world around us. 

Consulting at Firetail gives you the opportunity to make a positive impact while using your strong analytical and strategic consulting skills.

At Firetail you will advise leading organisations that work at the cutting edge of social progress. We look for skilled individuals that are committed to positive social change. 

To learn more about our people and their experience of working at Firetail, read some of our alumni stories.

Firetail is an equal opportunity employer. We value the difference inclusivity and diversity make. 

Current roles

FAQs

Firetail is not currently recruiting.

Click here to see the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions