Margin recovery
We audit your cost base line by line, renegotiate supplier terms where possible, and restructure pricing tiers. Typical engagement recovers between 4% and 9% of gross margin within six months.
Business consulting that actually changes the numbers
Most consulting ends with a slide deck. Ours ends with a different P&L. We work with owner-managed firms across England who need someone to sit beside them, look at the real figures, and build a plan they can execute in weeks, not quarters.
Book a frank conversation
Four weeks from diagnosis to action
1
Listen and measure
We spend the first five days inside your operation. Not in a boardroom: on the floor, in the warehouse, on calls with your team. We collect margin data, workflow timings and customer-retention figures before forming any opinion.
2
Diagnose the drag
Every business has two or three friction points that cost more than everything else combined. We identify those specific drags and quantify them in pounds, not percentages.
3
Build the 90-day map
You get a single-page action plan with owners, deadlines and expected financial impact for each line item. No 80-page strategy document that nobody reads.
4
Stay and steer
We remain available for weekly check-ins during the first quarter of execution. If something stalls, we help unblock it rather than shrugging from a distance.
What we actually do
We focus on six areas where mid-sized businesses lose the most money or miss the most opportunity. If your problem falls outside these, we will tell you honestly and point you elsewhere.
Operational speed-up
Slow fulfilment, duplicated approvals, manual data entry: these are the things that quietly drain capacity. We map the workflow, cut the redundant steps and help your team adopt the leaner version.
Growth-readiness assessment
Before you hire, borrow or expand into a new market, we stress-test the plan against your cash position, team bandwidth and competitive landscape. Sometimes the answer is "not yet" and that saves real money.
Organisational redesign
Reporting lines that made sense at ten employees rarely work at fifty. We redesign your org chart, clarify accountabilities and coach managers through the transition over eight to twelve weeks.
Cash-flow planning
Profitable businesses still fail when cash runs out. We build a rolling 13-week cash forecast, identify the trigger points, and set up early-warning indicators your finance team can maintain after we leave.
Exit and succession prep
Thinking of selling or handing over? We spend three to six months making the business less dependent on you personally, documenting processes and cleaning up the balance sheet so buyers see value, not risk.
Aggregate client outcomes since 2019
£14.2m
Recovered margin across 38 engagements
67%
Average reduction in order-to-delivery cycle time
91%
Of clients still using the plan 12 months later
Two recent engagements
Manufacturing
A Midlands fabrication firm with shrinking margins
Revenue had grown 22% year-on-year, but net profit was flat. We traced the problem to three raw-material contracts that had not been renegotiated since 2017 and a production scheduling gap that created 11 hours of idle machine time per week. After renegotiating terms and restructuring the shift pattern, the firm recovered £380k in annual margin within five months.
Professional services
A 45-person consultancy preparing for acquisition
The founder wanted to sell within 18 months but knew the business relied too heavily on her personal relationships. We documented the sales process, promoted two senior managers into client-ownership roles, and cleaned up three years of inconsistent project accounting. The business sold at a 1.4× higher multiple than the initial broker estimate.
Questions we hear often
How long does a typical engagement last?
Most projects run between four and twelve weeks for the active phase. We then stay available for weekly check-ins during the first quarter of implementation, which is included in the original fee.
What size of business do you work with?
Our sweet spot is owner-managed companies with between £2m and £30m in annual revenue. Below that threshold the consulting fee is hard to justify; above it you probably need a larger team than we can field.
Do you work remotely or on-site?
The diagnostic phase is always on-site. You cannot understand a business from a video call. After that, roughly half the work happens at your premises and half from ours, depending on what the project needs.
What does it cost?
We charge a fixed project fee agreed before work begins. No day rates, no scope-creep invoices. A four-week margin-recovery project for a £5m-revenue business typically falls between £8,000 and £14,000. We will give you a precise number after the initial conversation.
What if the plan does not deliver the expected results?
We tie a portion of our fee to a measurable outcome agreed at the start. If the target is not met within the agreed timeframe, that portion is refunded. We have had to refund twice in six years, both times partially.
Start with a conversation
Tell us what is going on in your business. We will reply within one working day with an honest assessment of whether we can help, and if so, a rough scope and fee range.
Address: 514 Chestnut Drive, Lower Howe, England, FK0 5FK, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 1684 547748
Email: [email protected]
