We know that being honest, transparent and working with integrity is what underpins our mission, it’s how we can work alongside you openly to identify the unique ingredients needed to inspire growth and optimise performance.
our values
integrity
The notion of human learning is built instinctively on connection - sharing insights, perspectives and experiences to cultivate a collective effort. Whether it’s collaborating directly with our partners and learners, or sculpting the environment of your organisation to spark collaboration within it, working together is simply what we do.
our values
collaboration
Naturally, we are people-persons! We care about our partners and learners and seeing them achieve is incredibly rewarding. We love to fill our work with intention, creativity, innovation and knowledge which nurtures an infectious enthusiasm, enabling people to transform challenges into the opportunities that will ultimately shape the success of your organisation.
our values
passion
We’re committed to providing a complete and quality service that is comprehensive, inspiring, flexible and unique. This means continuously expanding our knowledge, learning how to adapt and welcoming ongoing development in order to curate and deliver first-class, bespoke team coaching and executive mentoring programmes.
our values
excellence
Our ethos is centred around making a positive impact on the people and organisations we work with. We know that the knock-on effect of making a difference to how individuals, leaders and teams evolve can lead to endless progress and entirely transform an organisation’s journey to success. Creating the space for this to happen is essential.
our values
making a difference
Margaret and Steve formed CAKE in 2016 alongside a group of like-minded individuals with a shared commitment to making a positive impact on the growth and performance of people and the organisations they’re a part of. After defining our mission and the core values we believe in, our focus was, and still is, to collaborate in partnership with our clients, learners and peers.
Read on to meet the team and find out just why we’re called CAKE after all. Or click below to view coaching & mentoring…
With Margaret’s notable reputation built upon over 35 years of experience in leadership, management and executive development, CAKE has established a broad client portfolio across all business sectors, working regularly in partnership with clients from all over the world. Our brand has grown through various phases but our intention has remained the same - to enrich and impart meaningful learning experiences to inspire growth, optimise and sustain performance and drive businesses forward. We love nurturing the evolution of progressive organisations, large and small, across a wide range of industries; and have learned how to adapt to a fast-paced and ever-changing world. We’re continuously refining our strategy and approach to deliver results-driven learning experiences, from executive coaching to leadership programmes and accredited options. Our speciality is designing and delivering bespoke programmes tailored to each unique individual, team or entire organisation, as well as leadership and management development and performance consultancy too.
Our Story...
Well, to put it simply, CAKE makes people smile… and who doesn’t love CAKE?
Our human-focused philosophy is integral to everything we do, nurturing genuine relationships with the organisations and people we work with has always been the foundation of our business. Whilst establishing our brand, we realised that we would often catch up with our clients and meet with potential partners over coffee and… CAKE! Bringing CAKE along to our client meetings became a symbol of our shared work together and so we just couldn’t resist the name.
We also believe that CAKE has shaped our approach and makes us who we are...
Why are we called CAKE?
We know you may be wondering; it’s one of our most asked questions…
Click for CAKE
Caring
We truly care about the people we work with because we know the difference positive coaching can make in engaging and empowering both individuals and teams collectively.
Agile
Our agility allows us to respond to the needs of each unique organisation on an individual basis with flexibility and meaningful collaboration.
Knowledgable
We will continuously grow with you, innovating techniques and methods to deliver the highest quality leadership development, team coaching and executive mentoring programmes.
Enabling
We choose to nurture an open, dynamic, encouraging and self-paced environment which enables learners to discover their own potential.
“Coaching is incredibly rewarding - there’s something magical about how engaging people works to ignite new ideas and a fresh way of thinking. I love being there to facilitate the magic and enrich the learning experience for the people we work with. The knock-on effect of people realising their potential and enhancing their performance can be endless on organisations’ progress. It can sculpt a new path for businesses and completely reinvent the culture if it needs to, but it always does just enough to unlock a new level (or two!) towards success.”
Margaret Burnside, CAKE
"There's something magical..."
Margaret Burnside - an experienced professional coach and facilitator, co-founder and director of CAKE.
Meet Margaret
Having coached hundreds of people, with a career in learning and development spanning more than 35 years, naturally, Margaret’s approach is centred around making a positive impact on the people and organisations she works alongside. As a recognised fellow of the Institute of Leadership (ILM) and a Member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), Margaret is committed to broadening her knowledge, refining her skills and diversifying her techniques to guide others to grow, develop and reach their potential. Emotional intelligence is a particular area of interest for Margaret and she is one of the few people in the UK certified in the use of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT): a test which measures how well individuals perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions in themselves and others. It evaluates emotional skills crucial for effective communication, problem-solving, and relationship management, the core pillars fundamental to professional development. Whether she’s working to help people widen their thinking, improve a strategy, reach a goal, gain a promotion, or achieve a qualification, Margaret designs each unique coaching programme in a way that creates the perfect environment for reflection with enough space and time for people to think, strengthen their awareness and realise that pivotal ‘ah-ha!’ moment for themselves.
Steve Burnside - co-founder and director of CAKE.
Meet Steve
Overseeing the company's financial, operational, commercial, marketing, and statutory functions, Steve is responsible for keeping CAKE’s cogs turning! Steve brings extensive business expertise, gathered from working in various national and international financial service companies, including Aviva in the UK and ManuLife in Canada. As such, Steve manages our delivery operations, administration and digital platform development to ensure that each and every professional coaching and mentoring programme is set up efficiently and runs smoothly. He ensures that our learners’ CAKE experience is positive and guides programme participants on how to utilise our digital learning and networking platform, CAKEconnect. "Since Margaret and I started CAKE, our primary focus has been on everyone’s learning experiences and the success of all of our customers. I have focused on making their journey as smooth as possible. It’s a bit like ensuring people have their CAKE, eat and enjoy it rather than worrying about the CAKE’s ingredients and how to make it!"
