Jacky Hodges

I help businesses build and strengthen practical risk management frameworks that people actually use, so they can respond quickly to change and build resilience into their business.

I help UK organisations understand the risks that matter most, identify where the real gaps are, and turn that insight into practical improvements.

As your business becomes more complex, your governance can struggle to keep pace. You may have grown quickly, taken on new regulatory demands, or become reliant on a small number of key people or suppliers. You may have had a near-miss, or you may simply feel your current risk management isn’t giving leaders the clarity they need.

It’s rarely because you don’t have enough policies and documentation. What’s often lacking is systems and controls that were designed for how the business runs now, rather than ones that accumulated as it grew.

People come to work to do their best. Good risk management should support them to do that, not add another layer of compliance that nobody uses.

I work with businesses that are dealing with challenges such as:

• Overreliance on key people, clients or suppliers and weak contingency planning
• Compliance and regulatory burden that feels like box-ticking
• No clear view of the biggest risks facing growing organisations
• Risk blind spots following a near-miss or incident for UK businesses
• Business growth that has outpaced governance arrangements
• Operational resilience gaps for professional services
• Unclear responsibility for managing risk across growing organisations
• AI risks and weak AI governance for professional services firms
• Inadequate third-party risk management for professional services firms
• Businesses that need senior risk leadership but aren’t quite ready for a full-time Chief Risk Officer

These aren’t theoretical problems. They’re the everyday reality of running a business.

My role is to help you understand what could realistically go wrong, assess what you already have in place, identify where the important gaps are, and focus your resources on the things that will make the greatest difference.

Benefits

• Clearer decisions about where risk really matters.
• Greater confidence in the risks they are prepared to take.
• Fewer surprises when people, suppliers or circumstances change.
• Stronger resilience without unnecessary bureaucracy.
• More management attention on opportunities, rather than preventable problems.

The commercial benefit of good risk management isn’t about avoiding change. It’s about understanding what could get in the way, deciding how much risk you are prepared to accept, and making sure the potential benefits of change outweigh the risks.

My approach

My approach is deliberately practical, rather than looking at tick-box compliance. I don’t believe a risk management framework should exist simply to demonstrate compliance. It should help people make better decisions, understand their responsibilities and respond confidently when circumstances change.

I help organisations identify the risks that matter most, strengthen their governance and resilience, and put practical arrangements in place that support better decision-making. I can also provide an experienced external perspective where you need risk expertise but aren’t yet ready for a full-time Chief Risk Officer.

My work increasingly includes helping organisations think through emerging risks associated with AI and changing technology, particularly where new tools and ways of working are developing faster than existing governance arrangements.

Experience

My methodology is grounded in practical risk frameworks developed across complex and regulated environments.

I have worked across automotive supply chain, nuclear energy and independent consulting, where I have built internal control frameworks, designed compliance training programmes and led risk and compliance self-assessments.

I hold a BA (Hons) in Business Information Systems, an MBA and a Diploma in Purchasing and Supply. My experience also includes fraud and bribery prevention, GDPR, risk self-assessment and operational resilience.

Training and development are integral to my work. Whether I am developing a framework, designing a self-assessment process or creating practical tools, my focus is on making sure the change is embedded into the organisation rather than leaving behind a set of documents that nobody uses.

Previous clients have described me as:

“Thorough and thoughtful. I really like her ideas and vision. She has a great skillset with lots of insight.”

“An experienced change leader, able to inspire others to improve their working practices and able to simplify and streamline complex processes and procedures.”

“Knowledgeable, capable, and innovative, as well as easy to work with: she really knows her stuff, is full of ideas and knows how to manage her clients for best results.”

Next Steps

If you want an honest, experienced perspective on the risks your organisation faces, please get in touch using the contact form below.