ANDREW PENKER Specialist People & Culture Consultant for SMEs & Charities
Trusted by organisations across professional services, charities, and specialist sectors
Develop stronger managers. Create a culture that delivers.
What I Do
I help SMEs and charities strengthen manager capability and workplace culture
—quickly, practically, and with measurable impact.
Whether you're scaling, navigating change, or tackling engagement and retention challenges, I provide clear, outcome-focused people solutions that stick.
How I Work
You don’t need to choose upfront.
We start with your challenge, then use the right approach:
A. Advisory / HR Consultancy
For complex people challenges, growth, or change
B. Manager Capability
Building consistency and performance
C. Mentor-led Development (XSectorMentor)
For culture, engagement, and long-term capability
Partners
Testimonials
Recruitment
Team Development
Benchmarking
"Andrew offered his experience and objectivity to collaborate with us effectively and productively. His contributions, and gentle challenge as required, were relevant, welcome and helpful. All possible due to his easy manner, clarity and objectivity of thought, and the associated trust that we quickly established.
I thoroughly enjoyed working with Andrew, am enthused by the appointment we’ve made through his support, and would not hesitate to engage him in our future workforce development.”
Alison MacLachlan, UK Director, The Wood Foundation’s Experience
Benchmarking
Team Development
Benchmarking
“We consulted with Andrew to undertake a salary review for our organisation to ensure a fair and unbiased approach.
Andrew regularly reviewed our needs and provided a comparable review in line with the current labour market, as well as providing suggestions for an enhanced benefits package which reflected the feedback from our employee engagement survey.
Many thanks again."
Karen McGuire, People & Culture Lead, MND Scotland
Team Development
Team Development
Leadership Development
"Andrew provides a truly tailored service, listening to exactly what you want to achieve from him and delivers in a way which puts all at ease, is entirely relevant and above all gave my staff the confidence and skills from which to excel in their jobs. At a time when a pandemic made physical learning an impossibility, Andrew created and delivered sessions which worked every bit as well as they would have had they been sitting in front of him.
Great to deal with, personable and truly understanding of my needs, Andrew did all I asked and more."
David J Redpath, Chief Executive Officer Citizens Advice and Rights Fife
Leadership Development
Leadership Development
Leadership Development
"M&T decided to work with Andrew to identify the strengths of our high Potential leaders using the High Potential Trait Indicator (HPTI) from Thomas International. Working with Andrew was a real pleasure, the Hotel General Managers and M&T Senior Team really appreciated the personal one to one’s with him. Their response to the feedback from the individual sessions with Andrew, coupled with easy to interpret reports gave the team a real insight into their strengths and
how to make the most of them."
Peter Hales, Managing Director, Michels and Taylor Hotel Management
Individual Development
Leadership Development
Individual Development
“Using his experience and insight, Andrew was able to translate both my personal psychometric profile and leadership report into a powerful coaching plan, which will shape how I lead my team in the future”
Partner, Fund Manager
Andrew is proud to provide retained HR advice to Circularity Capital LLP
Trustee
Leadership Development
Individual Development
"Andrew served on the Trustee Board for South East Scotland Scouts between 2019 and 2023 and headed up our People Committee, providing his expertise as an HR professional to identify and implement processes that would help us manage our risks associated with employing and hiring staff in a number of capacities.
Andrew went above and beyond his remit to help us through the Covid pandemic which proved to be a very challenging time. Andrew's personality and style meant he fitted in well with the volunteer group and he always presented himself as calm, confident and reassuring. His sense of humour too, contributed to him being a very approachable member of the team and we would welcome him back anytime".
John Cannon, Regional Chair, South East Scotland Scouts
Andrew is more than...
I am a Curling Coach and have been a;
Scottish Schools Curling Championship
(2 x Winner, 1 x Runner-up);
Multiple Scottish Junior Curling Championship Finalist (Top 10 in Scotland);
Multiple Scottish Men's Curling Championship Finalist (Top 10 in Scotland);
Multiple Scottish Pairs Curling Finalist, and a
2 x Scottish Senior Men's Curling Championship Finalist (Top 12 in Scotland).
Dougal is my dog.
He is a Spaniel trapped inside a Lab's body and yes, I pay the mortgage but it's his house!
He is also keen on playing with a tennis ball on a beach, in case you didn't guess.
German Bier has always been a passion of mine and my Top 3 German biers are:
- Augustiner Helles Lagerbier
- Hacker Pschorr Weissbier
- Weihenstephan Weissbier
They definitely taste even better with Brez'n (Pretzels) and a variety of sausages with Senf (mustard).
Accreditations
