Our approach is built on a simple premise: when the conditions for high performance are in place, everything else follows.

Meraki People is a board advisory and organisational design practice working with founder-led businesses from £3M to £100M.

We work at the moments that define whether a scaling business holds together or starts to fracture:

when leadership teams need to step up,
when structure hasn't kept pace with growth,
when succession or investment is on the horizon, and
when the founder needs someone in their corner who can see the whole picture.

We combine strategic advisory with hands-on delivery. We read rooms fast, ask the questions others avoid, and work alongside leadership teams until the change sticks.

What working with Meraki People looks like:

Your senior leadership team aligned behind a shared direction, making decisions without coming back to the founder for every one
Clearer structure, better meeting rhythms, and ways of working that scale with the business rather than against it
A leadership bench strong enough to support growth, investment, or a founder stepping back
Organisational design that reflects where the business is going, not just where it's been

Practical, hands-on, and focused on what actually works. We stay until it sticks.

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Our Values

We don’t drop in with a diagnosis - we work alongside you.
Real change happens when leadership, teams, and consultants partner together with trust and shared purpose.
High-trust collaboration builds alignment, momentum, and clarity across your organisation.
We ask better questions - and help your leadership team do the same - to uncover the real root of performance and culture challenges.
Curious cultures fuel learning, agility, and smarter decision-making.
We don’t do default. We design with purpose - from leadership behaviours to meeting rhythms and decision-making frameworks.
Because when everything is intentional, everything improves. Intentional leadership and clear communication create scalable, sustainable success.
Joy is not a luxury - it’s a strategic advantage. It tells us we’re working in alignment, that people feel safe, energised, and engaged.
When joy is present, so is psychological safety. Trust builds faster, creativity flourishes, and great work becomes the norm.
Joyful cultures retain great people and drive better performance.
We love impact. That means setting clear goals, tracking real outcomes and ROI, and ensuring our work translates into business value.
From team dynamics to leadership development, we measure what matters - so you can see progress, not just promises.

Kate Smyth (Davis), Founder & Principal Adviser

Kate Smyth (Davis) is a board adviser and organisational design specialist working with founders and CEOs of scaling businesses on the structural and leadership challenges that determine whether growth holds together.

Known by clients as The Board Whisperer, she has 25 years of experience working at board and senior leadership level - first as an operations director managing multi-million-pound programmes across the BBC, British Airways, and major agency networks, then building Meraki People into the practice it is today.

She has worked with organisations including Waitrose, Santander, Wolters Kluwer and Virgin, as well as scaling businesses like Jack Morton Worldwide, Natta Construction, Cheeky Panda, and Sofas and Stuff.

Kate is a NED, an ICF-accredited coach, Master Practitioner of 5Voices, Vice Chair of the IoD Surrey & Berkshire, and a judge for the National Coaching Awards. She is a coach/mentor and CEO forum facilitator for Sir Richard Harpin’s Business Leader. Former National Coach of the Year.

Kate is also a regular keynote and panel speaker, and author.

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Meet the Team

Kate Fernandes

HEAD OF OPERATIONS AND CLIENT DELIVERY
Kate brings a decade of hands-on experience transforming how organisations work through their people by growing their culture.
She has worked across multiple industries, and leading the HR strategy for a Health Communications Company, she balanced practical workforce planning with building strong, high-performing cultures.
A CIPD Level 5 qualified HR professional and certified 5Voices practitioner through GiANT, Kate Kate combines HR expertise with a practical understanding of how people and process interact in growing businesses.
She has a particular talent for connecting with people at all levels, ensuring both business goals and individual needs are met with equal care.

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Lee Perry

SENIOR LEADERSHI & BUSINESS CONSULTANT
Lee brings 30 years of business growth and leadership experience, having built and sold successful companies in the construction sector.
Through this journey, he discovered the undeniable link between people-focused leadership and financial success.
As a highly qualified running coach and business mentor, he brings a unique perspective to performance - whether in the boardroom or on the running track.
His practical experience of scaling businesses, combined with his England Athletics Level 2 and British Athletics Mental Health First Aid qualifications, gives him a distinctive approach to helping leaders and teams achieve their full potential.
Lee is also the official running coach for Brain Tumour Research, bridging his commitment to both business excellence and personal wellbeing.

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$Zoe Jones, fractional HR Consultant$

Zoe Jones

HR STRATEGIC CONSULTANT
Zoe brings 25 years of experience transforming how SMEs think about HR, turning it from a support function into a driver of business success.
As founder of Manor Resources and our HR strategic partner, she specialises in creating commercially focused people solutions that directly impact the bottom line. Her track record includes guiding companies to B Corp certification, building innovative career progression frameworks, and developing a people culture that strengthen employer brands
While Zoe ensures our clients have robust HR foundations, her real passion lies in helping businesses see the strategic value of their people practices - from optimising recruitment to enhancing performance management systems.
She combines practical HR expertise with commercial acumen to help organizations turn their people strategy into tangible business results.

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Sarah Newland

FRACTIONAL OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
Sarah has a knack for seeing how businesses actually work and where they can be strengthened from the inside out. She quickly spots opportunities for better processes and greater efficiencies, bringing order to owner-led businesses that are either struggling to let go despite outsourcing, or growing rapidly without proper structure.
At Meraki People, Sarah offers both short-term support through audits and one-to-one guidance, as well as becoming a retained, in-business partner for those needing ongoing operational expertise. Her practical approach to sorting out business operations complements Meraki People's focus on organisational health, demonstrating that robust systems are just as crucial as strong leadership.

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Roz Hobley

SENIOR LEADERSHIP COACH & CONSULTANT
A leadership consultant and performance coach with 20 years' experience, Roz has built trusted partnerships with some of the world's most influential leaders in sport, culture and entertainment.
Known for her boundless energy and wisdom, she has a remarkable talent for identifying and unlocking potential in leaders and their teams.
Roz's background in cross-cultural leadership and her passion for relational intelligence make her particularly skilled at helping organisations build lasting trust and influence.
A GiANT Worldwide certified leadership coach and 5Voices practitioner, with accreditation from the Association of Business Mentors, Roz brings her expertise to both commercial and non-profit sectors - from global health and tech to energy and international development.
Her clients value her unique blend of enthusiastic support and skillful challenge, consistently delivering positive, lasting change.

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Christine Kavanagh

BRAND IDENTITY SPECIALIST
Christine’s work helps businesses understand what makes them unique and how to show that to the world.
She's an expert in connecting a company's internal values with how they present themselves externally. Christine digs into what drives your business, looks at how your team's behaviors influence decisions, and makes sure your company culture shines through in everything you do.
At Meraki People, Christine complements our work by helping businesses create a consistent identity internally and externally.
Christine's straightforward approach fits perfectly with Meraki People's commitment to improving organisations through their people and culture, showing that when your team lives your values, your brand naturally becomes stronger.

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