Peter Evans - Founder

Peter Evans, a man with glasses and a beard standing on a city street, wearing a blue shirt and dark blazer, with colorful buildings in the background.

Who Am I? A Journey Through Operational Excellence, Change, and Purpose

After more than 35 years immersed in the world of Operational Excellence—and many more learning about life, leadership, and how change truly happens—I have come to believe that meaningful impact lies at the intersection of values, people, and purpose.

My career began in finance as a Product Accountant in a defence business, trying to understand what “work” really meant. I then moved into Credit & Risk and began to develop a reputation for fixing things—whether broken processes, underperforming teams, or strained customer and supplier relationships. Looking back, those early experiences laid the foundations for everything that followed.

A so-called “temporary” assignment to implement ISO 9001 and lead a systems project marked the end of my finance chapter and the start of a lifelong journey into operational improvement. Soon after, the business I was with was acquired by GE Capital—another fortunate twist of fate. At GE, I was introduced to powerful tools like “Workout” and “Change Acceleration Process,” and for the first time, I realised there were names and methods behind the things I’d been doing instinctively.

In 1995/96, I had the great privilege of joining the first wave of Six Sigma Black Belt and Master Black Belt training in Stamford, Connecticut. That experience opened a whole new chapter, taking me to Belgium, Ireland, and the USA with GE Capital as EVP and Quality Leader. It wasn’t just a new job—it was a new calling.

After returning to the UK, I moved into the telecoms industry and eventually joined Virgin Media at a pivotal time. The business was evolving from its legacy cable roots into a modern and successful, service provider. As Head of Six Sigma, I quickly realised that transformation would require more than statistics and I needed a new title . We explored Lean, Systems Thinking, Theory of Constraints and more. Most importantly, we needed a shared language and vision.

That exploration led my team and me to create the “Swamp to Summit ©️” model—our own roadmap to Operational Excellence. It helped people understand not just where we were, but where we were going. That framework has inspired real change in multiple organisations and continues to shape my thinking today. (I’ll be writing more on Swamp to Summit©️ and my book-in-progress, Seeking the Summit™️, soon—watch this space!)

In 2012, following an inspiring consulting year, I joined Maersk Line as Director of PEX for Northern Europe, living in Denmark for three years. It was a cultural fit like no other—values-led, people-focused, and grounded in purpose. I worked with some of the best leaders I’ve ever known.

But nothing prepared me for what came next.

In 2016, I received a surprise call from a friend that would lead me to join The LEGO Group—a move that felt like destiny. Tasked with helping build a Global Shared Services organisation, I had finally found the place where my passion, values, and experience aligned perfectly. Together, we created something special: a world-class, purpose-driven service model, powered by strategy and culture. We took our internal NPS from -19 to +60 and won the Deloitte Award for Customer Centricity. We built great teams, nurtured talent, and, as only LEGO can, had fun doing it.

Shortly before the COVID lockdown, I attended a powerful programme called “Purpose to Impact” from the Core Leadership Institute. It helped crystallise everything I had learned into a personal purpose: “Releasing Angels from the Stone”—a reference to Michelangelo’s belief that the statue already exists within the marble. More to come on that in future posts.

I formally retired from LEGO in 2022, but it wasn’t long before I found my next mission. A dear friend, Anil Matthew, invited me to help train and coach Improvement Apprentices in the NHS—a cause I’ve been proud to support for the past three years. Alongside this, I was humbled to be made an Ambassador of the British Quality Foundation (BQF), serve on the Advisory Boards of PEX and the Operational Excellence Institute, and as a Trustee for three incredible charities: FND Dimensions, Home Start Wessex, and Branksome St Aldhelms Scout Group.

Now, I’m excited to begin a new chapter—Peter Evans Consulting Ltd.

In collaboration with a carefully chosen team, we’ll focus on helping organisations at any stage of their Operational Excellence journey. Whether you’re just starting out or ready to reinvigorate your transformation, we bring fresh, human-centred approaches—including Design Thinking, Visualisation, Creative Collaboration, Maturity Assessments, CI Tools & Techniques, and deep Change Management expertise.