About Hawkish Group

From solving problems
to building businesses.

Hawkish Group was not created from a business plan. It was created from a recurring problem, and a determination to fix it properly.

The Organisation

Why Hawkish Group exists.

Over the years, businesses, startups and individuals repeatedly faced the same challenge, they had ideas, opportunities and ambitions, but lacked the structure, expertise and support to move forward.

That gap became the foundation of Hawkish Group.

The Pattern We Saw
→ Founders struggling to launch
→ SMEs struggling to grow
→ Businesses struggling with systems
→ Teams struggling with execution
→ Organisations struggling with transformation

Many businesses could find consultants. Many could find accountants. Many could find developers or marketers. But very few could find a team capable of bringing everything together and helping them move from concept to execution.

What started as a professional services and advisory practice evolved into a multidisciplinary organisation, bringing strategy, finance, technology, operations, project delivery and business growth support under one roof.

Rather than only advising clients on how to solve these challenges, Hawkish Group began helping them implement solutions. The organisation expanded its capabilities, assembled specialist teams and developed a practical delivery approach focused on results rather than theory.

Through this journey, Hawkish Group gained first-hand experience of the realities founders and SMEs face every day. The lessons learned from supporting clients also revealed opportunities to build solutions internally, leading to the development of venture projects and innovation initiatives designed to solve real-world problems at scale.

Today, Hawkish Group operates as a business transformation and venture development organisation. Our mission remains simple: to help startups, founders, SMEs and growing businesses solve complex problems through strategy, implementation, professional services and innovation.

Mission

To help startups, founders and SMEs solve complex problems through strategy, implementation, innovation and venture development.

Vision

To become the leading business transformation and venture development organisation for founders and SMEs globally.

Problem
Solving
Excellence
Growth
Modernity
UA
Usman Ayankoya
MAPM
Founder & CEO, Hawkish Group

FinTech Accountant. Project Manager. Certified Scrum Master. SAP Consultant. Arrived in the UK in 2010 with nothing and built everything you see here through determination and an unshakeable belief in the power of problem-solving.

Academic
BSc Accounting, Management & TechnologyLAUTECH, Nigeria
MSc Business Integration with SAPBrunel University London
MSc Finance & AccountingUniversity of Westminster
Professional
MAPM, Member, Association for Project ManagementAPM PMQ Qualified (2024)
Certified Scrum Master & Business Analyst
SAP ConsultantWizcore trained
Recognition
UK Government Start Up Loan Recipient British Business Bank · HM Government
Member of Leicester Startups Recognition and Member of Leicester Startups
The Founding Journey

The journey that built Hawkish Group.

The organisation behind Hawkish Group was shaped not in theory but in lived experience, by a founder who has navigated every challenge he now helps others solve.

2010
Arrived in the UK with nothing

Landed in London to study at what was then Thames Valley University. Four days after arriving, lost all his money on Bus 64 from Richmond to St Mary's campus. Could not call home. Had to beg for food. Survived by working 20 hours a week as an international student, supported by strangers willing to help.

2011–2013
Dropped out. Rebuilt from scratch.

Dropped out when his visa expired. Moved to Selby, North Yorkshire. Worked at Clippers fulfilment. Eventually returned to London, kitchen porter in top restaurants, rising to agency supervisor at The Ivy, then Assistant Chief Steward at the House of Commons, managing 6 kitchens with a team of 5 supervisors.

2015–2016
Professional retraining & university admission

Enrolled in MS Careers for business analysis and project management training. Became a Certified Scrum Master. Gained admission to Brunel University while still working at the House of Commons, training himself for the career he was determined to build.

2017–2018
Two masters degrees. A son. A divorce. A restart.

Completed MSc at Brunel in SAP Technology, then enrolled at Westminster in Finance & Accounting. Son Khalid was born in November 2017. Divorced in 2018 and lost the family home in New Eltham. A hairdresser in Catford offered a small space. He set up a desk and started trading as an accountant.

2018–2019
First clients. First office. Robbed. Kept going.

Moved from the hairdresser's space to the unit next door. Business grew under Empire Business Group. Seven months in, the office was robbed. Rather than stop, he moved to Harbour Exchange, South Quays. The name became Hawkish Group. Business grew again. The practice was formally supported by a UK Government Start Up Loan , issued by the British Business Bank on behalf of HM Government, providing early-stage capital to build the professional services firm. And as a proud member of Leicester Startups.

2019–2022
Canary Wharf. Real teams. Real businesses built.

Moved to Canary Wharf. Built a full specialist team across design, development, HR, brand and operations. Generated over £450,000 in revenue from the accounting practice alone, entirely through referrals. Built real businesses for real clients across the UK, Nigeria and Ghana. Survived the 2021 pandemic.

2023 — Now
Challenges met. Lessons learned. Hawkish Group 3.0.

Serious challenges in 2023 affected client delivery and brand reputation. Rather than close, the business restructured. Those lessons became the foundation for Hawkish Group 3.0, a leaner, sharper organisation building its own AI-powered technology products with Hawkish Group as the permanent headquarters. One of those products carries his son's name.

The Journey in Pictures

Every step was real.

The first Hawkish Group desk setup in New Eltham
The room in New Eltham where Hawkish Group started
The starting office room in New Eltham, London
2018 · New Eltham, London

The room everything started in.

After losing his family home following a divorce, the founder found a small space and set up a desk. This room in New Eltham, London is where Hawkish Group first traded. A sofa, a chair, a laptop on a small desk, a printer and a determination not to stop. No team. No funding. Just work.

2018–2019 · Catford & South Quays, London

First office. Robbed. Kept going.

A hairdresser in Catford gave a small space to a determined accountant. He moved next door when he outgrew it. Seven months later the office was robbed. He moved to Harbour Exchange, South Quays. The name became Hawkish Group. Business grew.

The first Hawkish Group office on the high street at night
The first Hawkish office in Catford — storefront at night with HAWKISH accountants and financial services signage
Hawkish Group Limited shopfront on the high street
2018 · The Beginning of the Brand

The first logo. Drawn by hand.

Before any design software. Before any agency. The founder sat down with a pen and a sheet of lined paper and sketched what Hawkish Group could look like. That hand-drawn concept, created by Usman Ayankoya in 2018, became the foundation for everything that followed — the hawk, the identity, the brand that grew alongside the business.

Usman Ayankoya MAPM in the Hawkish Group Canary Wharf office
Usman Ayankoya MAPM
Founder & CEO, Hawkish Group, Canary Wharf
2019–2022 · Canary Wharf, London

Canary Wharf. A real team. Real businesses built.

From the room in New Eltham to one of the most recognised business addresses in the UK. Office 37.14b, Canary Wharf. A full team assembled. Over 100 businesses supported. £450,000+ in revenue, all through referrals.

From a room with a lamp to Canary Wharf, built entirely through determination, referrals and refusal to stop.

2021 · One Canada Square

Hawkish Group
at Canary Wharf.

At the height of the Canary Wharf chapter, Usman running a session at One Canada Square. Real team. Real clients. Real work being done at one of the UK's most prestigious business addresses.

This is not a studio shoot. This is Hawkish Group operating, exactly as we have done for over 100 businesses since 2016.

Location
One Canada Square · Canary Wharf · London
Hawkish Group at One Canada Square · March 2021
Message from the Founder

A note from Usman.

The founder's own words on why Hawkish was built and where it is going.

UA
Usman Ayankoya MAPM
Founder, Hawkish Group

I have always been fascinated by solving problems.

Throughout my career in finance, project management, business transformation and technology, I repeatedly saw businesses facing challenges that were not caused by a lack of ambition, but by a lack of support, structure and execution.

Many founders had great ideas. Many businesses had strong products. Many organisations had talented people. Yet they struggled because they lacked access to the right expertise at the right time.

I founded Hawkish Group to bridge that gap.

My vision was to create an organisation that goes beyond traditional consulting, one that does not simply provide advice and walk away, but works alongside clients to design, build, implement and grow sustainable solutions.

Over time, Hawkish Group evolved into a multidisciplinary team of professionals across strategy, finance, technology, operations, branding and project delivery. Together, we help clients transform ideas into businesses, challenges into opportunities and ambitions into measurable results.

As we enter the next phase of our journey, our focus remains unchanged:

Solving complex problems.
Building sustainable businesses.

— Usman Ayankoya MAPM, Founder, Hawkish Group