I was directed to Appleshed Consulting by the School for Social Entrepreneurs after a successful SESF ( Social Enterprise Support Fund) grant application.  After an initial contact with Katrina Appleyard to learn more about our organisation, we co-produced  a tailored and targeted business support for SADACCA(Sheffield and District African & Caribbean Community Association).

Her outstanding knowledge of community organisations helped to design a new direction of travel for SADACCA. As a result we have seen a rapid growth in revenue and was now able to provide more help to the most vulnerable members of the community.

Katrina is able to quickly detect the problem with under-structured community organisations and also understand the psychology behind why the organisation is failing and then provides you with a roadmap to achieve success.

I will strongly recommend Appleshed Consulting to any social enterprise who would like to rapidly increase its revenue to impact more its community.

Appleshed was a very helpful part of our B-Impact assessment process. Having someone
external who was able to help drive the process forward, challenge us on areas that needed
work, and particularly provide advice around the Workers section of the assessment was very
helpful. Katrina quickly added capacity to our team, helping to research ways we could improve
our company’s operations professionally and efficiently.

We found working with Katrina valuable, as it has helped us to explore our own objectives and how these can be best incorporated into our business strategy. The process has been energising, thought provoking and hugely beneficial.

We are still at a relatively early stage in the development of own Sustainability Strategy, but are looking forward to developing this further and utilising Katrina’s support.

We contracted Katrina Appleyard of Appleshed Consulting on a range of tasks that varied from providing interim management and mentoring to the production of specific documents and plans. We could not have hoped for a more professional and flexible support than we received from Appleshed. They delivered on every aspect of their brief whilst at the same time working with us flexibly to ensure we got the right outcomes from their time. The quality of work was always of the highest order but most impressively was their ability to immerse themselves in our business and work so closely, and be welcomed so warmly, by trustees and staff. We would have no hesitation in using Appleshed Consulting again in the future.

Katrina has provided the most valuable public funded support our business has ever received in our 9 years. Her knowledge, expertise and guidance on sustainability and all things ESG related is second to none and her practical support to help us make progress has been invaluable. Thank you!!

Katrina helped us to understand what a sustainability strategy would mean for our company. Her
deep knowledge of sustainability frameworks, clear communication and mindset have proven
invaluable. Thanks to Katrina, we now have the foundations of a roadmap for a greener future
that aligns seamlessly with our company growth strategy, values and goals. We highly
recommend Katrina to any organisation seeking a passionate and ethical sustainability partner

Katrina’s coaching style is to listen, care, support and encourage reflection. She offers constructive suggestions and helps open doors by offering tools for balancing work and life. She has a way of making the experience feel like talking to a friend on a country walk.

It was a real pleasure to work alongside Katrina. As members of a newly formed senior management team she supported us, helped us grow and was completely dedicated to guiding us to ensure the many projects taking place during the time she was here were completed and delivered to the highest of standards.  During coaching sessions she was nurturing, friendly and provided us with tools to help create a better work life balance. I really hope we get to work with Katrina again in some way in the future!

Katrina guided the newly created management team through a challenging development process over nine months, working with members on a one-to-one basis to advise, support and encourage, during a formative stage for the team. At the outset, we were a bunch of individuals with various levels of management experience; through the work we did with Katrina, we became more focussed on learning from and communicating effectively with each other to fulfil the needs of the organisation.

We originally engaged with Katrina from Appleshed to review our sustainability position and steer us through what can often be a confusing route.  Working with her we were able to clearly identify not only were we were but judge the pace of development and engagement we needed.  We continue to work with Appleshed Consulting to ensure we don’t lose our focus and keep questioning our impact on this enormously important subject.