2023 Top Consultants: Stephen Newton

Stephen Newton founded Elixirr in 2009 with one very clear vision – to build the best consulting firm in the world. After extensive years working in the consulting industry, he became fixed on making real change happen for clients – having experienced firsthand the stagnated approach many large corporate firms took to innovation.

Stephen's entrepreneurial mindset is apparent throughout the culture of Elixirr. As a leader he believes in empowering people, driving the company with an ownership attitude rather than an 'employee' mentality – creating a team that want to be part of building a business, not just work for one.

Prior to forming Elixirr, Stephen enjoyed 25 years in the fields of transformational change, strategy and sourcing. Over his career, he has advised the Boards of some of the world's leading companies across multiple industries. He has previously been recognized as a Global Leader in Consulting for Excellence in Execution in 2021, and Excellence in Influence in 2019.

To date, Elixirr has won over 70 awards and acquired four founder-led firms, supercharging their broad service offering. In 2020, Elixirr was listed with AIM on the London Stock Exchange.

Stephen's commitment to creating a firm of entrepreneurs also led him to introduce a best-in-market equity participation scheme – available to all employees, from analyst through to partner. Stephen has created a team of owners, driven by one shared goal: to build the best consulting firm in the world.

What has motivated you to excel over the course of your career?

Simply – failure. The lessons it has taught me – risk, resilience, determination – are what led me to founding Elixirr. With no safety net, I put everything on the line for this firm, including my life savings and family's financial security. The reputational risk was high, however, I truly believed in the potential of the firm I was about to build. And because of that, I spent the time needed to convince friends and colleagues to pursue the Elixirr vision with me. I knew there was a great demand in the market for exactly what we could make Elixirr to be.

These are the lessons I now instill in my team. I am building a firm not of employees, but entrepreneurs – and every member of the team, from analyst to partner, plays a part in scaling the business. So, they understand the relationship between risk and reward and how this ultimately drives success. Each failure presents an opportunity to learn something and become better – take it in your stride.

What has been the biggest factor in your success so far?

The biggest factor in my success has held true throughout my journey as an entrepreneur, the people on my team. I have, of course, made many personal sacrifices along the way to commit to my vision of building a consulting firm that could challenge the industry's best. But I made those decisions because of the support, belief and hard work of the people around me. From early career mentors who taught me valuable skills about client relationships, to my co-founders who bought into the vision (literally) and took the risk to come with me on this journey. And now, to all of my employees who too are owners of the business and share in my restless commitment to the firm. Establishing this kind of culture – one where each player has a valuable role to play and sees personal return on their investment into Elixirr's success – ultimately leads to exceptional results for our clients. Whether you're the player who takes the shot, the coach, the scout or the trainer, each person in the team plays a part in securing that win. And most importantly, the unit is there to collectively learn from the losses and adapt. Investing in a team of high performers, placing value on each member and role and cultivating a winning team mentality has undoubtedly been the biggest contributor to my professional success.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

I am most proud to have built a firm of true owners – an entire team who are tirelessly prepared to build and scale this business and share in the benefits as their investment pays off. With the combination of our Option scheme launched in 2020, and Employee Share Purchase Plan (ESPP) in 2021, we created a best-in-market equity participation scheme unlike anything offered by the big consulting players, where the benefit is reserved only for partners. By offering equity ownership to every member of the team, and challenging the concept of employment, we're driven by one shared goal: to generate value for clients, and as a result, the firm and ourselves. This level of accountability is something I've not seen before across my long and varied career in consulting. This enabled a scalable remuneration model that can continue to reward people directly for their commitment and performance to the market, retaining the excellence that sets Elixirr apart.

I'm honored to have created a client-led model – an environment that places people at the center. To date, we've advised 300+ of the world's biggest brands and built relationships I am exceptionally proud of. For example, all of our revenue in South Africa has been generated from one original client. When you build strong relationships, a strong reputation follows.

By adding value to clients and the business, our team will ultimately see value in themselves. This is how we're challenging the industry, building a firm that is actively raising the standards and leaving a legacy behind.

What does this recognition mean to you?

I founded Elixirr as the antidote to what consulting had become. This award recognizes the importance of those who don't follow the herd; instead, sticking to their values, knowing when to take risks to reap greater rewards. As a team, we've endured many highs and lows, and this recognition is a tribute to everyone who has been part of this journey. Every stage has come with its challenges; when building Elixirr in its former years we had to figure out the hard way who to keep on our team and who not to – we even endured a co-founder resigning and taking our only client.

When we surpassed the stage as a 'lifestyle business' and were eager to establish the firm to a point that it could truly take on the big players, rapid growth led us to drop in our hiring standards, which resulted in a decrease in revenue the following year and, ultimately, a 30% layoff of our team – one of the hardest parts of business. There have been many lessons learned along the way, but I am grateful for those on my team who have come together to face the challenging times head-on.

I have not followed a traditional path, and have many times been questioned for this. But through it all, my core values and those of Elixirr, have never wavered. For that, I am most proud. We're building a legacy and we will leave the industry in a better place than we found it.