Uday has a background in the commercial and finance sector. He set up and managed several enterprises, from which some were surprisingly successful. He was also an advisor and Board member to a small number of large businesses.
In 1997 he started a web-based charity & social enterprise that connected thousands of small charities with some of the largest businesses and their employees in the UK. The web platform was used to transfer resources from the businesses to the charities at no cost to the charities.
In 2002 Uday launched Red Ochre, a consultancy specializing in supporting the not-for-profit sector as well as ethical and green businesses. Red Ochre specializes in improving sustainability and improving organisational performance. Every year over 2,000 people attend its workshops and training, and more intense and personal support and change facilitation is provided for chief executives, trustees, and senior managers.
Uday is an award winning mentor and has been an advisor on social enterprise for several governments. He is regularly commissioned by grant making trusts, national and local government, universities, and umbrella organisations to support and strengthen not-for-profits and small enterprises. Since 2010 Uday has worked in sixteen countries leading sustainability and change programmes, particularly for NGOs and cultural and arts organisations.
Consulting to me is the transfer of knowledge and experience to benefit others so that they can make a better and greater positive social impact. The approach is always with humility, humour and the advice is always practical, not hypothetical.
I am engaged when people at a senior level realize they need support or guidance to solve organisational or personal issues. It is important that you facilitate internal change, raising the confidence and ability of the people supported so that they can implement the change without needing your further input. Most my clients continue to stay in touch as they want to use me as a sounding board.
When I have inspired and energized people who believe they are unable to do any more to create even greater success, restoring and reinforcing their self-belief and bringing joy back in what they do.
When I worked assiduously with the chief executive of a large charity that was losing a large portion of its funding to create a strategy and action plan that would allow it to continue, even if in a different form, only for the Board and funders to take a political decision to reject the plan and then close this wonderful and transformative charity down. I realized that often people use consultants as an excuse to force through bad or politically motivated decisions not because they have any intention of supporting something good.
The majority of our clients are large charities or intermediaries that commission us to support smaller organisations.
You can engage with technology to continue doing what you do best and in fact do it more widely. I have had participants from various parts of the world attending my workshops and seminars.
