Leadership training that people actually remember.
We help organisations develop leaders who drive real results — using simple, practical principles that stick for decades, not days.
We help organisations develop leaders who drive real results — using simple, practical principles that stick for decades, not days.
The leadership training industry has a dirty secret: most of it is designed to be sold, not remembered. It's theory-heavy, accreditation-obsessed, and built around what looks good in a brochure — not what changes how people actually lead.
Frameworks nobody uses. Certificates nobody remembers earning. Box-ticking exercises that satisfy an L&D budget without transforming a single manager.
Our founder, Rob Northfield, spent years inside this system. He built one of the World's largest Dale Carnegie training operations — Dale Carnegie being one of the most recognised names in leadership development worldwide. He saw what world-class training looked like when it worked. And he also watched, over time, as the industry drifted away from principles and toward process. Away from people and toward paperwork.
We've chosen a different path. We chose to build something based on a simple conviction: if the training doesn't change how someone leads on Monday morning, it hasn't worked.
We've done ILM leadership training before. It was very theory based, the tutor knew the content of the course but wasn't particularly inspiring, in fact it was quite boring. There was loads of theory, we had to write a lot of essays, it was a massive amount of work and very few results. We learnt theories and models about leadership and management, which was good, but didn't really get any practical ways of solving the real problems that we were facing day-to-day. We came out with a certificate, which really didn't mean anything.Abi Broadley, Managing Director, Aquarius
This isn't an isolated experience. We hear it constantly from people who've been through formal programmes, ILM or CMI qualifications, and soulless training days before finding Quarterdeck:
I didn’t need a course to teach me the right things. I needed a course to help me actually do the right things.David Sollitt, Chief Operating Officer, Irwin Mitchell
I read the books. I listened to the podcasts. I followed the thought leaders on social media. But none of it stuck. The minute I walked into the Quarterdeck session my life changed forever.Michelle Inghram, Owner, The VA
There is a better way.
The free half-day Leadership Seminar is where it starts. No commitment, no jargon — just a room full of people who want to lead better.
We're not just career trainers or L&D people. We've been in the trenches, whether that's in The Police, Pharmaceutical Logistics, Oxford University, Mountain Rescue, HM Prison Service, Local Authorities, or more typical high level corporate careers. We've earned our stripes.
We've trained thousands of managers across the world, worked with international businesses, and developed a deep understanding of what separates training that transforms from training that merely informs.
When we founded Quarterdeck, we weren't starting from scratch — we were applying decades of hard-won knowledge built entirely around measurable behaviour change. No fluff. No filler. Just the principles that have consistently produced results since 1987.
Laura's path to leadership training was anything but conventional. She started her career as a Police Officer, where she learned to read people, manage high-stakes situations, and lead under real pressure dealing directly with violent criminals.
She ran her own consultancy, she's worked in academia at Oxford University. She's sat opposite murderers during interview. She's stood at the front of Ivy League conference halls. She's dealt with every stratum of society, in every kind of room.
All this is to say we know where you're coming from, and we can help. Not merely tick a box.
Laura Bouttell, Managing Director
Not projected. Not estimated. Earned, one leader at a time.
Trusted by great companies. Big and small.
Leadership development isn't a cost — it's a lever. These are just three of the outcomes our clients attribute directly to the programme.
After just 2 sessions I used the skills I learnt on the programme to rescue an unhappy client who had decided to leave us for a competitor. I didn't just save a £75k per annum account, but increased their annual spend.Morag Henderson, Senior Regional Sales Manager, B. Braun
We've reduced our annual scrappage by £70,000. This is all owing to the Quarterdeck Leadership Programme and how I now deal with my production team. The cost of the course is tiny compared to the savings we’ve made as a direct result.Dylan Wilson, Production Manager, MPM Composite Innovations
I closed a £30k per annum customer during the programme by being more effective. I've been trying to pin this customer down for years!Charlie Aston, Director, Sugarhouse Properties
100% money-back guarantee.
If you don't feel it was worth it, we'll refund you in full. In 15 years of making this offer, only 2 people have ever asked — and neither had actually attended the course.
This isn't a faceless agency. You'll know exactly who's in the room — and why they're there.
Managing Director
From police sergeant to Oxford academic to leadership specialist. She's navigated every kind of room your managers will ever face — high-risk, high-stakes, and high-expectation. That breadth is what she brings to every course.
Operations Director
The operational force keeping everything running behind the scenes.
Regional Director, Sheffield
Texas-born, Yorkshire-adopted. Believes great attitude is the only foundation worth building on.
Regional Director, Newcastle
Straight-talking and direct. Sets the tone in every room he walks into.
Regional Director, Manchester
Former software director and national triathlete. Proof that discipline and team spirit go hand in hand.
Regional Director, Liverpool
From ad tech to national security to mountain rescue. Calm, strategic, relentlessly people-focused.
Regional Director, Hull & York
She enrolled in the programme because she needed it. Now she delivers it. The most genuine endorsement there is.
We've given away nearly £1.5 million in free leadership training through our seminar programme, because we believe the world is a better place when it's full of people with excellent leadership skills. And we'll give away millions more over the coming years.
We're in the process of putting Quarterdeck's approach into writing and publishing several short, useful books that people can quickly use to improve leadership in themselves and their companies. We're also developing a peer group network for alumni to further their development and get long term, advanced, support.
Loved it! Don’t think it could have been any better. Great content and pace. Powerful and thought-provoking. One of the most enjoyable training sessions I have attended in 30+ years. Nothing else to say other than fantastic.Mark Ibbotson, Chief Operating Officer, ASDA
Our head office is in Harrogate — and that's not an accident. Yorkshire has a well-earned reputation for straight-talking, no-nonsense people who value results over rhetoric. That's exactly the culture Quarterdeck is built on. We don't do corporate waffle. We don't trade in buzzwords. We teach people things that work.
We run courses and seminars across the UK:
Not sure where to start? The free half-day seminar is a no-commitment way to experience our approach firsthand — before investing a penny.
