Niall McDonagh, NRL Consulting

after many years as the UK Managing Director of StratX, in 2006 Niall left to found NRL Consulting, an international management consultancy specialising in marketing and customer centricity. Based in St albans, Hertforshire, Niall is often jetting off around the world, and in recent months has led management development projects and executive coaching assignments for clients in India, Egypt, United States and the UK.

I was introduced to the IoD through a client; we used the Pall Mall premises for a meeting and I was quite impressed. at the time, I was working for a French training consultancy in Beaconsfield and I saw the advantage in having a base for my London meetings. This was 13 or 14 years ago and I've been a member ever since.

I'm now an independent consultant and my work can be quite isolating, as I work from home. I often arrange meetings in IoD premises as it's a means of working in a professional, yet sociable environment. I use 123 Pall Mall on a regular basis; it's contemporary and great for impressing my international clients. The restaurant in 116 is exquisite too, a real gem.

I think the information research service is really useful. It won't necessarily solve all of your challenges, that's an unrealistic expectation. Most of my queries have been answered within half an hour, and that is a great business resource to have access to. Sometimes I forget to use the service and I often end up doing the research myself. I wonder why I didn't just give the IoD a quick call – I need reminding!

I've been to a number of IoD events and conferences; I went to a Google one recently which was very good. Earlier on in my membership, I would've attended these for networking reasons – it's a great way of making contacts. But the primary reason I go now is the standard of content. It's really strong. I will probably go to a couple of the regional events at my Herts branch in St albans this year.

Director magazine is very useful. There are often articles in there that I can use for my own business or as mini-case examples with clients. I really like the case studies from slightly larger businesses; those that are most appropriate to me. It gives me a quick overview of what's going on and it makes me feel like the next stage is achievable.