The Northstar
Partnership Team

Invaluable business advice from real-world experts

Meet our business advisor team, which has decades of real world-experience doing what you’re doing. Between us, we’ve overcome pretty much every business challenge imaginable, and we’re ready to share our wisdom, experience and techniques.

Max Crosby-Browne

Managing Partner

Max Crosby-Browne

Managing Partner

Northstar is led by Managing Partner Max Crosby-Browne, a hands-on CEO/Managing Director turned strategic advisor with over 25- years’ experience growing and transforming consumer-facing businesses in the UK and internationally.

Max has led multiple acquisitions, turnarounds, and scale-ups — often in complex, fast-moving environments. Today, he brings that insight to SME owners, offering a rare blend of board-level experience, commercial know-how, and pragmatic mentoring.

Max is passionate about growth that lasts and exits that reward the hard work it took to get there.

07771 547703

max@northstarpartnership.co.uk

Jimi Ball

Partner

Jimi Ball

Partner

Jimi specialises in strategic planning, implementation and change leadership coaching. He led companies through major changes for 20 years before starting his consultancy business in 2018. He’s worked with everything from £2m+ charities to global manufacturers.

Jimi rolls up his sleeves to help leaders like you break through barriers. He offers practical solutions that actually work, bringing theory to life through considered and real-world application.

07714 878820

jimi@northstarpartnership.co.uk

Phil Dobson

Partner

Phil Dobson

Partner

Phil offers you 30 years of senior management and shareholder experience in sales, leadership and business management. As a director of a local business, he’s directly benefited from the peer support, mentoring and coaching he now delivers through Northstar. Support which is vital during the rollercoaster of business leadership.

Phil brings a calm and strategic approach to help you grow your business. Giving you the clarity, confidence and control, to make the tough calls and tackle things that keep you awake at night.

07837 699838

phil@northstarpartnership.co.uk

Julian Smith

Partner

Julian Smith

Partner

Julian will help you grasp opportunities to achieve your vision.

He’s run teams from 10 to 3000 people in companies with turnovers up to £100m. After 35 years of success, Julian knows people are key, so he focuses on improving them professionally and personally. His engaging style and multi-disciplinary experience (sales, marketing, brand, strategy, transformation, exit planning and attainment) provide you with an incredibly insightful perspective.

07860 310553

julian@northstarpartnership.co.uk

James Foskett

Partner

James Foskett

Partner

James is a Finance Director, Chartered Accountant, and strategic advisor with over a decade of experience helping ambitious SMEs scale with financial clarity, purpose, and a performance focus.

As Finance Director of a logistics company, James helped drive growth from £1m to over £20m turnover, overseeing acquisitions, the evolution of the company’s strategy, people, and systems, and ultimately its sale to a national logistics group.

James combines deep financial insight with a people-first approach, building plans that deliver profit and long-term success for business owners.

07879 775424

james@northstarpartnership.co.uk

Clare Taylor

Partner

Clare Taylor

Partner

Clare is an experienced strategic marketer and business development professional. Renowned for her no-nonsense, strategic approach, she works with businesses to develop results-driven marketing strategies that directly impact the bottom line. An experienced Head of Marketing, she also works with businesses to execute and manage their day-to-day marketing operations.

07843 821229

clare@northstarpartnership.co.uk

Nick Herbert

Partner

Nick Herbert

Partner

Nick is a seasoned sales and commercial leader with significant board-level experience.

He combines real-world leadership insight with structured development to help business leaders to grow sustainably and competently.

With a firm belief that growth doesn’t happen by accident, Nick works with SMEs to implement the right sales and commercial frameworks, strategies and structures to drive business growth. He combines this with ongoing mentoring, coaching and fractional support to help people and businesses grow and develop as well as executing their day-to-day sales and commercial operations.

nick@northstarpartnership.co.uk

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meet the team

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The Northstar Partnership Team

Invaluable business advice from real-world experts

Max Crosby-Browne

Managing Partner

Jimi Ball

Partner

Phil Dobson

Partner

Julian Smith

Partner

James Foskett

Partner

Clare Taylor

Partner

Nick Herbert

Partner

Connect with your expert...

The Northstar
Partnership Team