In 2016, Rhian Bowen was running operations for a mid-sized logistics company in Newport. She had 45 people reporting into her team, and her employer decided it was time for a leadership development programme. The company hired an external provider who flew in from London, delivered two days of theory about emotional intelligence, and left behind a ring binder that nobody opened again.
Rhian found the whole experience frustrating. The content was not wrong, exactly, but it had nothing to do with the problems she was actually facing: a driver shortage, a team leader who could not have a difficult conversation, and a warehouse manager who micromanaged every shift. She wanted practice, not principles.
That frustration became a business. Rhian left her operations role in early 2017 and partnered with Dafydd Meredith, who had spent nine years in secondary education, the last four as head of pastoral care. Between them, they had managed teachers, warehouse workers, delivery drivers and administrative staff. They knew what leadership looked like at 6am in a loading bay and at 4pm in a safeguarding meeting.
The first workshop they ran was for a housing association in Bridgend. Eight team leaders, one day, focused entirely on how to give feedback that people actually hear. The session went well enough that the housing association booked a second day, and then recommended them to a neighbouring council. Word of mouth carried the business for the first two years.
By 2020, they had a small team of associate facilitators and a client list that stretched from Pembrokeshire to Bristol. The pandemic forced them to learn how to deliver workshops online, which they did reluctantly but competently. When in-person sessions returned, they kept the online option for teams spread across multiple sites.
Today, Next Level Leadership Workshops works with around 30 organisations a year. That number is deliberate. Taking on more would mean either compromising on the diagnostic work that makes each workshop specific, or hiring facilitators who have not managed real teams. Neither option appeals to them.
These are not slogans printed on a poster in our office. They are the principles that shape how we design and deliver every workshop.
Adults learn by doing, not by listening. Every workshop spends at least 60% of its time on exercises where participants practise real conversations, make decisions under pressure, or give and receive feedback. We introduce models and frameworks only when they help someone make sense of what they just experienced.
A workshop about "communication" is too broad to be useful. We focus on specific behaviours: how to open a performance conversation, how to say no to a senior stakeholder, how to chair a meeting that finishes on time. Participants leave knowing exactly what to do differently on Monday morning.
We will not run a workshop for 30 people. The maximum is 16, and we prefer 10 to 12. In a smaller group, the facilitator can observe each person during practice exercises and give feedback that is specific enough to be useful. "Good job" is not feedback. "You asked three questions before stating your own view, which made the other person feel heard" is feedback.
A workshop that ends when people leave the room is a missed opportunity. We set up peer coaching structures that keep participants accountable to the commitments they made during the session. Three months later, we measure what has actually changed. If nothing has, we want to understand why and adjust our approach.
Our core team is small. We also work with three associate facilitators who bring expertise in areas like finance-sector leadership and NHS clinical leadership, but the four people below are involved in every engagement.
Co-founder and lead facilitator
Rhian spent eight years in logistics operations before founding the company. She holds a postgraduate certificate in coaching and mentoring from the University of South Wales. Her facilitation style is direct: she will tell you what she observed, ask you what you noticed, and help you figure out what to try next. She leads most of our two-day intensives and all residential retreats.
Co-founder and facilitator
Dafydd came from secondary education, where he managed a pastoral team of 12 staff responsible for the welfare of 900 students. He is particularly good at working with leaders who are technically skilled but uncomfortable with the people side of management. His background means he understands safeguarding, duty of care, and the emotional weight that comes with leading in high-stakes environments.
Programme coordinator
Nia handles the logistics of every engagement: scheduling diagnostic interviews, booking venues, preparing materials, and managing the three-month follow-up surveys. She joined in 2021 after working in events management for a Cardiff-based charity. If you email us, Nia is usually the first person to reply.
Senior associate facilitator
Marcus spent 20 years in financial services, the last seven as a regional director managing 80 staff across four branches. He retired early and now facilitates workshops for us on topics including decision-making under uncertainty, leading through organisational change, and managing upwards. He works with us on roughly ten engagements a year.
We do not collect accreditations for the sake of having logos on our website. The qualifications and memberships listed below are ones we actively use in our work.
Rhian holds a PgCert in Coaching and Mentoring (University of South Wales, 2018). Dafydd completed the Institute of Leadership and Management Level 5 Certificate in Leadership and Management in 2016. Marcus is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. All facilitators hold current DBS checks and professional indemnity insurance.
We have delivered workshops for local authorities, NHS trusts, housing associations, technology companies, manufacturing firms, and third-sector organisations. About 60% of our work is in Wales, with the remainder in the south-west of England and occasionally further afield. Repeat bookings account for roughly half of our annual revenue, which we take as a more reliable indicator of quality than any award.
In our 2023 follow-up survey (sent three months after workshop delivery), 78% of participants reported sustaining at least one new management behaviour. Line managers of participants reported a noticeable improvement in communication clarity in 65% of cases. We publish these figures because we believe in transparency about what our workshops can and cannot achieve.
If you want to find out whether our workshops are right for your team, get in touch. The initial conversation is always free.
298 Boundary Road, Klocko-on-Armstrong, Wales, QY6 7SG, United Kingdom