The Astutely Way
training with
bottom line impact
Better leaders, a better world.
Astutely help leaders to become more commercially, financially and emotionally astute.
As a leader you need to understand your strategy, and your organisation's financial reports to make the best decisions and take the most targeted actions. You also need to inspire and engage your people to fulfil your vision and to 5 x those results. It’s this winning combination of commercial and people skills that will skyrocket your success.
We design all trainings to increase levels of commercial and financial prowess or leadership EQ. We do this through face-to-face and online workshops, self-study online courses and masterclasses.
Contact us to find out more. Get started on your journey to better results, stronger teams, and more fun at work!
strategic finance and leadership workshops that give your team the edge
Astutely is not a “one stop fits all” training consultancy.
We only offer Finance and Leadership training. These are the key areas for leaders to get right. Strategy and People. Numbers and Teamwork. That’s it.
Get your strategic aims right and engage your people to deliver them and your organisation will be unbeatable.
high quality, high impact delivery
Because we specialise in a small range of workshops in key target areas we can excel in high quality, high impact delivery.
Your time is precious and in short supply, so we make sure our courses cut to the chase and cut out any fluff.
Our feedback from our workshops is consistently excellent - we walk our talk!
a wealth of experience across a range of sectors
Over the past 20+ years we have worked with all types of organisations from FTSE 250 companies and household names such as Great Portland Estates plc, Honda, Knight Frank and PwC, to charities like the Royal Shakespeare Company and smaller family run businesses such as Site Equipment Hire Ltd and Profile Books Ltd , as well as public sector bodies like the NHS, HMRC, the Trade Remedies Authority and East West Rail Co.
We would love to work with you too! Get in touch and let’s get the ball rolling!
“Here’s something I didn’t think I’d ever say: I’m looking forward to reviewing my company accounts, but this time in a new light.”
what sets Astutely apart
commercially astute
We promise a bottom-line impact that will help you to move forward in alignment with your organisation’s strategic goals.
personable
Stuffy formal lecturing is not our style. We want you to have fun as you learn and to provide support as you do so.
inspiring
We keep up-to-date with current leadership thinking to ensure that you are inspired by fresh ideas and new ways of working.
a highly astute team
We work with a small band of hand-picked associates to ensure that you get the very best of the best. Many have Big Four experience and all combine professional expertise with a practical and interactive mindset.
Each member of our team has real depth of experience in all sizes of organisation and at all levels of seniority. They are also approachable, authentic and committed to creating the best learning environment that they can.
MEET OUR FOUNDER
Sarah Hobbs, founder of Astutely
Astutely was founded by Sarah Hobbs, a “shit-hot leadership consultant and financial expert” - and that is a quote!
A creative and incisive talent for translating the complex into simple and easy-to-understand language, Sarah has enabled hundreds of directors and senior managers to become better leaders, understanding how to master themselves, their teams and their company’s bottom line.
Sarah has spent over thirty years in the leadership development and coaching sector, holding up the mirror to senior leaders and managers so that they can understand how they can make a more positive and inspiring impact on the teams they work with.
Sarah’s other area of expertise is Finance. She is a Chartered Accountant who trained with PwC, gaining years of experience in their Audit and Corporation Tax departments before moving into their Learning and Development team. She gained valuable knowledge and insights into all types of industry sector and size of company during her time there, from prestigious futures firms and international banks, to retail organisations like the Arcadia Group and Selfridges, from large manufacturing companies to small museums such as the Royal Academy. This breadth of experience is what enables her to very quickly get to grips with the finances of her clients’ organisations and to help leaders to see the challenges and opportunities they present.
As a languages graduate, Sarah still confesses to be rubbish at Maths, and so understands in a real way the challenges and fears around financial statements and accounting. The good news is, beneath all the awful jargon, they are relatively simple and founded on common sense! Let her show you what she means in a workshop!
“All our workshops start with “Why”? There has to be a real business need that drives the learning journey. We deliver common sense learning for forward-thinking leaders. ”
What people are saying
“Hugely instructive, well-paced and interesting.”
- Toby Morrish, Marketing Director, Sony
“Thank you so much for this two-day training course - it was really informative, and entertaining as well as educational! It has definitely helped to plug the gaps.”
- James Tadman, Honda
“You put the fun into finance!”
- KNIGHT FRANK manager
a positive impact
As part of our work with leaders of well respected and global organisations, we are well aware of the privileges that we have and encounter in this space and the responsibility we feel to tackle inequality in all its forms.
All at Astutely wish to actively continue their education understanding the privilege we have been born with.
A percentage of our profits are donated to Clean Water, an amazing charity set up by Scott Harrison, to ensure that something we take so much for granted here in the UK can be enjoyed by much poorer communities across the world.
We are also committed to diversity and inclusivity at Board Level. This is our little patch of the corporate landscape where our work can have the most impact and influence.
We, in conjunction with our sister organisation, Hoskin Hobbs, donate to a programme that enables women to become financially independent where that is not a given right.
We believe that if women are educated and have independence, then they have the opportunity to positively impact their families, their communities, and ultimately their countries and the world.