Jack Wray, Strategy and Execution Manager from the London office, details how his journey sparked his passion for consumer-focused strategy & execution and the ways teamwork at Metyis is ensuring impactful results.

Meet Jack Wray, Strategy and Execution Manager in London.

I grew up just outside London in a place called Harpenden. It was a great place to grow up, that’s only 30 minutes into the city but also still feels at times like you are in the countryside. My spare time growing up was spent playing whatever sport I could get my hands on, whether that was football, rugby or cricket. After this I went to study Business at the University of Bath.

Bath is one of my favourite places in the UK and I always recommend it as a place to visit when colleagues are visiting or are new to London. These days while the team sports have stopped, I have taken up running and cycling in the pursuit to stay relatively fit. On the weekends, I am often up in Norfolk with my family and golden retriever Arlo or watching my football team, Arsenal.

From Analyst to Manager, but a consultant at heart

I work as a Strategy and Execution Manager at Metyis and this has given me the ability to work with our clients to both develop strategies that will transform their business but also ensure it comes to fruition through the execution phase. I have been lucky to grow through the levels at Metyis, first starting as an Analyst and moving up to a Manager.

While my role title has changed, the fundamentals of the job have not, as I work closely with my clients to deliver solutions that make a real difference to them. This is one of the reasons why I believe Metyis is a great place to work. No matter what level you are at there is an expectation for you to take ownership of projects and use this as a way to develop yourself.

From unexpected consultant to passionate industry professional

I must be honest; I fell into consulting. However, soon after I started, I realised this was an industry where I wanted to start building my career. While studying at university, it was compulsory to complete a year of internships. Through this process I found a consulting firm called PatelMiller, where I spent 6 months and began my journey as a consultant.

I instantly liked the variety of work and the level of challenge that was involved in what they were doing. PatelMiller were focussed on consumer industries (e.g. Retail, Hospitality, FMCG) which has become an area I have really found as a passion. I find working in consumer industries incredibly tangible, where as a consultant you are often able to sympathise with the consumers and what they are experiencing.

In 2020, PatelMiller became a part of Metyis, as the foundation for the UK office. I and many of the other team members came along as part of this move and have been here since the beginning to see the office develop. Being on this journey has been highly rewarding and I feel very proud to witness what we have achieved in this time.

The culture at Metyis is similar to that at PatelMiller, while being able to add the ability to access the wealth of knowledge and expertise that our international teams hold across industries, topics, and ways of working.

Some of the most rewarding moments of this job have been post project, going into a client’s location and seeing processes or technology that you have helped recommend and implement being utilised.

Chasing impact leads to powerful outcomes

Metyis’ mission statement is “Partners for impact”, and I do feel that this is definitely felt in the engagements we have. Our work with clients is never focussed around a slide deck at the end of the project and then move on. The Metyis approach is often to create joint teams with our clients to work closely together all the way through to implementation.

For consultants looking to develop themselves, this is a vital and unique experience. It is not in every job you get to work this closely with experts in their field while getting the chance to provide your own perspective on significant business transformations. I have seen firsthand how this approach leads to impact, and has led to the most successful projects I have been involved in.

Building customer journeys with creative solutions

Recently, I have been collaborating with members of the UK team to redefine the customer journey for a UK housebuilder. My previous experiences were largely centred around retail and hospitality clients, so the opportunity to take these learnings and apply the thinking to a different type of customer as an engaging problem to work on. Alongside the client we spent time breaking down the customer journey of buying a house, and understanding what customers were looking for at each part of the journey.

After this there was real space to be creative when developing solutions for how to make the journey better for the customer, simpler for the colleague and more profitable for the business to run. Many of the ideas and solutions that we jointly developed with the client were new to them and are going to be innovative solutions that push the boundaries of where they currently are.

The chance to work with our internal data team, to see the power of GenAI (Generative AI) showed me the depth of skill we have here at Metyis. Within a day they had turned a simple question/answer document into a strong MVP chatbot that could help customers in the sales journey.

Where curiosity can take you

I think the main trait I encourage people to embody and what I look for when interviewing is curiosity. Wanting to know why different things happen and understanding how you can impact them is the core of strategy and execution. As a younger consultant asking questions and challenging thinking within the team is one of the best things for personal development.

I believe my own curiosity has taken me to new experiences that have helped shape my career. These have included getting to work on unique projects and approaches, as well as being able to be involved in helping shape the UK office through getting to work in our recruitment team. Being curious to learn and experience new things is a core part of my progress and is my key tip for those looking to start a career in strategy.