43: Organisational Health as a Growth Engine: The Q5 Approach with Olly Purnell

Episode notes

What does it take to scale a consulting firm internationally without external capital? In this episode, Joe O’Mahoney speaks with Olly Purnell , Managing Partner and co-founder of Q5, about how the firm grew from a five-person partnership to a global consultancy. With nearly 30 years of consulting experience, he leads client engagements across sectors while also focusing on attracting top talent to support Q5’s growth in the UK, US, and Australia. Olly explains why Q5 moved away from an associate-heavy model, how they built a culture around organisational health, and how their internal tool - Org Maps - supports operating model work by analysing spans, layers, and resource allocation directly from client ERP data. They also discuss Q5’s shift from a traditional partnership to a broader shareholder structure, the targeted mergers that helped them enter new markets, and the leadership decisions that preserved the team during COVID-19. Olly closes with insights into the future of consulting, the impact of AI, and Q5’s focus on strengthening their tools and international footprint.

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