Skip to content
Get in touch
benjamin-elliott-4zbITfP0-jM-unsplash (2)

Business coaching in Leeds

98% positive rating from our members

Business coaching that means you're not alone

One-to-one business coaching in Leeds

Keep focused, accountable, and on track to achieve your business and personal goals.

Our members get a monthly one-to-one session with their TAB facilitator and coach.

Led by Dave McCartney and Simon Banks, we have an entire team of business coaches covering the vibrant city of Leeds.

Book an introductory call
small-business-coaching-meeting-in-Leeds
Smiling business owner in Leeds office
benjamin-elliott-4zbITfP0-jM-unsplash (2)

Your business coaches in Leeds

Dave-McCartney-600x600

Dave McCartney (North Leeds and Centre)

07932 149822
Email Dave
Make an enquiry here Read more about Dave

Dave is the owner of The Alternative Board in the Leeds North & Centre region. He is a seasoned and successful executive with a broad range of experience gained over the last 26 years operating at a senior level for public, family owned and venture capital backed businesses.

His particular expertise lies in sales and marketing, operations and strategic planning. He has specialist knowledge of the B2B distribution sector, and the food and chemical industries in particular. He managed his first business at the age of 23 and fast tracked through the corporate environment holding a range of sales, operations, project management and senior business roles before ultimately becoming Managing Director of Fiske Food Ingredients, the UK’s leading food ingredient distributor at the age of 40.

He moved into the private sector and has been a Director/Managing Director of two privately owned family businesses and CEO of a VC backed technology business. It was in this role that he experienced the full benefits and value of a Board of talented Non Executive Directors that assisted him in signing a major licensing contract with a €5bn European dairy business.

Having originally graduated in Chemical Engineering, Dave received further business training at the University of California and Ashridge Management College. He has a passion to help business owners focus on the key strategic issues, plan the way ahead and deliver on their targets to drive even greater value and success. His role at The Alternative Boards allows him to do just that.

Simon-Banks-600x600

Simon Banks (South Leeds)

07968 002772
Email Simon
Make an enquiry here Read more about Simon

Simon Banks is a facilitator and business coach for The Alternative Board Leeds South & Wakefield region. Simon’s background is in management for a larger organisation and in SME ownership and he continues to run his own successful manufacturing business in West Yorkshire.

He has over thirty years of sales and business management experience and very strong leadership, organisational and planning skills developed during time spent working in the manufacturing sector both in a larger organisation as senior manager and shareholder and more recently as the owner of an SME business. Simon has continued to develop his skill set through the steep challenges faced when starting and growing a manufacturing business. He sees the support, advice and guidance from his coach and peers as a longstanding member of The Alternative Board, as critical to the progress of his business.

Having achieved his vision for his own manufacturing business with the support of TAB, Simon made the decision to apply the experience he has derived from 6 years of TAB membership to offer that same support to other business owners in his community, enabling them to develop and achieve their vision for themselves and their business.

Discover the benefits of our Leeds-based coaching

Start with you

Focus on what you want in life and how your business can help get you there.

Increase profitability

Be held accountable to meet your business targets.

Improve decisions

Take control of your decisions through peer support and proven planning tools

Make better time choices

Spend your time well by utilising the experience of others.

Become a better leader

Motivate your people with the guidance of peers and an expert coach.

Plan a successful exit

Get the best result for you with tailored, hands-on support.

Hear from our Leeds members

TAB is a challenging environment and it pushes you to keep on with your plans, gives you clarification that what you're doing is right. The support from like-minded people, that challenge it keeps you going, keeps you pushing forward, gives you the sense that you're doing the right things. And being able to give your advice to other people to help them is a rewarding thing. It's a two-way street and hopefully everybody gets something out of that. I certainly do!

Paul MacDonald, P. Waite Associates

I recommend TAB to any business. I can’t see a scenario why you don’t think you would need to join unless you’re the kind of individual that thinks you know it all. I would suggest that those individuals bottleneck their own businesses. If you’re looking for a path to growth, you have to be open-minded and take on the advice and views of a wide variety of people and TAB gives you access to those views.

Mike Hodge, CIM Logic

Dave has been a great mentor and advisor over the years, helping me navigate many tricky business hurdles and being on hand to give sound business advice and personal mentoring. I guess what stands Dave apart from other advisors is he really cares. I don't think he could take you on as a client if he didn't and that means he goes the extra mile. He has a wealth of knowledge and a huge black book of other trusted experts he can point you if he can't help.

Neil Adams, Powerhouse

Many thanks to Dave, for the time invested with CimLogic via TAB. Being part of a ‘relevant’ network has made an extreme difference to the way we do business. I have saved money, paid less tax, received better service from existing suppliers, and been able to us a wide range of new business services which I didn’t even know existed. Well done Dave & TAB – much appreciated.

Mike Hodge, CIM Logic

Dave is a pleasure to deal with and a fantastic professional. With the help of Dave and one of the advisory peer board’s that he set up, our business has gone from strength to strength. Can’t recommend him highly enough. I wish I hadn’t been so stubborn and would have joined years before I did. Everything is easier with good support and guidance!

Craig Arnott, Dene Healthcare

Over 5x

TAB members’ sales growth is 5.5 times national SME average

95%+

95.7% of TAB members said their advisory boards added real value to their business

90%+

90.3% of members said their ability to address personnel and organisational issues has improved since joining TAB

Start your journey with TAB

Get in touch with Dave or Simon.

One of their team will contact you to arrange an introductory meeting.

During which, you’ll chat about whether TAB business coaching is right for you and your business.

Attend your first TAB board meeting and coaching session to discover the power of peer support.

There’s no obligation, only an opportunity to find out more.

Book an introductory call

What is business coaching?

A simple definition of a business coach is that they are a business expert who supports business leaders to evaluate whether their business decisions align with their personal vision. Business coaches won't give you the answers, but will empower you with the right skills you need to make more effective decisions and ultimately, grow your business.

Our business coaches in Leeds offer coaching, mentoring, consulting and both facilitate fantastic peer advisory boards. They also provide entrepreneurs with to access our exclusive strategic planning platform – The Business Builder’s Blueprint.

Why should Leeds-based business owners consider coaching?

SMEs account for more than half of employment in Leeds. 

Many leaders of these businesses will have considered business coaching and here's why:

  1. Help with your strategic planning

A key difference between a business coach and consultant is that a business coach will guide you to make the right strategic decisions for your business as a whole. Whereas, a consultant will focus on one area such as marketing or finance. A business coaching will help you focus and create a strategic plan that works. 

2.       Skills development as leaders

Can you think of some leadership skills you could improve? A business coach can work with you to develop your leadership in a way that will profit you, your business and your employees.

3.       Accountability

With how busy life is, business owners can struggle to take action on the right things. A business coach provides them with the accountability they need to drive their business forward quickly and more successfully. 

4.       An external perspective

A business coach is looking at your business from the outside in. With this advantage, they can more likely provide advice and suggest approaches that are new, different and what you probably wouldn't have considered. 

5.       Learning from others’ experience

Before someone becomes a business coach, they often have years of experience in the business world. This means their clients can benefit and learn from them when facing particular business challenges There is lots that business owners can learn from each other too. 

6.       Your personal development

Business coaches can also function as a business mentor. This is where they focus on you, the business owner, on a person. This is touching again on your skills development and how they will challenge you to become a better leader. In fact, there are a few ways that business coaching and mentoring is good for your personal development.

7.       It means you're not alone

A business coach becomes part of your support network, along with your family and friends, and whatever business groups you may be involved in. All of these help you to combat the loneliness of entrepreneurship. 

8.       Growing your business

In the end, a business coach should help you grow your business. There are many ways to grow your business, but a coach should point you in the right direction for you and your business specifically.

What business coaching is not

A business coach is not the following:

  • The solution

A business coach is there to guide you through and empower you with the right tools and knowledge to help you find solutions for yourself, not simply give them to you. 

  • Life coaching

A business coach is not responsible for dissecting things in your personal life but will consider how your personal goals might line up to your business ambitions.

  • Counselling

A business coach is not trained to deal with certain issues like mental health or family relationships, nor should they be expected to.

  • Consultancy

A consultant seeks to fix specific problems within a business, but a business coach  provides more generalised advice and insights.

Why TAB business coaching in Leeds?

98.9% of our clients said our coaching adds real value to their business. Here are just three reasons why:

  • Our Leeds-based business coaches have experience

Both Dave and Simon are seasoned business professionals. Both have experience in running successful businesses, and both are passionate about helping business leaders in Leeds run more successful businesses and be happier over all. 

  • Coaching tailored to you and your business

Dave and Simon will have specific processes they go through with their coaching clients but on the whole, their coaching sessions are tailored to your needs and what you need at any given time.

  • Our coaching is better because of our advisory boards

Our business coaching is so powerful because it is complimented by our business advisory boards. These bring together business owners and leaders from Leeds in a group setting – like a board of directors. Dave and Simon facilitate these meetings and within them, business leaders advise one another on their business challenges and opportunities. We have seen thousands of businesses grow across the world using this methodology and we encourage you to taste and see that it works.

Latest news and insights

Business Support Funds: What's Available in the UK (2024)

11 April 2024 | 5 minute read

This is a comprehensive guide to the support funds available for businesses in the UK. Learn which business support funds you could claim with this in-depth post.

Read more

Why you should never give away Equity when SME's raise finance

25 March 2024 | 2 minute read

Discover why giving away equity when raising funds for SMEs is a bad idea. Explore alternative options to maintain control and maximise growth potential.

Read more

Time Management: Theory and Practice 2024

25 March 2024 | 6 minute read

This is a comprehensive guide to time management, its theories and putting them into practice. Learn all about time management with this in-depth post.

Read more

*Stats based on a recent survey of 93 active TAB members