“I feel so focused on my business”
Sophie Forrest-Lavery tells Eileen Leahy about what her specialist HR consultancy business, Forrest Group offers – and reveals how a 75-day lifestyle reset programme has transformed her both professionally and personally…
It’s a chilly and fairly overcast morning in March when I meet Sophie Forrest-Lavery, founder of Forrest Group, for our interview and photo shoot. Yet despite the inclement weather, Sophie is of an extremely sunny disposition, smiling and joking as she effortlessly poses for photographs at our chosen location of the Hotel Du Vin.
She’s just returned from a skiing trip with her husband and children but that isn’t the only reason Sophie looks so well.
“Since mid-January I have been on The Six Pack Revolution nutrition and fitness programme and it’s honestly changed my life,” she enthuses in between outfit changes.
“I heard about this lifestyle reset, founded by Scott Harrison ten years ago, through a friend of mine called Helen. She enrolled on it last year and I couldn’t believe the results she was getting so I decided to give it a go myself and I can tell you that I have honestly never felt better in my whole life.
“I’ve tried so many diets in the past but nothing has worked as well as this. My sleep has dramatically improved – as have my energy levels and clarity. I turn 50 in June and it just seemed like the right time to undertake this programme.”
But before we get into what The Six Pack Revolution is all about, and the ways in which it has helped Sophie run her successful HR business with renewed focus, clarity and energy, I ask her to explain what is so unique about her HR business Forrest Group.
“Well firstly we understand that your business’s greatest asset is your people. If you invest in them and develop them, they are more likely to perform to a higher level, helping your company to succeed, with a positive impact on your bottom line.”
The award-winning businesss, which Sophie founded as Forrest HR in 2018, underwent a name change and restructure a few years ago. It is now called Forrest Group and its services are carved up into four key areas. They are HR Services, Legal, Health & Safety and a Training Academy.
“We provide flexible yet comprehensive affordable HR solutions and support for businesses in Tunbridge Wells, as well as London and across the South East,” explains Sophie.
She and her team’s collective aim is to give clients seamless, bespoke solutions for the management of their staff and business.
“Our professional consultants are all experts in their field, offering you the highest level of service that is guaranteed across all our services,” adds Sophie.
She tells me Forrest Group has a wide variety of clients spread across many different industries and sizes, from start-ups and SMEs to larger corporations.
“We can help with all HR matters such as employment documents for new or growing businesses and day-to-day employee issues to specialist or contentious staff matters.”
Sophie, who has worked in the HR sector all of her professional career, tells me that she and her consultants have two ways of working with clients.
The first is on an ad-hoc basis where businesses can avail of Forrest Group’s services occasionally. A good example of this would be a staff disciplinary or ensuring that employment documents are reviewed and updated. The latter is something that Sophie and her colleagues are currently extremely busy with given the new Employment Rights Act that has come into effect – but more on that later.
The second way Forrest Group can help businesses is by working as their HR department on a monthly retainer. This is ideal for operations that don’t require a permanent HR addition to their internal team, but need professional support.
“We can offer a variety of different retainers to reflect where you are in your business journey,” says Sophie.
“We can manage all your HR requirements and support your business in a way that suits it. We pride ourselves on being flexible and tailoring our services to your needs. We don’t provide generic templates for any of our documents, we instead create options that are bespoke for your business.
“Our clients really vary – we have everything from high-end hairdressers and stockbrokers to lawyers and insurance firms so there really is never a dull day in the office,” smiles Sophie.
“With consultancy work you are really exposed to a wide variety of issues. That means you have to know a lot about various sectors and importantly you have to adjust your style accordingly.”
Sophie started her career at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council before moving on to work in London and also at HR Advise Me, part of the Loch Associates Group, a local firm she credits with teaching her a lot.
“Loch is where I first experienced the consultancy element of HR and my time there was enormously helpful.”
After that Sophie worked in the capital again for many years so her industry experience is extremely comprehensive. She was awarded Female Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 at the SME News Southern Enterprise Awards and was recently awarded Top Promoting Consultant 2025 at the Breathe Partner Awards.
After working in a number of senior roles, Sophie decided to set up Forrest HR. She reveals that the combination of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force and an introduction to her local BNI networking group turned out to be enormously helpful.
“With the introduction of GDPR I had work pretty much from the start and this was further bolstered by me joining BNI. A good friend of mine, Neil Simmons from TN Recruits, invited me along as a guest to his chapter and I loved it. I immediately became a member and found the meetings to be very beneficial.
“Because BNI works on a referral basis and groups were mainly made up of small to medium businesses (SMEs) it was a good opportunity for me. When companies get to a certain size they want to start doing things properly and putting processes and documents in place and I could see that’s where my business could benefit.”
Sophie goes on to say that with BNI you can only have one representative from a specific sector in any one chapter but you can also sub at other chapters.
“What was surprising to me was that HR was massively underrepresented at a lot of groups in Kent and East Sussex. That is why I had the idea to source HR experts in other areas of the South East to go along to their local BNI meetings in order to network, make connections and ultimately get business.
“I paid their subscriptions on the understanding they would generate business for Forrest HR. Each associate would take the majority of the client fee and then I’d take a small percentage. And at one stage, I had consultants all over the UK and became successful pretty quickly.
“It worked well for a while but then as time went on I started to notice that I was pretty much the only one generating new business. I put it down to the simple fact that HR associates don’t really like the networking aspect of doing business whereas I do! I thrive on meeting people, chasing leads and doing business development.”
In 2022 Sophie decided to restructure the business and change its name to Forrest Group. The business now offers four key services of HR, Legal, Training and Health & Safety and has five star reviews online.
Forrest Legal provides support and advice on a range of Employment Law matters for both employers and individuals – including a new tribunal insurance offering – whilst Forrest Training Academy provides professional, bespoke people management training solutions for companies of all sizes. And finally Forrest Health & Safety offers the support businesses need to keep them, their team, customers and suppliers safe and compliant across a broad range of industries.
“HR is by far our most popular pillar of service. And it’s always difficult to know what the second one is really. I’d probably say either Health & Safety or Legal at the moment. Previously, it’s been Training. It sort of ebbs and flows in different directions as to whatever’s happening in the world – or the economy,” explains Sophie.
And with more changes coming into effect this month due to the new Employment Rights Act, Sophie says she certainly has enough work to keep her and her associates busy.
In addition to Sophie, there are three associates working on the HR side, two in legal, two in Health & Safety and one in training.
“I believe that what sets Forrest Group apart from others is our style. We are very hands on and make sure the consultants that work with us have the same ethos and approach that I do. We have extensive experience but we’re also practical. Most clients don’t understand the law or what they need to navigate certain situations but we are here to help with all that.”
Reflecting upon that ethos, it’s worth noting Forrest Group has created a free, downloadable calendar of all the changes coming into effect. Existing clients and visitors to the company’s website can print it off so they know what’s coming and when.
“This is a huge change for employees and employers. It feels just like when Covid hit and we were watching Rishi Sunak’s (the then Chancellor) daily announcements to see what was happening next. It knd of put HR on the map as it was down to us to help businesses navigate this seismic situation – and it feels like that is happening again.”
Sophie says that some employment changes have already come into effect, but from the beginning of April, we will see significant changes to statutory sick pay, paternity and parental leave and the implementation of new government enforcement agency, the Fair Work Agency.
“The landscape is changing immeasurably but we are here to help businesses through this period.”
And Sophie tells me that she couldn’t be more ready thanks to the results of undertaking the 75-day Six Pack Revolution reset.
“I am more focused than ever on work. And yes, the next few months are going to be extremely busy so to have regained huge clarity, energy and focus in my life couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Like anyone I am always a bit sceptical when people say things are ‘life-changing’ but I can honestly say this regime has been exactly that. It has such a good structure and it’s a great plan to follow. It’s also aimed at normal people – not elite athletes – so anyone can sign up to it. You’re eased in gently at first but then things do get harder.”
The programme is 100% supportive says Sophie with Scott and his expert nutritionists and trainers on hand to answer any questions you might have.
“You are guaranteed to lose weight, which for a lot of women approaching mid-life is not always that easy to achieve. But for me it’s the physical and mental strength that it’s given me that is so important. And you will definitely feel better all round. Week six was a real sweet spot for me. I was on fire! When you’re having to run a house, look after kids, cook dinner – and run a business – it’s very challenging but The Six Pack Revolution has given me what I was looking for.
“I guess I want to say that it’s never too late to turn things around. I had a great time in my late 30s and 40s but now as I approach turning 50 I can see that health is much more important to me.”
Sophie started the programme, which boasts 50k transformations worldwide, in mid-January and because she was already abstaining from alcohol due to doing Dry January she found the not drinking element of the plan an easy sacrifice to make. But because she and her husband usually dine out at least once a week this was more a challenge but she soon got used to it.
When it comes to changing your established eating patterns Sophie says Scott and his team provide lots of inspiring meal plans.
“You have to eat six times a day in specific windows. It’s about eating little and often and you have to track every one of your meals. You need to drink at least three litres of water daily and as well as no alcohol, the plan limits the amount of caffeine you have.”
The programme sets various exercise challenges which you have to complete three times a week and one of these must be filmed and uploaded to the private Six Pack Revolution Facebook page. Surprisingly you are not allowed to weigh yourself during the 75-day period but Sophie tells me that she’s worked out she has dropped at least two dress sizes since starting the plan.
When we meet for our chat, Sophie only has a couple of weeks to go and it’s clear how confident she looks and feels. She is positively beaming!
“My energy and enthusiasm are off the charts because I am sleeping so well and really enjoying the programme. When I finish it I will aim to do five days a week following the key principles and then have a couple of days off – probably the weekend.
“Doing The Six Pack Revolution has given me the tools to live a much happier, healthier and less anxious life. I feel better than I have in 15 years and I couldn’t be in a better position to be running my business and feeling confident in myself. It really is a win-win for me.”
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