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Better decisions when growth creates complexity
I help family businesses and growing organisations make critical decisions, strengthen their governance and turn strategic priorities into disciplined execution.
As organisations grow, important decisions begin to involve more people, greater risk, competing interests and increasing interdependencies.
The challenge is rarely a lack of knowledge or effort. More often, organisations lack clarity about what needs to be decided, who should make the decision and how to turn that decision into meaningful action.
I work alongside shareholders, boards and executive teams to structure complex problems, bring greater clarity to choices and risks, and create the conditions for disciplined execution.
Based in Edinburgh, I support family businesses and growing organisations across the UK🇬🇧, Brazil🇧🇷 and internationally🌎 with strategic decision-making, governance and execution.
I am Lucas Gomes Arruda, a former KPMG Partner with more than 18 years of experience supporting shareholders, boards and executive teams in high-impact decision-making.
Throughout my career, I have worked with family businesses, national organisations and multinational groups across sectors including agribusiness, healthcare, energy, retail, real estate and the social sector. Many of these organisations were navigating periods of growth, professionalisation, succession, transformation or increasing organisational complexity. In these situations, the challenge was rarely technical. It required connecting strategy, governance, risk, people and execution.
During my time at KPMG, I led teams of more than forty professionals, advised organisations at different stages of development and participated in strategic discussions with executives, boards and regulators. I also served as a Quality Review Partner across seven countries in Latin America, an experience that strengthened my ability to challenge assumptions, identify risks and evaluate decisions with independence.
Today, I apply that experience within the United Kingdom, leading initiatives focused on innovation and social impact, supporting the development and implementation of strategic initiatives, business cases, governance models and organisational transformation programmes.
This combination of executive experience, governance expertise and an international perspective enables me to understand not only the rigour required to make sound decisions, but also the practical challenges involved in ensuring those decisions are successfully implemented.
Where I Add Value
I typically become involved when an important decision needs to move forward, but the organisation still lacks the clarity, alignment or structure required to make and implement it with confidence.
This usually happens when:
- Different stakeholders have different interpretations of the problem that needs to be solved.
- Important decisions remain unresolved for too long.
- Key risks and trade-offs are not being discussed explicitly.
- Responsibilities between shareholders, the board and management are unclear.
- Teams are busy, but priorities and dependencies remain misaligned.
- The organisation has agreed on a strategic direction but has not yet been able to translate it into execution.
- Growth has made decision-making slower and more complex.
- Strategic initiatives are progressing without clear governance, accountability or performance measures.
This is where I typically add the greatest value, particularly in situations such as:
Critical Strategic Decisions
When shareholders, boards or executive teams need to make significant decisions regarding growth, investment, organisational structure, technology, professionalisation, succession or capital allocation. I help structure the problem, challenge assumptions, make strategic options comparable and clearly articulate the risks and consequences associated with each alternative.
Strategy Without Alignment
When a strategic direction has already been defined, but teams still lack sufficient clarity around priorities, responsibilities, dependencies and measures of success. I help translate strategy into a practical execution plan with clear ownership, milestones, governance forums and decision points.
Governance Under Pressure
When governance structures no longer reflect the complexity of the organisation or the decision being made. I help assess roles, governance forums, information flows, responsibilities and escalation processes to ensure decisions are made at the appropriate level and effectively monitored.
Growth Outpacing the Organisation
When the business has grown faster than its leadership routines, management processes and decision-making structures. I help identify where increasing complexity is creating delays, duplication, unnecessary risk or weak accountability, and design practical responses that are appropriate to the organisation's stage of development.
Why This Approach Is Different
My perspective has been shaped in demanding environments where poor decisions could have significant financial, regulatory, operational and reputational consequences.
As a former KPMG Partner, I developed a way of working built on rigour, independence, professional judgement and the confidence to challenge assumptions, even in difficult conversations with executives, shareholders and boards.
At the same time, my current experience in the United Kingdom has brought me even closer to organisations operating in environments characterised by uncertainty, limited resources, competing priorities and incomplete information.
For that reason, my work goes far beyond providing recommendations. I seek to understand what may prevent a decision from succeeding in practice: unclear responsibilities, misaligned incentives, lack of information, capability gaps, ineffective governance or management routines that fail to sustain execution.
Nor do I replace the technical specialists an organisation may require. When decisions involve legal, tax, technology or sector-specific matters, my role is to help leadership integrate those different perspectives, assess their implications and translate technical recommendations into decisions that can actually be executed.
This is where I do my best work: at the intersection between the complexity of decision-making and the reality of execution.