Martin Wallis-Keyworth Admitted as a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute

LTZ Group founder and CEO Martin Wallis-Keyworth has been formally admitted as a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, recognising a career built around strategic leadership, organisational transformation, education and creating opportunities for others.

I am proud to have been formally admitted as a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and to use the professional designation CMgr FCMI.

The certificate and post-nominal letters mark an important moment, but their real meaning lies in the experience behind them. This recognition brings together two parts of my working life that might appear very different from the outside: leading complex international transformation programmes and retraining as a barber before building LTZ Group.

One taught me to think at scale. The other reminded me that leadership is ultimately judged close up—in the opportunities people receive, the standards we maintain and whether those around us are able to progress.

Recognition grounded in practice

The Chartered Management Institute requires a Chartered Fellow to demonstrate substantial management experience, including experience at strategic level, and to complete its Chartered Manager assessment covering the application of professional skills and continuing professional development.

That matters to me because this is recognition of leadership demonstrated in practice. It reflects decisions made, responsibilities carried and results delivered over a sustained period, alongside a commitment to continue learning.

Before establishing LTZ Group, I worked internationally on major business and organisational transformation programmes. At IBM, this included leadership responsibility within a complex programme operating across 53 countries. Those experiences taught me about strategy, governance, cultural difference, operational risk and the challenge of turning an agreed plan into consistent delivery.

In 2017, I took a very different path. I retrained as a barber and established Less Than Zero from a single shop in Chesterfield. I wanted to understand the industry from the ground up and build a business in which commercial success and human development strengthened one another.

From one barber shop to a people-development organisation

LTZ has since developed into a multi-brand group incorporating Less Than Zero Barbers, F.AF Creative Space and LTZ Training Academy, with operations in Chesterfield and Sheffield and a growing international presence through our businesses in Spain and Albania.

We cut hair and teach barbering, but the purpose of LTZ has always extended beyond either activity. We use barbering, education and enterprise to help people develop confidence, gain recognised skills, take responsibility and build careers.

That can be seen in our own leadership team. Cosmin Sustar, Mario Karaj, Ravi Bhachoo and Luke Dilly entered the organisation through barbering or apprenticeship routes. They have progressed into executive leadership, directorship and shareholding responsibilities. Their journeys are not separate from our strategy; they are evidence of it.

Around 95% of the LTZ team are currently engaged in a qualification or structured development. We have also been recognised among the UK’s Top 50 SME Apprenticeship Employers for five consecutive years. These outcomes have come from treating development as part of the organisation’s operating model, not as an occasional initiative.

What Chartered Fellowship means for LTZ Group

Although Chartered Fellowship is an individual professional recognition, I believe it also strengthens what LTZ Group represents.

Learners, parents, employers, partners and team members should be able to see that the organisation is being led with relevant experience, professional accountability and a serious commitment to continuing development. The same expectations we place on emerging barbers and developing leaders must also apply at executive level.

The recognition will support the next phase of our work as we strengthen governance, extend our leadership pathways, develop LTZ Training Academy and take our model into new locations and international markets. It follows the completion of my CMI Level 7 Senior Leader qualification with distinction and sits alongside my continuing CMI Level 8 studies and wider research into how organisations understand themselves, make decisions and sustain meaningful change.

Leadership is something we pass on

I do not see this as the completion of a journey. It brings a responsibility to use what I have learned more deliberately and to help others progress further.

Leadership should never be concentrated in one person. A resilient organisation creates more people who can think critically, make sound decisions, challenge constructively and lead with confidence. That is why LTZ continues to invest in apprenticeships, qualifications, mentoring and genuine progression into management and ownership.

I am grateful to the Chartered Management Institute for this recognition and to every colleague, learner, partner and client who has contributed to the LTZ journey so far.

The letters CMgr FCMI will now sit after my name. More importantly, the principles they represent will continue to shape how we develop people, build brands and create legacies.

To learn more about our organisation, meet the LTZ Group leadership team or explore the training, qualification and apprenticeship opportunities available through LTZ Training Academy.