Trusted Leadership.
Meaningful Change.
Lasting Impact.
What We Do.
We help organisations and consultancies deliver transformational change that lands and lasts.
Drawing on 25+ years of experience across transport, emergency services, telecoms, financial services, and the public sector, we specialise in transformational leadership, culture change, and programme delivery.
Why Ollerhead (founder David Ollerhead’s surname)? Well, the name originates from “alder (tree) on a headland,” and with it, rich Celtic symbolism. The alder tree flourishes at the boundary where land meets water—a liminal space between two worlds. In Celtic mythology, the alder tree represented not just resilience and protection, but transformation and the courage to thrive in times of change.
Reflecting this inspiration, we bring clarity, empathy, and outcomes to complex change, rooted in trust, authenticity and practical results.
This symbolism matches our purpose: helping organisations move forward through uncertain terrain. Ollerhead Consultancy brings practical transformation leadership and delivery experience, academic depth and a collaborative, empathetic approach rooted in listening and delivering sustainable results.
Key areas of delivery:
- Mobilising and leading public and private sector transformations
- Building effective change and transformation capability across organisations
- Delivering practical solutions and change that sustains lasting value
David Ollerhead.
David is an accomplished and highly experienced strategic transformation and change leader, with a proven track record of working with organisations to deliver strategic, people-centred change across both public and private sectors.
With over 25 years of experience, he brings a unique blend of deep public sector insight and commercial consultancy expertise, to help organisations navigate uncertainty and deliver transformational change that lasts.
David delivers sustainable improvement, and unlocks human potential through systems that work, based on deep, pragmatic understanding of why, what and how to change.
What sets David apart is his values-driven, people-first approach. He leads with authenticity, empathy, and emotional intelligence, creating space for honest dialogue, shared ownership, and inclusive transformation. David believes that sustainable change is built on trust, creativity, and connection.
David’s practical experience is underpinned by a deep academic knowledge of business change, including an MBA from Henley Business School and an MSc in Innovation and Change (Distinction) from Brighton Business School, including a case analysis on culture change.
Key Business Achievements.
- Led the delivery of the Portfolio of Programmes to transform London Fire Brigade, moving the Brigade out of HMICFRS “engage” to improvements in ten out of the eleven measures used in inspection, showing “significant improvement”. Developed, implemented, and sustained the Brigade’s approach to Portfolio, Programme, Project, and Business Change Management. Mobilised five strategic transformation programmes, integrating change management and project management into the approach, with integrated governance and portfolio management. Raised the maturity of the Brigade in delivering transformational change from 1.9 to 2.3 in the first year.
- Mobilised and led a workstream to define, establish, and embed a new culture for GBRTT and across the rail industry, including defining, agreeing and implementing a purpose “creating a simpler, better railway for everyone in Britain” alongside a cultural framework of values and behaviours. Developed, led and delivered a comprehensive 2-year plan to establish and embed the culture for existing staff and new starters as well as more widely across the industry.
- Mobilised and led a transformational change programme to enable Network Rail regions and routes to unlock more rail investment. Delivered over £500m of extra funding over the control period. Increased third-party funding by 60% and enhanced customer satisfaction by 30% for third parties by transforming the culture of asset protection and optimisation (ASPRO).
Initiated, defined, led and implemented a transformational change programme to re-engineer the end-to-end ‘Order to Cash’ process for Airwave. Doubled customer satisfaction from the least satisfied business line, with a 75% improvement in reduction in turnaround times for the same line. Identified and recovered over £1m of lost revenues. Protected over £15m of revenues by automating the contract renewals process.
Consultancy Background.
- David was a Director and Managing Consultant with Decision Focus Limited, working with them for nearly a decade, delivering tailored change strategies for blue-chip clients in finance, transport, and government. Decision Focus was a pioneer in putting people at the heart of transformational change by engaging with key operational staff and focus on meeting customer needs from the outside in.
- David built and led the business improvement consultancy at Airwave Solutions Ltd, the emergency services secure digital telecoms organisation. This included optimising the use of the Airwave service, both at the front line and how it integrated with the control room systems, to enable faster and more robust response to and management of “blue light” activities and incidents.
Recent Case Studies
Transformation Programme at Airwave.
Driving Up Change Capability at Network Rail.
Culture Change at Great British Rail Transition Team.(GRBTT).
Improving Transformational Maturity at London Fire Brigade.
Delivering Transformational Change at London Fire Brigade.