Strategic Advisory for
Growth and Investment

Challenge

A PE firm evaluating a compliance software provider in a crowded mid-market niche needed to know: Was the addressable market large enough to support a roll-up strategy?

Approach

Built a bottom-up TAM/SAM/SOM model using ONS business population data, segmented by company size and sector. Developed pricing assumptions through 12 mystery shopping calls with competitors. Validated 3-5 year market forecasts through 5 expert interviews. Modelled competitive positioning and assessed AI disruption risk.

Outcome

Our forecasting showed stable demand with defensible positioning against AI threats. The PE firm proceeded with the acquisition, confident in the market's roll-up potential.

Challenge

A corporate client considering Venezuelan market entry needed to assess political stability and operational risk in a low-data environment. Key questions: What was the real status of oil contract renegotiations? What was the likelihood of regime change? Which companies were successfully operating under current conditions?

Approach

Conducted 20 expert interviews with on-ground sources across Venezuela, including industry participants, political analysts, and local operators. Built a network-based intelligence picture where public data was unavailable. Assessed government stability indicators and mapped the current operational landscape for foreign companies.

Outcome

The interviews gave a clear picture: the current government is not going anywhere in the short term. Some oil contracts will be signed, but the major ones are still a few years away. Investment in energy infrastructure has to come first, and new sanctions are unlikely at this point. The client made an informed go/no-go decision using ground-truth intelligence unavailable through traditional research.

Challenge

A leading school meal provider needed to demonstrate their value proposition to schools and systematize their engagement approach. They believed their service improved student outcomes but lacked quantitative evidence and a scalable strategy framework.

Approach

Built Python-based benchmarking model comparing client schools against national GCSE and attendance averages. Ran regression analysis demonstrating statistically significant performance improvements. Surveyed 500 students (UK-representative sample, 100 target population) to identify drivers of success. Applied cluster analysis to identify 8 distinct school archetypes and 6 student personas, creating a matrix of ~100 tailored engagement strategies.

Outcome

Delivered evidence-based playbook to CEO, CFO, COO, and Director of Food demonstrating measurable impact and providing actionable segmentation strategy for both new and existing client schools.

Challenge

A global logistics leader wanted to understand how market share in contract logistics was shifting, and who was winning it. Key question: were the largest players holding their position, or were smaller rivals taking it?

Approach

Built a proprietary market model from company annual reports, Companies House filings and company websites. Extracted revenue for every relevant provider, split the market by company size, and tracked each segment's share from 2018 to 2022.

Outcome

The six largest players lost about nine points of share (56.4% to 47.5%) as they grew 21% against a market growing faster. Mid-sized companies gained six points (15.7% to 21.8%), with revenue up 102%. The client's own share fell by seven points. Findings informed the regional board's decision to revise organic growth targets and adjust competitive strategy.

Challenge

A UK-based manufacturer was seeking a multi-country international expansion in a highly competitive market, where its competitors were pursuing similarly aggressive international growth. The firm still had limited knowledge of international markets and wanted help segmenting the ideal countries to penetrate, understanding the current competitive landscape, identifying the optimal sales approach for these markets, and assessing the regulatory implications for product design.

Approach

Conducted 30 expert interviews (20 in the US and 10 in Japan) with buyers, distributors and industry specialists, and analysed over 3,000 open-source documents covering legislation, standards and competitors. Mapped the 25-step commercial supply chain in the target market, so the client understood exactly how a sale happens, from first contact to order. Reviewed local regulation to see which products could be sold as they are and which would need changes, and compared direct and distributor-led models market by market.

Outcome

We narrowed down the areas for geographic growth and advised on which countries to disregard. We recommended entering the US, a large and established economy that was still growing, where buildings are rebuilt and renewed more often, creating a steady flow of new opportunities. We advised against Japan, a more mature and saturated market where long sales cycles would have tied up investment for little return.

The client acted on the advice. They did not pursue Japan, and they have since built a five-person commercial team in the US.

Challenge

A global technology company already served its largest customers directly, and had almost the whole top end of the market covered. The only room left for growth was the long tail of small businesses, which a direct sales team could never reach. The company had developed a smart answer: partner with the key platforms those small businesses already use, and reach them through those partners. The method was designed but had never been scaled. The client needed to take it global, market by market.

Approach

Piloted the methodology in the Americas (US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia), building a complete long list of about 8,000 partnership opportunities. We then recategorised the list and structured the categories for outreach, turning a routine list-building exercise into a forward-looking database of partners. With the US as a benchmark for a mature market and Brazil for a fast-growing one, we could show the client what to expect in any new market before entering it. We then applied the same data-led playbook across Asia-Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and South Korea) and Europe (France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Nordics).

Outcome

The programme reached more than 20 markets and generated over $200 million in additional revenue for the client globally. It also left the client with a baseline for future campaigns and a new methodology for deciding how to approach new markets. The relationship lasted around five years.

Challenge

A law firm had just been bought by a new private equity owner. The investment thesis relied on adding specific legal services to the firm's existing offer, mainly through acquisition. Before committing, the owner needed to know whether the thesis had legs: which providers existed, which were worth buying, and what a successful target looked like.

Approach

Started with the business model, breaking the market into three types of provider: pure technology, pure lawyer-led and hybrid. Built a long list of 120 legal providers in the target area and a scoring matrix to evaluate each one's potential, finding the sweet spot for each model. Ran 10 expert interviews to understand margin structures, client acquisition pipelines and market trends. We presented the findings to the management team, who carried them to the investment committee and the board.

Outcome

We showed that no provider matched everything the client wanted. It was a clear value versus volume trade-off: pure lawyer-led firms had the highest margins, while the technology platforms had the largest client bases. We identified the companies that did each best. That gave the owner a clear choice between two acquisition routes, instead of a search for a target that did not exist. The client went on to approach most of the targets on our list.