In every business I have worked with, the gap between where things are and where they could be comes down to the same thing: the structure and environment around the people leading it. That is what I build.
I started my career in corporate law, advising businesses across multiple sectors before moving into executive leadership. As General Counsel and advisor to the CEO, I worked across a portfolio of 11 businesses spanning the UK, Africa and South America in automotive, FMCG, retail, SaaS, insurance and education. Sitting at board level across that range of sectors, geographies and business models gave me a grounding in how organisations actually perform that no single industry ever could.
From there I moved into consulting, working with SMEs in the £10 million to £20 million revenue range. The pattern was consistent: the businesses had real potential. The structures around the people leading them were not built to release it.
Two moments shaped everything I have built since. The first was watching a business with genuine potential plateau and eventually decline. Not because the market turned or the product was wrong. Because the structure around the leadership could not support what the business needed to become. The second was sitting with young people from backgrounds with no safety net, no connections and no access to the kind of experiences that change what someone believes is possible for themselves. The raw capability in that room was extraordinary. The environment was not built to release it. The same thing was true in both places. That is what I cannot leave alone. That is why I build what I build.
Three things I will not compromise on, regardless of the engagement.
I say what I think. Not to be difficult, but because the most useful thing I can offer anyone is an honest read of what is actually happening. People can get agreement anywhere. Clarity is rarer.
Unfulfilled potential bothers me. In a business, in a founder, in a young person. I am not interested in incremental. I want to find out what is actually possible and build towards it.
The best work happens when people feel safe enough to be honest. I try to build those rooms. That means no ego, no hierarchy for its own sake, and genuinely caring about the outcome for the person across the table.
A coaching and consulting practice for founders and owner-managers who have hit a ceiling. The FIRE Framework — Focus, Infrastructure, Revenue, Execution — works with the owner first, because that is almost always where the real problem lives.
firebreakmethod.com 02 Education and Character DevelopmentConnecting schools with enrichment programmes, character development and international school trips. Access to transformative experiences should not depend on which school you attend.
enrichschools.co.uk 03 Web Design and DigitalA boutique web agency for law firms and solicitors. A legal background and design capability in the same practice is rare. We understand what credibility looks like online in a sector where trust is everything.
danmeade.studio 04 Combat Sports and CommunityA combat sports gym in Banbury training BJJ, Muay Thai and MMA. Disciplined physical training changes people in ways that extend well beyond performance.
bmacgym.com 05 AI and Business IntelligenceThe AI layer of the Firebreak methodology. Giving founders and operators access to structured business intelligence, diagnostics and decision-support without the cost of a full consulting engagement.
ai.firebreakmethod.com 06 Athlete PerformanceDigital strength and conditioning programmes for athletes who want to reach the next level. Performance is not a gift. It is a structure.
herosport.co.ukDan does not come in with a framework and fit you into it. He asks the questions nobody else has been willing to ask, and then he stays in the room while you work through the answers. We went from spinning our wheels to making the best decisions we had made in three years. The business is a different place.
Unfulfilled potential is the thing I cannot leave alone. Everything I build exists to close the gap between where people are and where they could be.
I work with founders at every stage, from getting an idea off the ground to breaking through a ceiling they have hit mid-growth. I work with investors looking for opportunities worth backing, and with international brands looking to enter the UK market properly.
Business coaching. Early-stage ventures. Investment opportunities. UK market entry.
dan@danmeade.co.uk