I started my career in journalism, and won awards for in-depth, writerly investigations, published in magazine and newspapers, and sometimes turned into documentaries for radio.

An investigation into diamonds in the Amazon lead me into the world of NGO reporting and public policy research. The readership is far smaller, but you're expected to analyse and propose solutions, and your readers are the sorts of people who make decisions.

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An early investigation into Brazil's diamond supply chain lead to a major Brazilian police investigation and the arrest of a dozen illegal diamond traders. The whole Brazilian diamond supply chain was shut down and then reformed top to bottom. Here were words that had effect.  ​

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Later, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I conducted a  months-long investigation into the burgeoning trade in conflict minerals - 3T minerals for cellphones and electronics, gold because it's gold - and produced a report calling for a new certification system for these minerals. Once again, the decision makers listened to my analysis, liked it and decided to act. Over the next three years I and a team of people from governments and NGOs worked to make the Regional Certication Mechanism a reality.

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I tell these stories to hightlight the key skills of my type of consultancy - in depth investigation on the ground, talking to all the key stakeholders, followed by insightful analysis and deeply practical, feasible policy recommedations, followed by action.

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It's why my small one-man consultancy has had as much effect on mineral supply chains as many of the big houses combined.