James Callander

​James joined Freshminds in 2003 for a 2 week project and has been here ever since, becoming Managing Director in 2008. He was part of the client development team that helped grow the firm from a start-up of 10 people to a business of over 100. He helped to launch a number of products and led on the development of some of Freshminds' first key clients in consulting, financial services and private equity.

Today, as Managing Director James is responsible for leading the commercial side of the business, with a particular focus on our pool of graduate and early career Minds and working with clients across sectors. He comments regularly in the press about the importance of hiring the best talent with a consulting skill set.

James has an MA in Geography from Edinburgh University and completed a sales leadership course at Harvard Business School in 2011. Before Freshminds he worked for Roland Berger and Bell Pottinger. He's a keen cook (albeit with limited range) and enjoys running and tennis. He has stood for parliament twice and acts as an informal advisor to his wife's luxury travel business.

In 2016 he joined the Advisory Board of the political consultancy, Inline Policy.