About the practice
A practice built around the quality of thinking, not the volume of advice
Pennyroyal Counsel exists because some questions in business are too important to answer quickly, and too personal to hand to a large firm.
Back to HomeHow Pennyroyal Counsel came to be
Pennyroyal Counsel was established in Bangkok after years spent observing the gap between what senior business owners actually needed and what most consulting practices were set up to provide. The large firms do well with large problems: restructurings, transactions, regulatory matters. But the quieter, harder questions — what kind of leader do I want to be? what do I actually value? what should happen to this business after me? — tended to get lost in the mechanics of conventional engagements.
The practice takes its name from the pennyroyal plant, a species long associated with clarity of thought and the deliberate organisation of one's surroundings. The name felt appropriate for work that is, at its core, about bringing order and honesty to complicated questions.
The work is Bangkok-based and the practice draws on familiarity with the particular character of business life in Thailand: the importance of relationships, the complexity of family-owned structures, the dynamics of foreign-founded enterprises operating in a regional context. These are not afterthoughts; they are central to how the engagements are shaped.
Pennyroyal Counsel is deliberately small. One practitioner. A small number of engagements at any time. This is not a constraint to be apologised for — it is what makes the work possible.
In figures
Distinct engagement types, each addressing a different kind of question
Practitioner you work with throughout — no handoffs, no junior staff
Confidential, without exception
Phaya Thai — available for in-person or remote sessions
What guides the work
Honest observation
The starting point for any engagement is looking carefully at what is actually there, not at what it would be convenient to find. This sometimes means surfacing things that are uncomfortable. That is part of the work.
Economy of words
Documents produced through our engagements are written to be used, not filed. They say what they mean and no more. The habit of saying less, more precisely, is also modelled in conversations.
Respect for the time it takes
Some questions cannot be answered in one session. The engagement structures are built around this. We do not create urgency where there is none; we allow the thinking to develop at the pace it requires.
Individual attention
Each engagement is shaped around one specific person or organisation. There is no template being populated with new names. The work is original each time.
Discretion as a foundation
Confidentiality is not a feature offered to make clients comfortable. It is a prerequisite for the kind of conversation that produces useful thinking. Nothing leaves the engagement without the client's direction.
No conflicts of interest
Pennyroyal Counsel does not take referral fees, commission structures, or any form of remuneration connected to the decisions a client makes. The only interest is in the quality of the thinking.
The person you work with
Jonathan Hale
Principal Consultant — Pennyroyal Counsel
Jonathan has spent the better part of two decades working with owners and leaders across Southeast Asia on the questions that don't fit neatly into a strategy deck. Based in Bangkok since 2009, he has worked with family-held businesses, foreign-founded regional operations, and mid-sized Thai enterprises, often at points of transition or reflection.
His background spans organisational psychology and applied philosophy, with earlier work in London and Singapore before settling in Thailand. He holds a postgraduate qualification in organisational behaviour and has completed additional training in narrative approaches to organisational consulting. He reads, writes, and occasionally teaches on the relationship between language and decision-making.
How the work is conducted
Every engagement is governed by a consistent set of professional standards. These are not aspirational — they describe how the work is actually done.
Written Engagement Agreement
Every engagement is documented in a short, plain-language agreement before work begins. It describes what we will do, what the deliverables are, how confidentiality works, and what each party can expect.
Data Handling Protocol
Notes, recordings (if any, and only with permission), and documents are handled according to a clear protocol. Data relating to clients is not stored in third-party cloud services without explicit agreement.
Structured Reflection
At the close of each engagement, we review what emerged and whether the work landed as intended. This conversation is not an upsell; it is part of holding ourselves to account for the quality of what was produced.
Conflict Disclosure
If anything emerges during an engagement that creates or suggests a conflict of interest, it is disclosed immediately and the appropriate course of action — including withdrawal if necessary — is discussed openly.
Continuing Development
The practitioner reads widely in the fields of organisational behaviour, applied ethics, and leadership. This is not a credential to display; it shapes the quality of the thinking brought to each engagement.
Right to Decline
Pennyroyal Counsel reserves the right to decline or conclude an engagement if the nature of the work required falls outside what can be done well and honestly. Clients have the same right, at any stage.
Business consulting in Bangkok for owners who think carefully
Pennyroyal Counsel offers a particular kind of business consulting — one designed for owners and senior leaders who have reached a point where the standard advice no longer addresses what they are actually facing. Succession planning, organisational values, and the ongoing demands of leadership are not technical problems with technical solutions. They are human questions that require careful attention, experienced listening, and the ability to write with precision about what has been found.
The practice is based in Phaya Thai, Bangkok, and serves clients across Thailand and the broader Southeast Asian region, both in person and remotely. Engagements are conducted in English and are available to individuals or organisations regardless of industry. The common thread is not a sector — it is a type of question: one that matters, takes time, and deserves more than a slide deck.
Working with a business consultant in Bangkok who operates independently and without institutional affiliations means that the work is shaped entirely by what is useful to the client. There are no proprietary methodologies to justify, no account teams to manage, and no upselling built into the engagement structure. The Succession Thinking Engagement, the Values Articulation Work, and the Thinking Partner Arrangement each address a distinct kind of need — and all three are available as standalone engagements or in sequence, depending on what a particular situation calls for.
A conversation without obligation
If any of this resonates with a question you are carrying, a first conversation is a reasonable next step. There is no pitch at the end and no commitment required.
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