The Clay Advantage Business Consulting and Coaching
The Clay Advantage
Leveraging the power of two, we are a uniquely experienced duo able to bring about impactful solutions to everyday business challenges
Who we are
The Clay Advantage: The Go To Two
Public Sector Expertise
- 31 years operational accountability
- Develop Vetted (Lapsed)
- Senior Leader (Director & Managing Director level) accountability in Policing
- Programme Director for Home Office led Strategic Review of Counter Terrorism Policing
- Board Advisor experience (private sector)
- National and regional experience
- Major Incident Management
- Worked with NHS, Local Authorities, Fire and Rescue Services, Military
- Strategic and operational execution in politically sensitive and high-profile areas
- Regional Head of Intelligence
- Head of Professional Standards
- Investigations experience
- Ethics and compliance experience
- Awarded for Inspirational Leadership
- Women In Leadership speaker
Private Sector Expertise
- 32 years operational accountability
- 7 years UK and International consultancy
- Interim Board level expertise and accountability
- Interim Managing Director experience
e2e Supply Chain – International expertise
eCommerce: Clothing; GM; Food; Trade; B2B; B2C - Responsible for head count up to 10k
- Retail: Clothing; GM; Food;
- Trade and Construction
- Business Strategies and Proposals
- Tenders and Commercial Agreements
- Warehouse / retail design and builds
- Restructures
- Automation installations and WMS projects
- Sustainability programmes
- Visiting Fellow and lecturer
“Sharon was fabulous: she is a natural leader; understands her business; is determined and honest; and most importantly she is driven by wanting to deliver the best outcomes…. She challenged constructively, cared for her team……to cap it all she was great fun to work with.”
Andrew Newsham
Partner PWC
“Martin is a very engaging and creative leader who sets a high bar and helps his team soar to new heights. Martin is a truly innovative leader whose aptitude for driving change, improving customer experience, and enabling scalability is unmatched. He’s a true asset and valued leader on any team.”
Mike McMahon
USA CEO
Who we are
The Clay Advantage: The Go To Two
Public Sector Expertise
- 31 years operational accountability
- Develop Vetted (Lapsed)
- Senior Leader (Director & Managing Director level) accountability in Policing
- Programme Director for Home Office led Strategic Review of Counter Terrorism Policing
- Board Advisor experience (private sector)
- National and regional experience
- Major Incident Management
- Worked with NHS, Local Authorities, Fire and Rescue Services, Military
- Strategic and operational execution in politically sensitive and high-profile areas
- Regional Head of Intelligence
- Head of Professional Standards
- Investigations experience
- Ethics and compliance experience
- Awarded for Inspirational Leadership
- Women In Leadership speaker
“Sharon was fabulous: she is a natural leader; understands her business; is determined and honest; and most importantly she is driven by wanting to deliver the best outcomes…. She challenged constructively, cared for her team……to cap it all she was great fun to work with.”
Andrew Newsham
Partner PWC
Private Sector Expertise
- 32 years operational accountability
- 7 years UK and International consultancy
- Interim Board level expertise and accountability
- Interim Managing Director experience
e2e Supply Chain – International expertise
eCommerce: Clothing; GM; Food; Trade; B2B; B2C - Responsible for head count up to 10k
- Retail: Clothing; GM; Food;
- Trade and Construction
- Business Strategies and Proposals
- Tenders and Commercial Agreements
- Warehouse / retail design and builds
- Restructures
- Automation installations and WMS projects
- Sustainability programmes
- Visiting Fellow and lecturer
“Martin is a very engaging and creative leader who sets a high bar and helps his team soar to new heights. Martin is a truly innovative leader whose aptitude for driving change, improving customer experience, and enabling scalability is unmatched. He’s a true asset and valued leader on any team.”
Mike McMahon
USA CEO
What we do
If you have a business challenge, we have the ability as The Go to Two to come into your business, quickly understand the visible and underlying issues, and work alongside you in bringing about sustainable solutions.
We ‘get things done’, from strategy to operational execution, moving beyond conversation to consultancy, coaching or hands on Interim Management.
Past Employers and Clients
We have proven track records in strategic planning,
operational execution and value creation
We are Team players and CPD accredited coaches, helping your teams deliver long term success
At The Clay Advantage, we harness the power of two by bringing together our distinct, yet complementary experiences to help your business look from the inside out and meet its challenges in People, Culture, Strategy, and Revenue.
Our proven record of strategic thinking, operational execution, and value creation underpins every project we undertake.
In these challenging economic times, it is increasingly important to develop a hight-performance culture that adds value to your business.
Recognised as “Kick A** Culture Coaches and Consultants,” powered by Tricres, we can also step in as Interim Directors or Board Advisors where leadership gaps arise. We guarantee discretion, have no minimum contract length, and remain fully committed to helping you achieve sustainable growth.
Supporting a greener future
Reducing our carbon footprint
We are passionate about reducing our own carbon footprint through solar, battery, heat pump and EV car technology.
Green Fingers
We have a passion for gardening and have created a high pollinating flower garden to increase local bee and butterfly populations, supported by bird and bee feeding and housing locations. We grow our own vegetables and salads using micro propagation / greenhouse and source local produce.
Supporting the community
We provide pro bono coaching and business support to small businesses who have great products aiming to reduce carbon footprints, or who provide community-based support as part of their proposition.
Our Charity Agenda
We support charities and are excited to be taking part in the “Race the Sun” challenge this year.
Please see our link below to this years challenge – please help us to support medical research into children’s health and wellbeing.
Culture as a foundation for growth
“Businesses with a strong, identifiable culture are up to 60% more valuable than businesses without one”
The secret to building the value of a business is to focus on developing a senior team, building a powerful culture, and developing and implementing a suite of strategies.
The Culture of your business underpins People, Strategy and Revenue. Coaching models overlap because thinking and behaviours get results.
We start with your culture and support you to define it and embed it. Our unique blend of coaching and consulting gets your business to where you want it to be by balancing culture with commerce.
This is the kind of transformation we deliver:
- Leadership clarity: Faster, more aligned decision-making.
- Employee engagement: Teams who are motivated to perform.
- Customer loyalty: Clients who love working with you.
- Profitability: A culture that directly impacts your bottom line.
Even better? Businesses that invested in building a strong, identifiable culture saw a 85% increase in net profits over 5 years.
(Source: Gallup)
Our Small to Medium Business Proposition
We will tailor Our Value Proposition in order to help you
Are you looking for support with:
- Growing your business profitably
- Containing cost challenges in times of economic uncertainty
- Ensuring you have the right culture as a foundation for growth
- Assessing if you have the right people in the right place doing the right things
- Giving you more headspace to drive the business
We can help you
- Bespoke workshops would be facilitated allowing opportunity to meet entrepreneurs like yourself in an informal environment.
- As accredited business coaches, we will tailor sessions to help you build your business from the inside out, enabling you to gain new skills and knowledge in a safe environment.
- We can also provide consultancy expertise for a few hours a month or as fractional executives.
And the best part? You will pay a fraction of the cost charged by big companies.
Supporting a greener future
Reducing our carbon footprint
We are passionate about reducing our own carbon footprint through solar, battery, heat pump and EV car technology.
Green Fingers
We have a passion for gardening and have created a high pollinating flower garden to increase local bee and butterfly populations, supported by bird and bee feeding and housing locations. We grow our own vegetables and salads using micro propagation / greenhouse and source local produce.
Supporting the community
We provide pro bono coaching and business support to small businesses who have great products aiming to reduce carbon footprints, or who provide community-based support as part of their proposition.
Our Charity Agenda
We support charities and are excited to be taking part in the “Race the Sun” challenge this year.
Please see our link below to this years challenge – please help us to support medical research into children’s health and wellbeing.
Helping you create a Sustainability Roadmap
Supporting the community
We provide pro bono coaching and business support to small businesses who have great products aiming to reduce carbon footprints, or who provide community-based support as part of their proposition.
We can help you design your sustainability roadmap
We provide advice and support for business in developing their sustainability agenda through the energy of colleagues and board member support. We can create a sustainability roadmap and facilitate carbon footprint data capture or assist in developing alternative sourcing / packaging solutions or e2e supply chain improvements.
It’s not always about single big ideas but creating small steps to make daily changes and reduce your company’s carbon footprint or improve your support for the community that you serve through your ESG agenda.
Contact us to see how we can help support your business make the change.
Supporting the community
All our client sponsors receive a complimentary Bee-Vive bee revival kit key ring. 
How we do it
Our proven, step-by-step process ensures your culture becomes a powerful driver of success. We help you build your business from the inside out:
- Understand and/or Define Your Purpose, Mission, and Values. We start with clarity—because a business without purpose is a business without direction. It is vital that your company has a well-defined Purpose, Mission and Values that everyone knows and understands.
- Identify Aligned Behaviours. Your values mean nothing unless they’re reflected in how your people act every day.
- Embed Those Behaviours into Systems and Processes. We make sure your culture isn’t just aspirational—it’s operational.
- Sustain and Grow Your Culture. Through leadership development, coaching, and regular culture audits, we ensure your culture evolves as your business grows.
- We will work with the people who are responsible and accountable for the relevant business area.