about clare haynes and wildfire
MULTI-award-winning
difficult conversations
speaker, trainer and coach
Clare Haynes started Wildfire because she knows exactly what happens when talented people can't speak freely. She knows what it costs them, their teams, and their organisations when they go quiet.
After 23 years working with leaders across the NHS, government and major commercial organisations, one thing is always true: The people who find their way to Clare aren't short of ability or intelligence. They're short of a safe place to think, and someone they trust enough to be honest with.
That's what Clare provides and it's rarer than it sounds.
The moment that crystallised everything happened in a Sydney jazz club, serving steak to a man who seemed impossible to please. When she worked out what he actually needed and gave it to him without fuss. He transformed, became warm, tipped generously AND offered her a job!
That's when it clicked: Most people aren't the problem but the conditions are. Give someone the right environment; the language, the safety, the permission. And then they don't just cope, but they EXCEED every expectation.
That belief is what Wildfire is built on. It's what Clare has been proving, in organisations of every kind, for over two decades.
Since starting Wildfire 23 years ago, Clare’s worked with over 7500 people to conquer difficult conversations, speaking at conferences, through training and workshops and through executive coaching.
She set out to help people handle scenarios, using her coaching, Psychology, NLP, Marketing, Performance and Trauma and Complex PTSD training. But her management experience has been the best education.
As your very own difficult conversations expert, she handholds, steers, and is there on-demand, fiercely cheerleading whilst you feel like you’re having a cuppa with your most trusted mentor.
the clients who stay longest?
.. they aren't the ones with the most straightforward problems. They're the ones who are trusted by everyone around them, but have almost no-one they trust in return.
They’re isolated by their seniority in a way their teams wouldn't believe. They need someone in their corner who is completely outside the system and completely straight with them.
That's Clare. And that's Wildfire.
multi-award-winning
2026:
Wildfire won Silver in the inaugural Best SME Awards for the Best Impact (to the community or industry).
At the British HR Awards Clare also won Highly Commended for Coach of the Year.
2025:
Clare was named in the UK’s top 100 female entrepreneurs by Small Business Britain.
She won Best Coach/Consultant at The Ladies’ First Awards.
Wildfire was announced Service Provider of the Year at the Business Success Recognition Awards.
Clare won Silver in the Best Businesswomen Awards for Best Coach.
Your 7 Step Prep for Difficult Conversations Guide
CLare quotes
“All poor behaviour is underpinned by fear”
“It’s not rocket science”
“Mischief makes it lighter and easier!”
clare facts
Clare’ s a Black Belt 2nd Dan in Mixed Martial Arts
She walks a lot (hence offering walking coaching) and loves a good podcast!
Clare’s holiday of choice is skiing with her 2 children
She believes in kindness and so she finishes messages with a🧡
Clare’s favourite colour is orange
She’s worked in communications, sport, sales, fundraising, TV, charity and public sectors
frequently
asked
questions:
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Clare Haynes is a multi-award-winning speaker, trainer and executive coach specialising in difficult conversations at work. She founded Wildfire 23 years ago and has since worked with over 7,500 people across organisations including the NHS, CIMA/AICPA, government departments and major commercial businesses. She holds qualifications in Psychology, NLP, coaching, and trauma and complex PTSD, and is a Black Belt 2nd Dan in Mixed Martial Arts.
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Wildfire works with HR leaders, people managers, senior executives and teams across a wide range of sectors. Clients include organisations from the NHS, government departments, CIMA/AICPA, Lloyds Bank, Coca-Cola, Morrisons, GE and Sellafield, among many others.
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Wildfire is a specialist business focused entirely on difficult conversations at work, founded by Clare Haynes. Clare started Wildfire after experiencing first-hand the cost of poor workplace communication (the evasion, the politics, the things that never got said) and deciding there had to be a better way. The business was built on the principle that confident conversations can be learned, and that most people default to avoidance simply because they've never been given the tools.
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Clare's formal training includes Psychology, NLP, Marketing, Performance coaching, and trauma and complex PTSD. She is also a Black Belt 2nd Dan in Mixed Martial Arts, which informs her understanding of how the body responds under pressure (directly applicable to high-stakes conversations). Her 23 years of practical management experience she describes as her best education.
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Recent awards include: Silver at the Best SME Awards for Best Impact (2026); Highly Commended for Coach of the Year at the British HR Awards (2026); named in the UK's Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs by Small Business Britain (2025); Best Coach/Consultant at The Ladies' First Awards (2025); Service Provider of the Year at the Business Success Recognition Awards (2025); and Silver at the Best Businesswomen Awards for Best Coach (2025).
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Wildfire is based in Leamington Spa. Clare works nationally and internationally, both in person and remotely, and has delivered work across the UK, including for organisations in London, across the NHS, and at international conferences.
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Clare has worked across communications, sport, sales, fundraising, television, charity, public sector, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, technology and professional services. Her client list spans NHS Trusts, government departments, professional bodies, global corporates and SMEs.
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Yes. Clare works with leaders and teams in organisations and companies. She also has private coaching clients for career coaching when the job seeking/skills development isn’t (or isn’t appropriate to) provided by the employer.
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You can book Clare for
Facilitating/chairing meetings/steering complex discussions
