How Champain Landscapes Moved From Skilled Delivery to Structured Leadership

Results at a glance

• More time spent working on the business, not only in it
• Clearer leadership structure across a growing group of businesses
• Stronger focus on priorities, accountability, and decision-making
• Greater confidence to lead growth without losing quality

The Context: Growth Built on Craft

Champain Landscapes had built its reputation on quality.

Based in Suffolk, the business delivers detail-focused garden design, construction, landscaping, and aftercare. It also forms part of the wider Champain Group, alongside Brampton Willows, a specialist natural fencing and bespoke willow products business.

For Louis Champain, Managing Director, the challenge was not a lack of ambition.

The business had craft, reputation, and demand. But as the company grew, the leadership requirement changed.

A growing business cannot rely only on the founder’s standards, energy, and judgement. Those things matter, but they need to be translated into structure.

“Phil has that angle that he is talking about you personally, and then the business comes second, and I think that is something that you as a business owner could lose sight of that.” – says Louis Champain, Managing Director of Champain Landscapes

The next stage required Louis to spend less time being pulled into the day-to-day and more time leading the business deliberately.

The Approach: Creating Space to Lead

Phils work with Louis focused on one of the central shifts in founder-led businesses:

moving from doing the work to leading the business.

That meant helping Louis create the time, discipline, and accountability needed to step back from constant operational pressure and make better decisions about the future.

The coaching focused on:

• Clarifying the priorities that would move the business forward
• Creating a stronger rhythm for accountability
• Supporting better decisions around growth, structure, and leadership
• Helping Louis stay focused on the business, not trapped inside every detail of it

This was not abstract leadership theory.

It was practical coaching for a business owner managing growth, quality, people, and commercial pressure at the same time.

“What I really like about Phil is how direct he is in his communication and he is very to the point, which is what I need” – adds Louis.

The Transformation: From Founder Dependence to Leadership Discipline

As the work developed, the shift was in how Louis approached his role.

The business still needed his standards. But it could not depend on him being the answer to everything.

The coaching helped create more space for strategic thinking, clearer priorities, and a more structured approach to leadership.

That matters in a craft-led business.

When quality is central to reputation, growth can create tension. More people, more projects, and more moving parts all increase the risk of standards slipping unless leadership becomes more deliberate.

The work helped Louis build a stronger leadership frame around the business, so growth could be managed with control rather than absorbed through personal effort alone.

“For me personally, it was a fantastic investment, got a huge amount out of it. It’s been really exciting couple of years.” – concludes Louis

The Outcome: A Business Owner Working on the Business

The outcome was a more focused, confident leadership approach.

Louis became better equipped to step back, assess what mattered, and lead the business with more structure.

The business benefited from:

• Clearer separation between operational delivery and leadership work
• Stronger accountability around priorities
• More deliberate decision-making
• A leadership approach better suited to the next stage of growth

For Champain Landscapes, the value was not just business coaching.

It was the discipline to lead a growing business without losing the standards that made it successful in the first place.