…but rewarding, frustrating, challenging, satisfying…2025 further transition + continued growth (more of the same?)
P4 Chairman chatting wham, lessons learnt + sharing some pearls of wisdom (hopefully). As I reflect, and see the positive progress, I thought I’d share the juicy stuff and hopefully help others, with the challenges of navigating BSA and running a growing business.
The Reality Check: 2024 vs. 2025
Let’s rewind to early 2024. I came back from our now-traditional festive family getaway, ready to smash 2024. Then Karen casually drops a bombshell: “Have you seen the debtors lately?”
Cue the penny drop. We’d taken our eye off the ball. This wasn’t just a financial issue—it was a flashing neon sign telling us things needed to change. This moment brought about fundamental change, representational of several problems we needed to fix, not least highlighting, that we can’t continue to do everything, and we needed expert support…fast forward several months into 2024.
The Fix: Strong Foundations
Fast forward to now, and the results speak for themselves:
Debtors slashed (actions/numbers louder than words).
Key appointments, including:
- Paul Cope, aka Problem Solver
- Steve Rossiter, Operations Director
- Steve Fraser, Finance Director and number wrangler.
- Colin Blatchford-Brown, BSA consultant and all-round expert.
With the theme of being transparent and honest — 2024 wasn’t all smooth sailing, for many reasons (much of them, out of our control). Some appointments didn’t work out, and we’ve learned to own that. To those who’ve moved on, we genuinely wish you well. No hard feelings, just lessons learned. Though, in almost twenty years of running a business, the extent of dishonesty, lies + deceit from a particular director, was a huge + painful learning curve. That hurt, will last long, but like anything, we wont dwell on them, we learn and move forward. I take confidence in our teams real values, this is cemented by our reputation built on trust, integrity and being committed to what we do and thankful I learnt early on ‘never to burn bridges’ in such a small industry.

The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024
The BSA Challenge
The BSA has been a beast. It’s forced us—and the entire industry—to adapt, rethink, and embrace uncomfortable change. But let’s be honest: we need more from the regulator. And we need to actually learn from CDM, not just tick boxes.
We’re tackling it head-on by focusing on:
Structure: Clear roles, titles, and expectations. No empty titles here—it’s graft or bust.
Culture: Driving change with action, not words.
Another challenge for the business stems from the fact that we now recruit + employ a team of multi-disciplinary experts – architects, design managers, technicians, building regulations, plans checkers, safety advisors. The dynamics of how we deliver, the legislation and the economy all playing a part in 2024.
Team Gathering
Team Gathering (November) for lots of reasons was a 2024 highlight – not least because of the tremendous venue we hired, The Spine Liverpool. Thanks and appreciation (belatedly) Karen Benson Dave Aspey Connor McIlroy Rikky Singh Hunjan standing up and sharing their P4 journey so far. Ending in the usual manner of a cultural tour of Liverpool’s finest free houses.
You Said, We Did…working closely with Paul Cope / Problem Solver / Transformation Coach over the last 12 months has really helped us to move forward, coach/mentor me and the team, implement better communications, identify what we want and working and forcing us to have those difficult conversations, needed to progress. Paul had 1-2-1’s to get the feedback, and start to get under the skin of the business. We have taken the feedback from those meetings as a catalyst for change, make us stronger, sustainable and market leaders.

Connor, Dave, Karen + Rikky discuss their P4 journey so far – thanks, and much appreciation for doing so
2025: The Year of Opportunity
With the lessons of 2024 under our belt, we’re heading into 2025 with a solid platform to grow. Working hard at not becoming a soulless corporate machine. We’re about speed, opportunity, and a team-driven culture where hard work and fun go hand in hand.
A bold and exciting vision. To be the largest BSA + CDM founder-led, independently owned boutique-style advisory firm in the UK.
Collaboration Done Right
The industry loves to throw the word “collaboration” around, but let’s face it—CDM failed because true collaboration didn’t happen. We’re redefining what it means to work together, and we’ll continue to push forward, even when it feels personal. The team have taken a beating in this last year with BSA proving to be far more intense, with an industry underprepared and the regulator still resourcing up and finding its feet. That said, we are seeing many of our clients embrace the change and working closely with us (and no finger pointing, blame culture).
My personal 2025 focus (not resolutions, don’t do them)
As we surpass the 4,000,000 turnover, team numbers now past 40, multiple office locations and still very much building a team + business, it is going to be even more important for us / the Directors to stay focused + be accountable to our team.
I have just submitted my application to study for an MBA at the University of Manchester’s, Alliance Manchester Business School – lets see how that pans out.
I will be using the P4 Charity Challenge Initiative to get fit, and get the team committed to some activities, challenges + have some fun (while raising funds for charities).

Final Thoughts
Since day one in 2017, one thing’s been consistent: We work hard. We go above and beyond. We add value. And above all, we’ll continue to have fun.

So here’s to 2025. The journey continues. Enjoy the ride.