Description
Thoughts & Reflections from our Managing Partner, Duncan Cawdell:
2025 done - Invest in yourself in 2026
2025 has been another strong year for Pure Blue Ocean.
As we move through our second decade, we continue to evolve, grow, and—most importantly—stay true to why PBO exists.
For me personally, 2025 was also a year of transition. A challenging health episode at the end of 2024 forced a pause—and in that pause came clarity. It gave me the opportunity to refocus on what truly matters: the community we are building together.
Pure Blue Ocean was never created simply to build a business. It was created to build a community—a small or large social unit, united by shared values—bringing together clients, colleagues, customers, and collaborators. That purpose remains unchanged. Our focus is to foster an inclusive, energising community that grows because of every part within it.
2025 Highlights
- Expanding Our Partner Community
2025 was very much a building year. We welcomed new partners, strengthening both the breadth and depth of support we can offer clients—across geographies and disciplines.
Alongside our colleagues in the US, Australia, and Spain, we’ve significantly expanded our UK-based team, with James joining us from Dublin. Our capabilities have also grown, enabling us to deliver GSCOP content for UK client teams and Insights Discovery to a broader client base.
Looking ahead, our partner team will grow again in 2026 as we deepen our focus on Category & Revenue Growth Management (RGM)—bringing sharper disciplines and mindsets to help clients drive sustainable revenue impact.
- Investing in Coaching Excellence
This year marked a major milestone in our coaching journey.
I completed an MSc in Executive Coaching with Ashridge Hult Executive Education—culminating 2.5 years of academic study, hundreds of hours of practice, and professional supervision. Alongside my colleague Annelise, I also received EMCC Senior Practitioner Accreditation. James added to this momentum by achieving his ICF qualification and EMCC status this year as well.
From 2026, we’ll be offering Executive Coaching and Mentoring programmes to support leaders in their personal and professional growth. These programmes are grounded in relational coaching practice and complement the leadership, consulting, and capability work we deliver with clients.
- Raising Professional Standards in Sales
Much of our work sits within Sales and Customer functions—and we are passionate about making sales a fulfilling, sustainable, and respected profession.
This year we launched two key initiatives:
Sales Productivity Survey (Phase One):
- Capturing how client teams actually spend their time, so organisations can refocus sales effort on what truly drives impact. We’ll repeat this in 2026—and participation remains free, offering teams a valuable benchmark.
Partnership with the Institute of Professional Sales:
- Together, we’re advancing the journey of sales as a profession—bringing clearer standards, capability frameworks, accreditation, and certification into our client work. This significantly expands the depth and quality of content available across our community.
Looking Ahead to 2026
With the chance to lift our heads and look forward, there is already so much to build on.
Client programmes and projects are confirmed across consulting and training—from Customer Experience and Revenue Growth Management, to Strategic Customer Management, Distributor Models, Organisational Design, Corporate Governance, and Exit Planning.
2026 is an opportunity to thrive, create, and collaborate.
Are you ready to make next year more joyful, purposeful, and impactful?
We are - and when you call, we’ll be delighted to help you make progress.
See you soon in 2026
