Senior leaders become the safety net
Managers escalate people problems, hold onto too much work and rely on senior leaders to step in.
PRACTICAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEAM LEADERS AND MANAGERS
Practical manager development that turns underprepared managers into confident people leaders who build stronger teams and deliver better results.
“Jamie supported more than 370 leaders through our leadership development programme at Octopus Energy Services. He has a rare talent for creating trust quickly, bringing concepts to life in a practical and relatable way, and helping even the most hesitant participants see the relevance and value in what they are learning.”
THE ACCIDENTAL MANAGER PROBLEM
When managers are promoted without preparation, the impact shows up in performance, senior leadership time and retention.
Managers escalate people problems, hold onto too much work and rely on senior leaders to step in.
Expectations, feedback and accountability vary across teams. Underperformance is addressed too late.
Weak coaching, unclear direction and avoided conversations leave capable people frustrated and unsupported.
This is not a motivation problem. It is a capability gap. People have been given responsibility for others without being prepared to deliver through them.
THE MANAGER CAPABILITY CHECK
Answer five practical questions and get an immediate view of where your managers may need support.
A QUICK ORGANISATION CHECK
This looks at the management habits across your organisation. It does not judge individual managers.
No personal details neededTHE PROGRAMME
Every programme begins with leadership alignment, followed by practical development and workplace support shaped around your managers and priorities.
Agree what good management looks like, what leaders will model and what success needs to look like.
Build practical development around genuine management challenges, conversations and decisions.
Support managers to apply their learning, reinforce new behaviours and review what is changing.
HEAR FROM CLIENTS
Hear how clients describe the partnership, the learning and what changed at work.
Quote: Marion WhittyHead of Learning and Development
Stacey Mitchell, Sales & Marketing Director
I think the main benefit for me for working with Skills Farm was training the sales managers before the sales consultants and for the heads of departments to be sitting in on both of the training sessions. This ensures that we're all on the same page and that we can continue the training by individually coaching one another as we go along.
Rachel Stares, Learning & Development Manager
We're a really small team, so being able to rely on the expertise of Skills Farm has been a great help to us. They will ensure that all of the training and the development that they offer is bespoke to the team that they're delivering it to, but also to the organisation. They put a great deal of effort into understanding the business and getting to know the team, which makes the face to face delivery as impactful as possible.
Marion Whitty, Head of Learning and Development
Skills Farm provide the relevant support before the learning takes place, during the learning and, importantly, after the learning too. Ultimately, they ensure the learning is properly embedded in our organisation and becomes business as usual.
Jodie MonaghanHead of Tusker Academy
Jodie Monaghan, Head of Tusker Academy
We can talk about an idea or a concept or a programme. It's a real partnership approach. So everything that we do, Skills Farm understand, and they get to know Tusker culturally and what we want to try and achieve as a business, as well as just training us. So it's all about working out what we want to deliver together.
Mark Sellwood, IT Supervisor
Being trained by Skills Farm has helped me my confidence with managing my team. So I know how to have formal conversations with my team. I can pull before push. I've implemented a ways of working with my team which we didn't have anything before, and it's given them more confidence in what I can do as well. They get more visibility of how our team is now managed.
Jodie Monaghan, Head of Tusker Academy
Being in the training room with anyone from Skills Farm is brilliant. It's so exciting, but you come away really energised and enthused, and there's follow up sessions as well for some of the courses that we do. So you get to actually go out and do something for the next few months and then follow up on it, which is the most valuable bit of training because you come out of the classroom and actually do something.
Paul SextonManaging Director
Paul Sexton, Managing Director
The big sell for me was the fact that they deal with people, not targets. That was very important to me. They designed their training to change habits and work with individuals in personal and also professional development.
Paul Sexton, Managing Director
They are fantastic at improving people's confidence. With that, with confidence, comes efficiency and effectiveness, which is critically important to Lawsons.
Andrew Elloway, Assistant Branch Manager
I would say the difference is with Skills Farm that it's a lot more engaging. They tend to get you all on board, get your ideas through, and sort of progress you and grow you as a person by including you in the relevant topics.
These testimonials describe earlier client projects, rather than the programme offered today. Names and roles are those given at the time of filming. Videos include captions.
THE INVESTMENT
A focused day for a specific challenge. A programme for a shared approach across your managers.
RECOMMENDED FOR BROADER DEVELOPMENT
From£10,000
Per programme for up to 12 managers
For businesses where management varies across teams and new behaviours need time and support to take hold.
Included in your programme
FOCUSED SUPPORT
£1,650
Per delivery day
For a specific management challenge or a focused team session, without committing to a full programme.
Preparation, programme design and tailoring are quoted separately. We agree the full scope and total price before you commit.
We start with the problem you need to solve, then agree whether a focused day is the right fit.
Discuss a training dayNo VAT. Travel and venue costs are quoted separately where required.
You do not need to arrive with a training brief. Tell Jamie what is happening and explore the right starting point.

ABOUT JAMIE
Jamie Summers brings more than 20 years of development experience and six years leading commercial teams, including a team responsible for £39 million in annual revenue.
He understands the responsibility of managing performance and being accountable for results. That experience shapes practical development built around the conversations, decisions and people challenges your managers face every day.
INSIGHTS FOR STRONGER MANAGEMENT
Useful ideas for organisations that want stronger managers, better conversations and more consistent performance.
View all insightsLeadership dependency
Repeatedly stepping in can solve the immediate problem while making managers more dependent on senior leaders.
Read the insightCHOOSING THE RIGHT PARTNER
Two providers can both describe their management training as bespoke while offering very different levels of diagnosis, design and support.
Read the insightCHOOSING THE RIGHT INVESTMENT
Management training prices vary enormously. The useful comparison is not the day rate, but what the investment is designed to change.
Read the insightFREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What organisations usually want to know about the programme, delivery and next steps.
It is designed for team leaders, new managers and experienced managers who need practical support to lead people, manage performance and build stronger teams. It is particularly useful when management quality varies across the business or capable people have been promoted without enough preparation.
Each cohort supports up to 12 managers. This creates enough variety for useful discussion while giving every manager time to participate, practise and receive meaningful feedback.
Programmes are delivered in person across the UK. The location and delivery rhythm are agreed around your people and operational needs.
Following the leadership alignment day, the three practical development days are usually delivered across six weeks. This gives managers time to apply what they are learning between sessions while maintaining the momentum needed for meaningful change.
The programme is shaped through a leadership alignment day with the people responsible for the business and its managers. Jamie listens to stakeholders and managers, identifies the situations, language and performance priorities that matter, then designs the three development days around what managers actually need to do differently at work.
Clear outcomes, leadership behaviours and success measures are agreed during the leadership alignment day. Progress is reviewed through workplace application, participant insight, stakeholder feedback and evidence that management practice is becoming more consistent. Senior leaders are expected to model and reinforce the behaviours they want to see, helping them become part of how the organisation is led.
Yes. Training and facilitation are available at £1,650 per delivery day. Preparation, programme design and tailoring are quoted separately. For broader management development, we recommend the programme from £10,000 for up to 12 managers, including leadership alignment, three development days, preparation, tailored programme design and workplace application support. Your full scope and total price are agreed before you commit. There is no VAT. Travel and venue costs are quoted separately where required.
Jamie responds personally. The first conversation explores what is happening in the business, what you need managers to do differently and whether a programme could help. You do not need a completed training brief or a finished solution in mind.
START WITH THE PROBLEM
Tell Jamie what is happening in the business. You don't need a finished training brief. Just an honest view of the challenge you are trying to solve.