Baringa managing partner David Hatcher starts each working day at 6 a.m., structures most of his afternoon around walking meetings in St James’s Park, and relies on a Sunday-evening planning walk to set the week ahead, a set of habits that reflect how he leads one of the UK’s fastest-growing consultancies.
Hatcher was elected to the role in January 2026, with his appointment taking effect in April 2026, according to Baringa’s official announcement. He succeeded Adrian Bettridge, who had served as managing partner since 2014, during which time the firm grew to over 2,000 experts across 14 countries.
The move into the top role came after Hatcher spent years heading Baringa’s Energy and Resources practice, building on a consulting career that stretches back to the late 1990s, including earlier stints at EY and Accenture. He joined Baringa in 2012, drawn, he has said, by its smaller size and more entrepreneurial character.
How Baringa’s Managing Partner Structures His Day
Hatcher typically boards a train into central London at around 6:50 a.m. on mornings without exercise, or closer to 8:30 when a personal trainer has visited his home earlier. The trainer, he says, provides accountability on days when he might otherwise skip the session.
The commute is used for reading: the Financial Times and a personalised feed covering topics relevant to his work. Once a week he joins a call with the Australia team, constrained by the narrow window that UK and Australian time zones allow.
A cappuccino from Pret a Manger, taken between the station and the office, is a fixed part of the routine. He occasionally allows a second before noon, never after.
Around 80% of his working day is spent in meetings. Some last 30 minutes; quarterly strategy sessions can run to half a day. The agenda spans company strategy, branding, risk, major clients, culture, employee development, operations, country-level performance, and mergers and acquisitions. He also aims to have at least one client interaction daily.
Lunch, when it happens, is eaten at his desk. His assistant typically brings something light, a salad or sushi, while the day continues around him.
Walking Meetings and the Afternoon Reset
St James’s Park, a short walk from the office at 62 Buckingham Gate, is where Hatcher finds what he describes as his best productivity tool. When the weather holds, he steers meetings outside and into the park. By the time the loop is complete, he says, his priorities for the rest of the afternoon have clarified to three things.
He works from home roughly one day every two weeks, and travels to one of Baringa’s 16 offices across four continents approximately every six weeks. The spontaneous encounters that come from being physically present in the office are, he says, something remote working cannot replicate.
The commute home is treated as a deliberate boundary: he watches what he calls ‘brain-neutral’ YouTube videos, currently a set focused on physicist Brian Cox explaining topics such as relativity, rather than continuing to work. Most weeks include around two work dinners with clients, prospective hires, or senior colleagues.
Sleep, he has noted, is a priority he came to take seriously after earlier problems with it affected his ability to function.
The approach to productivity is matched by a clear managerial philosophy: look after the people around you, and good outcomes follow. What frustrates him most, he has said, is seeing people put their own interests above those of their colleagues, teams, or clients.
AI and International Growth Now Dominate the Agenda
Alongside the energy transition and decarbonisation work that has long been central to Baringa’s business, AI has become the dominant topic in conversations with clients. International expansion is the other main strategic thrust: the firm is scaling in the US, Asia, Europe, and Australia, in markets where, Hatcher has said, Baringa is not yet a household name.
Fortune reported revenues of $547 million and profits of $194 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, with 1,833 employees on the books at that point. The firm has since grown beyond that headcount.
Baringa’s structure is designed to support senior-led client delivery. The firm operates with a partner-to-staff ratio of 1:9, against an industry average of 1:25, and runs as a single profit-and-loss entity under a single LLP agreement, with all employees participating in a firm-wide profit share.
That model has attracted external recognition. Baringa’s people page notes the firm has featured in the Financial Times list of the UK’s leading management consultants every year from 2018 to 2026, and received a Best Workplaces for Wellbeing Award from Great Place to Work UK in 2025. The Financial Times 2026 rankings included a gold rating in Energy, utilities and environment. Forbes named Baringa one of its World’s Best Management Consulting Firms for 2026.
With Hatcher’s appointment effective less than six months ago, the next test of his approach will be whether the firm can sustain its ranking trajectory while accelerating the international expansion that now sits at the top of his agenda.