"They told us during the scoping call that half our problem was a hiring issue, not a strategy issue. That honesty saved us from spending money on the wrong thing."
Rachel Underwood, MD, Clearpath Logistics
Common questions
Most projects fall between £12,000 and £45,000. The exact figure depends on the service type, how many people are involved, and how long the engagement runs. We quote a fixed fee after the scoping call, so the price you agree to is the price you pay. There are no hourly overruns or surprise invoices. If the scope changes mid-project because you want to add something, we agree a revised fee in writing before any extra work starts.
Growth strategy: 8 to 10 weeks. Operational efficiency: about 10 weeks. Leadership development: 6 months. These are the most common durations, but we have shortened growth projects to 6 weeks for companies that already had good data, and extended operational projects to 14 weeks for organisations with multiple sites.
Our consultants are based in England and most of our work is with UK companies. We have taken on a handful of projects for European firms that have UK operations, where the engagement was focused on the British side of the business. We are open to conversations about international work, but we are upfront that our expertise is strongest in the UK market.
Our sweet spot is companies with annual revenue between £3m and £50m and teams of 20 to 300 people. That range is where our methods have the most impact: the company is large enough to have real complexity but small enough that changes can be implemented quickly. We have worked with larger organisations on specific divisional projects, but we don't compete with the big four on enterprise-wide transformation programmes.
It lasts about 45 minutes. We ask you to describe the problem or opportunity you are facing, what you have already tried, and what a good outcome would look like. We share relevant experience from past projects and give you an honest view of whether consulting is the right move. Some companies call us and we tell them they don't need a consultant; they need a new hire or a different piece of software. We would rather lose a potential fee than start a project that won't deliver value.
Yes, once we have had the scoping call and agreed that the engagement makes sense. We can connect you with two or three past clients in a similar sector or with a similar challenge. We ask their permission first, so it takes a day or two to arrange. We don't publish case studies with client names on the website because many of our clients prefer confidentiality.
Quite involved, and that is deliberate. We need access to your data, your people and your weekly rhythm. During the diagnostic phase, we typically interview 8 to 15 people across the organisation. During implementation, we join one standing meeting per week. The CEO or MD needs to be available for a 30-minute check-in every fortnight. If your team treats the consultant as an outsider who works in isolation, the project will not produce useful results.
We build a checkpoint into every engagement at roughly the halfway mark. At that point we review progress against the agreed objectives. If something is off track, we adjust the plan. If you feel the engagement is not delivering value at the checkpoint, you can end it and pay only for the work completed to that point. We have used this clause twice in 127 engagements; both times the issue was a change in the client's business circumstances rather than a problem with the consulting work itself.
Some clients ask us to stay on after the main engagement in a lighter advisory role. We offer a monthly retainer that includes two half-day sessions and unlimited email support. The retainer runs month to month with 30 days' notice to cancel. About a third of our clients move to a retainer after their first project, typically for 6 to 12 months while they embed the changes.
We are not a corporate finance firm and we don't broker deals. However, we have helped several clients prepare for fundraising by building the financial model, sharpening the growth narrative and rehearsing the investor pitch. If you need introductions to investors or debt providers, we can refer you to firms we trust, but that sits outside our engagement scope.
A few things worth knowing before you call
We don't take every project that comes to us. On average we accept about six out of ten enquiries. The most common reason we say no is scope mismatch: the company needs something we don't do well, like IT systems integration or recruitment. When that happens, we try to point you towards someone who can help.
Timing matters too. If your company is in the middle of a leadership transition, an acquisition, or a cash crisis, consulting may not be the right move yet. We would rather wait three months and start when conditions are right than begin a project that gets derailed by events.
One more thing: we don't do competitive pitches. If you are running a formal tender with four or five firms, we will respectfully decline. Our process works best when we have a direct conversation with the decision-maker, agree on the problem and the approach, and get started. The scoping call is free and carries no obligation. That is our version of a pitch.
How clients describe working with us
"The operational audit found £180,000 in annual savings. About £60,000 of that came from cancelling software subscriptions that nobody was using. Embarrassing, but valuable."
Tom Henslow, CFO, Bridgewater Manufacturing
"What I appreciated most was that the consultant showed up to our Monday meeting every week during implementation. They didn't just hand over a report and disappear."
Priya Nair, CEO, Fenwick Health Partners