Edinburgh · GRC · Organisational Health Review
The foundations to deliver. The resilience to endure.
Independent governance, risk, and organisational health advisory for SMEs, startups, non-profits, and regulated firms. Grounded in Edinburgh, working across the UK.
Flagship
The Organisational Health Review
An independent, evidence-based assessment of an organisation’s overall health and continued viability across seven domains, from mission and governance to people, operations, and financial sustainability. It is not a compliance audit or regulatory inspection. It is a professional judgement of organisational quality, grounded in evidence, and written in plain language boards and leadership teams can act on.
45 principles · 231 indicators · seven domains
Mission coherence as the organising lens
Every domain is assessed through one question: is this organisation structured and behaving in ways that serve its mission?
A behavioural risk lens throughout
Surfacing groupthink, ethical fading, deference to authority, and optimism bias: the patterns that produce organisational failure most reliably, and that standard frameworks most reliably miss.
Principles-based, not rules-based
Assessed against gold-standard practice, not regulatory minimums.
Products
The practice the Review sits on.
Six further products, scoped clearly and delivered by me. The Health Review keeps its own page.
Who I work with
Four kinds of organisation. One standard of care.
SMEs
Growing businesses that need to demonstrate good governance to clients, partners, or regulators.
Startups
Tech and product businesses building compliance in from the start, or preparing for enterprise procurement and security questionnaires.
Non-profits
Charities and third-sector organisations managing data, contracts, and regulatory expectations with lean teams. Reduced rates for OSCR- and CCEW-registered non-profits.
Regulated firms
Financial services, health, and other regulated sectors needing senior GRC support without large-consultancy cost.
How I work
Direct, scoped before the work, and without a pitch.
01
A conversation
A free initial call. I listen first: your organisation, your sector, what you are trying to achieve. No pitch. No pressure.
02
A clear scope
I say what I would do, what I would not, and what it costs, before any work begins. You decide with a full picture.
03
Direct delivery
Senior advice, given by me. No account managers. No junior bait-and-switch. I deliver what I said I would.
Why Whitfield Echlin
To help purpose-driven organisations build the foundations they need to thrive, so that leaders can do what they are here to do, and build lasting value and prosperity for the people and communities they serve.
Stewardship
I take a long-term view in everything I do. My role is to help clients build the foundations of a well-run organisation: resilient, lasting, and fit for adversity, so that leaders can focus on fulfilling their mission and serving the people that depend on them.
Transparency
I say what I observe and what I believe, without softening inconvenient truths or shying away from difficult conversations. My clients deserve an honest picture of where they are, what they need, and what stands in their way, because it is the small overlooked things, left unaddressed, that quietly become the big ones.
Inquiry
I approach every client challenge with genuine curiosity, resisting the pull of familiar frameworks in favour of deeper understanding. I draw knowledge from unexpected places: history, strategy, systems thinking. The most useful insights rarely come from looking only where everyone else is looking. I am always learning, and that habit of mind makes me a better advisor.
The Whitfield Echlin Lyceum
Today’s knowledge, tomorrow’s wisdom.
The practice grounds the inquiry. The inquiry deepens the practice. Each is stronger for the other.
Every engagement starts with a conversation.
I take time to understand your organisation, your sector, and what you are trying to achieve before I recommend anything. No pitch. No pressure.