Matt Crabtree

Matt Crabtree is the founder and principal partner of Positive Momentum, a global consultancy specialising in leadership, transformative growth, and organisational change. With board-level experience scaling a telecoms business from £25m to £1bn and senior leadership roles at Barclays and AT&T, he established Positive Momentum in 2003 to deliver pragmatic, action-oriented consulting grounded in real-world commercial success. His speaking engagements, executive coaching, and workshops equip leaders and organisations with the clarity and momentum needed to drive meaningful change, challenge convention, and accelerate performance in an increasingly complex business landscape.

After helping scale a telecoms business from £25 million to £1 billion as a board director and leading a joint venture between Accenture and Barclays, Matt Crabtree founded Positive Momentum in 2003 with a clear purpose: to build a consultancy grounded in real commercial experience, not just theory. Raised on a Yorkshire farm before forging a fast-moving corporate career that included establishing new market channels for AT&T and senior leadership roles at Barclays, he recognised a persistent gap in the consulting world. Too many advisers lacked the scars and triumphs of genuine business leadership. Matt set out to create something different, a consultancy led by practitioners who had lived the challenges their clients face every day.

His work today spans leadership development, transformative growth, and organisational change, delivered to progressive companies across the globe that are serious about doing things differently. Matt speaks regularly at conferences, delivers executive coaching, runs selective training workshops, and takes on advisory roles with organisations navigating complexity and ambition in equal measure. He also leads the Positive Momentum partner programme, supporting independent consultants worldwide to build their own practices using what he calls the Positive Momentum Operating System, a model that allows professionals to remain independent without being isolated. Recent projects have included AI readiness initiatives in partnership with Cambridge Judge Business School, reflecting his commitment to helping organisations prepare for the technological and strategic shifts reshaping modern business. He is a member of the Institute of Directors, the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management, and the Professional Speaking Association, and his book, *Full-time to Fulfilled*, was published in 2022.

Matt equips leaders and teams with the clarity, momentum, and practical tools needed to drive meaningful change and accelerate performance. His approach is pragmatic and action-oriented, designed to translate insight into tangible results. Audiences leave his sessions with strategies they can implement immediately, whether navigating transformation, building high-performing cultures, or leading through uncertainty. A passionate believer in balance, Matt has taken every school holiday off since founding his business, spending twelve weeks a year travelling with his family. Now that his two daughters are young adults pursuing their own adventures, he jokes that his wife may be reconsidering the wisdom of having him around quite so much. His commitment to living the principles he teaches, balancing ambition with purpose and presence, makes his message all the more credible and resonant.