Blackheath Advisors
Governance.
Strategy.
Culture.
Leadership.
Our mission is to strengthen board resilience.
We help boards navigate complex stakeholder dynamics, the shifting regulatory landscape, and a volatile geopolitical environment to manage risk with confidence, make better decisions and drive sustainable performance.
WHO WE WORK WITH
We work with Founders, Chairs and CEOs at pivotal moments in the firm's evolution.
We help boards evolve from founder-led oversight to confident, regulator-ready governance. We serve as a trusted advisor - helping boards identify blind spots, debate strategy and navigate stakeholder conflict. We harness the power of culture and leadership. We have expertise in regulated financial services, defence, technology and platform businesses. Lastly, we've been tested under pressure and are grounded in hands‑on crisis management experience, informed by practical judgement and hard‑won insight.
What We Offer
Three ways we help boards strengthen resilience.
01.Board Governance Review
We meet you where you are in your journey to establish meaningful oversight reflecting your stage of business and regulatory status. Our 10-point governance framework prises substance over form, not a tick box exercise.
02.Culture & Collective Leadership Assessment
CEO-led, board visible culture programme leveraging a psychometric diagnostic with globally benchmarked data. Gain insights into your collective leadership with clarity on what good looks like.
03.Crisis Simulation & Strategy Lab
Zoom out to view the wider playing field with strategy frameworks. Strengthen defences through our crisis simulation labs, table top exercises and war games. Leverage AI model board simulations to identify blind spots and sharpen questions.
What We Offer
WHO WE ARE
Advisory Board with a Difference
Our Advisory Board is comprised of board directors, advisors, entrepreneurs, investors, authors, speakers and thought leaders with decades of leadership experience in corporate, military or government.
We are united in our commitment to fostering better boards. In addition to providing guidance to Blackheath Advisors on the vision, values and governing principles, our advisory board members selectively support clients in their areas of expertise.
Laura McCracken
Founder & CEO
Impressive global leadership and board experience ranging from big tech to fin tech. Supports clients on governance, strategy, leadership and culture.
Focus: Governance, Strategy, Leadership & Culture Development
Deep Dives & Talks: Crisis in the Boardroom, Leadership Agility, Governance 101
Peter Ibbetson
advisory board member
Distinguished career in financial services and entrepreneurial success in media relations and reputation management. Supports clients through crisis media training for boards and executive teams.
Focus: Crisis Media Training, Reputation Management
Deep Dives & Talks: Speaking Under Fire, Crisis Communications
David Birch
Advisory Board Member
Internationally recognised expertise in digital money, identity and payments. Supports clients on financial market resilience and future-facing innovation.
Focus: Board Advisory, Strategy, Resilience
Deep Dives & Talks: Future of Money, Currency Cold Wars, Identity, Metaverse
Rupert Jones CBE
Advisory board member
Exceptional leadership and crisis-management experience. Supports clients through strategy and immersive crisis simulations that strengthen board resilience and decision-making under pressure.
Focus: Strategy, Board Crisis Simulations, War Games, Leadership Coaching
Deep Dives & Talks: Geopolitics, Defence, Leadership, Decision Making Under Pressure
Simon Black
Advisory board member
Trusted board advisory, leadership development, and succession experience. Supports clients on board composition, culture development and leadership coaching.
Focus: Leadership Coaching, Culture Development. Board Composition
Deep Dives & Talks: CEO Succession, Leadership & Culture
Amir Klaus
advisory board member
Deep experience in team coaching, leadership effectiveness and executive facilitation. Serves as a trusted adviser to boards and leaders across a wide range of organisations, cultures and stages of growth.
Focus: Team & Leadership Coaching, Mediation
Deep Dives & Talks: Conflict Resolution, People Centric Leadership
Alison Donnelly
advisory board member
Deep regulatory and payments expertise. Supports clients through board effectiveness reviews and practical regulatory and compliance advice.
Focus: Board Effectiveness Evaluation
Deep Dives & Talks: Regulation, Governance, Compliance
Benoit Reillier
Advisory board member
Deep expertise in strategy, innovation, regulation, AI and platform business models. Supports clients through AI-enabled board simulation and augmentation.
Focus: AI Board Simulation, Strategy, Board Advisory
Deep Dives & Talks: AI, Platform Strategy, Economics & Regulation
James Freis
advisory board member
Rare global experience across governance, financial crime, regulation and market integrity. Supports clients on complex risk and regulatory matters.
Focus: Regulatory Advice, Tabletop Exercises
Deep Dives & Talks: Financial Market Integrity, Geopolitical Risk, Weaponisation of Finance & Trade
Dr. Ruth Wandhöfer
Advisory Board Member
Exceptional expertise across cybersecurity, digital finance, technology and regulation. Support clients on cyber resilience, digital innovation and regulatory strategy.
Focus: Regulatory Strategy, Cybersecurity
Deep Dives & Talks: Quantum Resilience & Cybersecurity
Annual Board Advisory Programme
Special Offer
Our flagship retained board advisory package delivers four high-impact board-grade modules on a quarterly cadence, along with ongoing 1:1 confidential advisory services throughout the year.
This annual programme creates a structured rhythm to fundamentally strengthen board resilience and drive sustainable performance.
-
Q1: Board Effectiveness Evaluation > strengthen the foundations
-
Q2: Culture & Collective Leadership Assessment > shape the culture
-
Q3: Annual Board Strategy Lab > sharpen strategy and debate
-
Q4: Crisis Simulation & Media Training > test resilience under pressure
-
Ongoing: 1:1 Coaching / Board Advice > leverage a trusted sounding board
Designed as an annual retained service, this package helps boards move beyond fragmented workshops and one-off reviews toward a more integrated approach to governance, strategy, leadership and resilience.
Annual Board Advisory Programme
Q1: Board Governance Review
A robust 10-point review of the board's purpose, structure, composition, decision-making, and effectiveness to strengthen the foundation.
Q2: Culture & Collective Leadership Assessment
Shine a light on the existing and desired culture through management team interviews, observation and collective leadership diagnostic.
Q3: Annual Board Strategy Lab
Board strategy offsite with facilitated debate using tested frameworks to review company in the context of wider industry forces and macro environment.
Q4: Crisis Simulation & Media Training
Immersive tabletop exercises testing decision-making and resilience under realistic, high-stakes pressure.
Ongoing: 1:1 Coaching & Board Advice
Ongoing advisory support (10 - 20 days per year - serving as a sounding board and business partner throughout the year.
A 60-minute conversation to understand your board's context, challenges and objectives. We identify which service fits and whether there's a good match.
We conduct stakeholder interviews, review board packs, governance documents and MI. A tailored brief is shaped before any workshop or engagement begins.
Finalise board formation or evaluation. Conduct agreed interventions including culture workshop, strategy lab, or crisis simulation. You leave with a board-ready output pack with a priority roadmap — not a slide deck.
Getting Started
From first conversation to board-ready output.
Scoping Call
Pre-work & Discovery
1
Delivery & Output
2
3
A 60-minute conversation to understand your board's context, challenges and objectives. We identify which service fits and whether there's a good match.
Scoping Call
1
2
3
"Blackheath Advisors transformed our newly established board from a 'Chevrolet' to a 'Jaguar'. The vibe changed from ticking boxes to a highly engaged board that prised substance over form and embraced constructive conflict."
Shareholder —
Cross-border payments company
BOARD FORMATION
"Blackheath challenged us to view the wider playing field and debate alternative outcomes, which ultimately drove better decisions. The interactive strategy offsite forced us to step back from the regular board pack and engage ideas with openness and curiosity."
CFO —
Social commerce platform
STRATEGY
STRATEGY DAY
"Blackheath Advisors opened our eyes to some underlying culture challenges that undermined trust and held us back on growing at pace. We shifted our culture from 'playing not to lose' to 'playing to win'."
CULTURE & LEADERSHIP
CEO —
Insurance company
"Even though entering the picture part way through the conflict, Blackheath quickly built trust by taking the time to understand the history, being visibly present, engaged with the team and facing the problems head on."
Chief Compliance Officer & MLRO —
EMI
BOARD ADVISORY
What Clients Say
Hot Topic Dinner Debates
Invite-only dinners for Chairs, NEDs and CEOs. Curated speaker, facilitated debate, no slides.
Keynotes & After Dinner Speeches
Signature speech series "Crisis in the Boardroom" plus board-grade talks on macro trends and geopolitical risks.
Crisis Simulations
Board-level crisis simulations and tabletop exercises to rehearse high-stakes decisions under pressure.
⚠️
Governance 101 Course
Cohort-based, practical Board Operating System course with templates, frameworks and live clinics.