MANAGEMENT consultancy 7days is truly a family business. The husbands of both founders and managing directors Jill Foley and Louise Palmer gave up their former jobs in the City to work in the company
-Keith Gupwell responsible for business development and marketing and Adrian Palmer in charge of finance.
They have 70 years of consulting experience and 60 years of industry experience between them.
The arrangement has proved a successful formula for the Windsor End, Beaconsfield consultancy, which now has a total workforce of 12.
Clients, all large companies, number 15, including Capital Radio Group and Interbrew. And the company has never had to borrow, with funding coming from sales.
The consultancy specialises in organisation effectiveness, working with business leaders and executive boards, helping to get the right organisation and people programmes in place.
Jill (she goes by her single name in the business) and Louise first met when they worked at Coopers & Lybrand, as it was then, as senior consultants.
After leaving the women both went their separate ways before meeting up again.
Both knew they didn't want to go back to corporate life but still wanted to work.
The result was a decision to start a company together and 7days was incorporated in June 2001.
Keith, who worked a KPMG Consulting, was the first to take a redundancy package to join 7days and Adrian joined the company from UBS Warburg three months later.
"It is a complete change of lifestyle and more people ought to do it," said Keith.
"It was a big decision but has worked out very well.
"We try not to completely overdose. Running a small business is an all-consuming job and it is difficult not to talk about the business, but we do make time to get away from it."
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