SME News Midlands Enterprise Awards 2025/ 28 Based in Northampton, Corporate Smarts Ltd is a boutique consultancy helping professionals and businesses unlock world-class performance. We speak with Founder, Steve Quinn, after the firm was named Best Financial Services Training Provider 2025 in the Midlands Enterprise Awards. Founded by Steve Quinn, Corporate Smarts specialises in leadership development, sales enablement and emotional intelligence training. With clients like Lloyds Banking Group, St. James’s Place, Barclays, MSCI, and Aviva in addition to nationwide SMEs, the firm works with everyone from senior leaders to high-potential teams to drive measurable shifts in performance, culture and commercial results. Its programmes focus on Leadership Development, Sales Effectiveness, Relationship Intelligence, and preparing workforces to thrive in the AI era. Each is designed to help leaders and their teams align with purpose, clarity, and commercial impact. Steve brings two decades of experience in financial services, from retail branches to startup funding in the Square Mile, and eventually, corporate banking. Rapidly graduating to global corporate consultancy and coaching, he expanded his skill base by helping establish a new transaction banking division within Lloyds Banking Group. Through more than 10,000 hours with clients and 10,000 hours with colleagues, he realised “The skills that drive real performance, what I call ‘Corporate Smarts’, are rarely taught inside companies. There’s a huge need to help corporate employees to develop personally, which enables exponential growth professionally.” Today, his mission is to help people level up by as little as 1% because “tiny changes can lead to huge results.” At its core, Corporate Smarts bridges the gap between knowledge and execution. The firm’s approach is built on clarity over complexity, growth through ownership, and delivering real-world results. “We don’t just train – we transform,” says Steve. “Our work is rooted in trust, behavioural insight, and a belief that people are a business’s greatest advantage.” The overall aim is to not simply leave clients inspired, but to leave them equipped to take themselves and their performance to the next level. Every session, strategy, and programme delivered by Corporate Smarts is rooted in behavioural science, philosophy and more than 20,000 hours of corporate experience, co-created alongside clients, and designed to deliver measurable impact. Steve highlights three major shifts reshaping the learning and development space: AI integration, a move from one-off events to continuous learning, and the rise of peer-led coaching. “We’re strongly positioned to support any sector of business and lead in this space,” he says, “with the tools, expertise, and agility to help clients adapt fast.” “We don’t offer off-the-shelf training — we create behavioural change that delivers results and sticks,” Steve explains. “What sets us apart is our fusion of deep emotional intelligence, practical sales and organisational psychology, and real-world corporate experience. We invest time in truly getting to know our clients, their culture, and the challenges they face.” Corporate Smarts also benefits from being based in the Midlands as it has central access and national reach, being situated just an hour from London and Birmingham, meaning it can deliver events and client programmes across the UK. Being based in Northampton offers Corporate Smarts strategic reach, just an hour from London and Birmingham, while benefiting from lower overheads and access to a growing regional hub of innovation, talent, and start-ups. Corporate Smarts thrives on a culture of trust, autonomy, and high performance. “Everyone is empowered to lead, learn, and deliver. No micromanagement, just ownership and standards,” says Steve, reinforcing the firm’s culture of collaboration and ongoing selfdevelopment. “We value curiosity, clarity and client obsession. That means we positively challenge each other, and stay focused on what drives real change for our clients.” It is down to its stellar work ethics and client-centric training programmes that Corporate Smarts gained notable recognition in the Midlands Enterprise Awards 2025 recently, clinching the title of Best Financial Services Training Provider 2025. Looking ahead, Steve sees a bold, techenhanced, and deeply human future. With deep expertise in sales and relationship development, Corporate Smarts is expanding into highgrowth sectors, offering powerful alternatives to formulaic solutions. "Corporate Smarts is evolving into a sector agnostic training and coaching firm that helps businesses thrive in fresh and unique ways. We’re bringing the secrets of corporate banking sales and relationship development to provide clients with an edge over their competitors.” Steve Quinn – [email protected] Company: Corporate Smarts Ltd Web Address: www.corporatesmarts.co.uk Jun25162 Best Financial Services Training Provider 2025
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