John Waterman
John is Founder of Northstar and the former COO of a Tier 1 national construction business. He works with organisations to turn strategy into measurable performance at scale.
During his career, John led major strategy and transformation programmes across a £1bn business of more than 1,750 people, improving engagement, customer outcomes, and operational performance. Under his leadership, he grew the business in an aggressive market whilst simultaneously seeing the organisation reach 4th place in the Financial Times' European Best Employers list. He has studied at London Business School and is a practicing Henley-certified coach.
Today, John coaches business leaders to align strategy and execution so that performance improves in ways that are visible, sustained, and measurable.
Mathewe Bennett
Mat leads on strategy analysis and development at Northstar, leading collaborative workshops with executive teams to improve the effectiveness of their strategies.
He has spent more than 20 years working across a range of industries leading strategy, innovation, and change programmes in large, complex organisations. As former Head of Strategy and Innovation at a Tier 1 contractor in the built environment, he worked deeply at the intersection of strategy development and execution. Mat’s perspective is shaped by his studies in Design Thinking at the Royal College of Art and his involvement with the Conference Board’s European Innovation Council, working alongside leading global organisations.
Today, Mat works with leaders to identify the root causes of strategic problems and ensure strategies are clear, focused and aligned to the business.
Jacqui Lemon
Jacqui works with senior leaders at Northstar to bring clarity to decision-making and execution.
Her focus is simple: help leaders think clearly, decide confidently, and act with intent. She does not advise leaders how to run their business; instead, she helps them remove noise so they can lead it more effectively. She brings experience from the British Army and 16 years in the casino industry, where focus, composure, and reading human behaviour were essential. As a business owner, she also understands operational pressure first-hand. She trained in Executive Coaching at Henley Business School.
Jacqui works with executives to turn complexity into clear thinking and clear thinking into decisive action.
Emma White
Emma leads communications and engagement at Northstar, helping organisations turn strategy into messages that people understand, connect with, and act on.
She has 18 years of experience across communications, marketing, learning and development, and strategy, working across environments from operational sites to executive leadership teams. Her focus is on making communication work in practice - not just in theory. Emma holds a BA(Hons) and MSc in English and Management respectively, combining creative skill with commercial understanding and business awareness.
Emma specialises in shaping communication that resonates across very different audiences—ensuring strategy is understood, leaders are heard and organisations move in the same direction.