Image: David Seymour and Russell Cake, founders of The PSC (2020 Delivery).

11th January 2006: The beginning

2020 Delivery was founded by Russell Cake and David Seymour with a mission to: “improve public services and deliver lasting change for service users and tax payers”. The name “2020 Delivery” was chosen to encompass a number of aspects. The company’s “2020 vision” was that by the year 2020, when David’s eldest son would become an adult and taxpayer, UK public services would be significantly better. The name also linked to a common interest in cricket. The company was initially run from the back bedroom of the Cakes’ home in Putney, occasionally renting meeting spaces from the local library.

Image: The first 2020 Delivery logo

National Context: The smoking ban comes into effect in all enclosed spaces in Scotland - a year ahead of England.

2007: Early Days

From our first project in Surrey, we had moved into West Sussex and then by 2007 our client base had progressed into government with projects in the Government Olympic Executive, Ministry of Justice and Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit. Types of early projects included the development of a service specification for development of inpatient services - something we continue to do today as part of our Strategy & Finance service. In 2007, 2020 Delivery became an accredited supplier to the Carbon Trust (funded by Defra) as we developed an interest carbon management, and started our pro bono scheme for staff to dedicate some of their time to various causes.

Image: One of 2020 Delivery’s early Away Days - taken in early 2008. 2007 also saw the arrival of Catherine - our COO - and Antonio - the first intern, now Senior Partner.

National Context: Gordon Brown replaces Tony Blair as Prime Minister in the Labour government.

2010: Continuous improvement

Having worked with several clients on their improvement approach, in 2010, led by Mike Meredith, we designed a bespoke approach bringing together the best of many techniques - and called it “D5”. 2010 was the first year we secured a place on the government's Management Consultancy and Accounting Services Framework. This was also the beginning of our formal Capability Building offering, with the flagship "Delivering Fast Effective Projects". To date, over 6,000 people have been trained through our Capability Building programmes.

Image: The D5 approach.

In 2010 and 2011, respectively, we were delighted to have Jonathan Chappell and Chris Bradley join the team - both now Senior Partners at The PSC. 

National Context: The 2010 General Election saw a switch to a Conservative/ Liberal Democrats coalition, with the vote to hike university tuition fees later that year a significant turning point for higher education.

2014: Innovation & patient flow

In 2014, we paused normal operations to run a company-wide pro-bono Innovation Week, working with NHS partners on a critical challenge: delays in urgent and emergency care. Partnering with three trusts, our teams developed new approaches to improve patient flow, reducing delays within five days and improving performance against the 4-hour standard. This work became the foundation of our nationally recognised approach - and is a core part of our Transformation service - and has since lead to HSJ awards and support for at least 25 hospital systems to reduce harmful patient delays.

Image: The 2020 Delivery team in May 2014. In 2014, we were delighted to appoint Sir Ian Carruthers OBE as our Chair, who brought his extensive NHS and business experience to help us increase our impact across public services. He succeeded Tim Trotter (Chair 2012-14), who, drawing on his vast experience in business and support services, was instrumental in supporting us to develop as a business and formalise our governance.

National Context: 2014 was the last time the 4 hour A&E target (95%) was met nationally (NHS England)

2016: 2020 Delivery turns 10!

In 2016 we refreshed our website for the company’s 10th anniversary - including creating a ‘2020 Health Exchange’, a video library (in the days before video was ubiquitous online!) comprised of interviews with staff across the NHS with the aim of sharing what it means to run a health service. By 2016, our client base now included several NHS Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups, as well as the Department for Communities and Local Government, Hastings Borough Council, and the Department for Business Innovation & Skills. It was around this time that our Digital service was starting to rapidly develop - following a successful business case in 2015 for Government Digital Service to redesign government infrastructure for the digital era.

Image: Friends and clients gathered at our 10 year anniversary celebration.

National Context: 2016 was the year of the Brexit vote and the subsequent resignation from David Cameron - being replaced by Theresa May as PM.

2020: 2020 Delivery becomes The PSC

Of course 2020 will be best remembered for the global outbreak of coronavirus, and the subsequent emergency measures and lockdowns. Whilst working from home we switched focus to support Emergency Departments work through the initial stages of the pandemic, worked with the Department for Education's Covid Response Unit & getting children back to school, and later on the vaccination role out and Covid recovery. Amidst all of this, we became The PSC and launched our podcast The PSC in Conversation.

Image: The new The PSC logo.

National Context: The Covid-19 global pandemic pretty much defined the year 2020.

2022: The post-Covid era

In 2022, following a return to offices and in person working, we held a Higher Education panel event, and showcased our satellite monitoring work with the UK Space Agency at Farnborough Space fair. We also committed to four UN Sustainable Development Goals, and saw a number of our clients sharing their work the media - with Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust featured on BBC Radio 4 talking about Same Day Emergency Care, and Dr Kelsey Flott speaking to Rory Cellan-Jones on the Scan4Safety programme. 

Image: Our panel on ‘Can technology help us tackle some of the greatest challenges in Higher Education?’ chaired by Lord Bob Kerslake, with expert speakers Sara Custer, Rajay Naik, Jonathan Slater, Susie Whigham, and Antonio Weiss.

National Context: 2022 was arguably another turbulent year with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the appointment of Rishi Sunak to PM following Liz Truss's resignation after only 50 days in office, and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

2024: National programmes & awards

In 2024, The PSC hosted national roundtables on NHS discharge processes and the future of the UK space sector, and launched the inaugural Kerslake Memorial Lecture - in memory of the late Lord Bob Kerslake, former Head of the Civil Service and Chair of The PSC. We also took home two silver HSJ Partnership Awards and were included in the Financial Times UK Leading Management Consultants 2024. Our teams continued to deliver the NHS England Mental Health Act Quality Improvement and Culture of Care programmes, and dived into the world of Smart Data & ethics.

Image: It was an honour to welcome Helene Reardon-Bond OBE to deliver the keynote speech at the inaugural Kerslake Memorial Lecture - held in memory of Lord Bob Kerslake, who joined The PSC as a Senior Advisor in 2019, and served as our Chair in 2023 until his passing. Bob was instrumental across public services and an inspiration to us all.

National Context: Labour win the general election by a landslide, marking the end to 14 years of Conservative government.

2026: The PSC turns 20!

We're excited to celebrate 20 years of delivering lasting public impact - and we’re pleased that over the years this has been recognised in various aspects, including several HSJ Awards, such as being the 2019 winner for Consultancy Partnership of the Year with Portsmouth Hospitals, two silver medals in 2024 with Surrey Heartlands ICS and Sussex Community NHS FT, and a shortlisting for the 2026 Awards, inclusion in the Management Consultancy Framework Four (MCF4), and 6 awards across several sectors in The Financial Times and Statista’s UK’s Leading Management Consultants 2025 awards. In the coming months, we'll be sharing more on what we've learnt over the past two decades - and, alongside public service leaders, looking to what is needed in the next 20 months and what the next 20 years could bring in our 'The Next 20' series of podcasts and blogs. Make sure to catch up on the first podcast episodes.

Image: Some of The PSC team at our most recent Away Day. We’re a little bigger than we were 20 years ago! We’re thrilled to be guided by our current Chair, Dr Kathy McLean, who brings to The PSC a strong focus on quality, leadership and effective governance across public services - grounded in more than 15 years of shaping the NHS in England, and her role as chair of a wide range of organisations.

National Context: As we enter the early delivery phases of major government announcements made last year, such as the 10-year health and care plan and the industrial strategy, it feels as though we are at a pivotal moment for what public services will look like in the coming years.

We’d like to thank all those who have supported us and partnered with us along the way. We're looking forward to another 20 years - and beyond - of making public services brilliant, keeping public value at the forefront of the work we do.