Advisory & corporate finance
In short Staff leaving, or looking to leave, in numbers Growing membership of and support for unionised action Recruitment that keeps stalling Motivation focused on salaries, terms and compensation Challenges clients raise with us are: The causes are rarely complex, perhaps a poorly managed transformation (such as changes to terms and conditions or poor systems … Continue reading Four Red Flags that you have a Staffing Challenge
Build and buy strategies are where a business acquires other businesses, very often to help increase value ahead of an exit. They are not uncommon for private equity or companies trading on a public exchange and can also work for smaller businesses but are less common. Build and buy strategies can be an attractive way … Continue reading Thinking about Build and Buy?
In short No one culture works better than another More staff, and a recent influx of new joiners New managers with different experiences and perspectives Less identification and contact with the founding team Purpose and focus less coherently understood A different strategic focus that has not landed “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”, someone once said. … Continue reading Is your business culture holding you back?
If you are a scale up business, you know there is some market fit and you will have felt at times that “sales is working”, so it can be very frustrating when sales growth stalls. The Scale up Institute states that the “markets gap” is one of the key barriers to further growth, their focus … Continue reading Unleash Your Sales Potential: Overcoming Growth Hurdles in Scale-Up Businesses
If you are a scale up business, you will already be familiar with the challenge of growing with limited financial resources. Our article ‘Considerations for Scale-ups when raising funds’ outlines some of the common solutions in addition to fundraising support we provide clients. Do you lack financing to sufficiently scale? The Scale Up Institute notes … Continue reading Access to Finance Challenges for Scale up Businesses
The Scale Up Institute’s last report identified ‘infrastructure’ as one of the key challenges for scale up businesses. While not clearly defined, the term appears to refer to the ecosystem of local hubs and enterprise agencies available. If you are a scale up business (sales growth > 15%; hitting sales of £10m or more; or … Continue reading Time short entrepreneurs understand that a reliable infrastructure scales their business
In short Focus: tie development to the strategic priorities Customise: make your own playbook rather than apply someone else’s Align: too many well-meant initiatives create inertia Experience: engage someone who has actually done it Adapt: no silver bullet, and different people need different styles Intellectual capital: balance skin in the game with objective counsel Commitment: … Continue reading Common pitfalls for high growth business leaders
In short Purpose: be clear what the board is actually for Scope: advisors plan and decide, they do not do Chair: get the chair and CEO axis right Selection: networks, insight, credibility Dynamics: individual qualities, collective behaviours While there is extensive analysis available on how boards of established companies should operate, especially those in the … Continue reading Five steps to creating an effective Venture Board
In 2021 Office of National Statistics estimated that the UK was in sixth place for productivity compared to other G7 countries, with output per worker being 10% less than the average, and output per head in the US being 1.5 times higher. Despite the need to improve productivity never being more important for business leaders, … Continue reading Are you missing two hacks to improve productivity?
Responding to COVID-19 has meant that most businesses have had to dig deep. While there will be few outright winners from the crisis, most business leaders will know that they will have to adapt. In this article we explain five basic practices that successful businesses will embrace and six growth drivers that businesses can refine … Continue reading Hope is not a plan: build resilience quickly and reignite growth