01 · The method · six months, three pillars, one fee

Refit and Launch.

Every agency restructuring runs the same arc: diagnose, blueprint, execute, plan the future, hand over. Six months, all three pillars in parallel. Here is what that means in practice, and how we price it.

02 · Five phases

One arc. Every time.

Each phase ends in something you can hold: a dated cash position, a funded roadmap, a running operating rhythm.

  1. Diagnostic audit

    A deep-dive analysis of the balance sheet, the organisation and the ownership model to identify structural weaknesses. You get a dated cash position, a contribution view by client, channel and service line, and the shareholder questions named in the open.

  2. Strategic blueprint

    An integrated roadmap where the savings from restructuring increase profitability and create the room to grow. You get one model the board, the bank and the operating plan all work from.

  3. Active execution

    Hands-on. We implement the organisational redesign with your team and support the migration to AI-ready environments. You get a partner in the room every week, and decisions made by you, on your terms.

  4. Future planning

    We optimise the cap table, eliminate restrictive debt arrangements or change the control of the business so it can grow. You get the ownership answer, designed and funded.

  5. Steady-state handover

    The training and governance frameworks your teams need to maintain the new operation independently. You get the playbooks — and a defined end.

03 · The plan

All three pillars. Inside six months.

Financial buys the time. Operational and ownership use it. They run in parallel from week one, not in sequence — the direct benefit of bringing an organisation into drydock.

  1. M1

    Diagnose

    Cash date, contribution, shareholder objectives.

  2. M1–2

    Blueprint

    The roadmap, the bridge, the funding soundings.

  3. M2–5

    Execute

    Pricing, portfolio calls, operating model, intercompany reset.

  4. M4–6

    Plan the future

    Structure options and value bridge; capex plan.

  5. M6

    Hand over

    Governance layer live, playbooks transferred.

Example plan. Workstreams, order and length are set per engagement in the diagnostic audit.

04 · The three pillars

Sold separately elsewhere. Held together here.

Three pillars, three sub-areas each, one working method. Portfolio decides where to play, the operating model decides how, the organisation decides who — and ownership decides whether any of it gets funded.

Pillar one · Financial

Buy time, then reset the balance sheet.

Cash first, structure second, stakeholders throughout.

  1. 01Liquidity and cash13-week rolling cash flow, built bottom-up and owned by your finance team. Payment prioritisation, creditor sequencing, working-capital release, covenant runway to a date.
  2. 02Capital structure and fundingDebt capacity the plan can actually service. Waivers, amend-and-extend, refinancing, new money, bridge facilities. Instrument design from ABL to quasi-equity.
  3. 03Stakeholder negotiation and processBanks, shareholders and creditors working from one model. Terms renegotiated, maturities extended, debt converted where it relieves the pressure.
Pillar two · Operational

Fix what it does, and how it is organised to do it.

Cost programmes buy a quarter. A new operating model buys a future.

  1. 01Portfolio analysisProfit and cash contribution by unit, service line, client and channel. Core versus non-core. A fix, grow, harvest or exit call per line — the output that drives the other pillars.
  2. 02Operating model designCapability map: own, buy or partner. Target operating model and process architecture. Make-versus-buy, AI implementation and human-in-the-loop workflows.
  3. 03Organisational restructuringFrom functional hierarchy to a structure that removes silos. Talent alignment — retrain, hire, restructure — with decision rights reset.
Pillar three · Ownership

Resolve who owns it — and who is paid for what.

Often the real bottleneck: the plan is fundable, but the shareholders have not agreed what it is for.

  1. 01Ownership diagnostic and alignmentCap table, share classes, dilution and waterfall. Consents, drag and tag, deadlock. Shareholder objectives — liquidity, control, legacy, timing — and the valuation expectation gap.
  2. 02Ownership transition and transactionsManagement buy-outs and buy-ins, vendor-assisted structures, employee ownership. Recapitalisation, partial exits, mergers, demergers and spin-offs. Debt-for-equity.
  3. 03Governance and structureThe board that carries the plan. Consent rights that protect the funding. Generational intent, trusts and family investment companies handled as structure, not sentiment.

05 · The interfaces

The pillars are sold separately. They only work together.

Not three workstreams — one sequence with four handover points. Each handover is where value leaks when advisers are split across firms.

  1. OperationalPortfolio analysis produces the disposal listOwnershipexecutes it — while separation planning stays operational
  2. OperationalThe operating model sets the cost base and capexFinancialrebuilds the forecast and sizes the debt the business can carry
  3. OwnershipResolution unlocks new moneyOperationalwhich funds the plan — no equity answer, no funded turnaround
  4. OperationalOrganisational action carries cash cost and lead timeFinancialhas to fund the restructuring itself — the most common oversight in the market
Why one teamEvery handover between advisers is a delay, and in a business losing margin, delay is the most expensive line in the budget.
Concept image: the dock floods and the ship returns to the water

06 · The model

Six months. Three partners. One flat fee.

The number depends on the scope. The model does not. It is set in the proposal, agreed once, and it does not move.

6

months. A fixed programme with a fixed end — no extension by default.

3

partners doing the work. What you meet in the fit call is what you get for six months.

1

flat monthly fee, invoiced in advance. Network specialists per workstream, at cost.

What is not in the model.

  • Day-rate creep. The fee is the fee.
  • Juniors billed as seniors. There are no juniors.
  • Extension by default. Month seven needs a new decision, not a renewal clause.
  • Surprises on performance terms. Any success element is agreed in writing before day one.

What we say in the fit call.

Our fee is cash too. We size the programme to what the business can carry. If the cash position cannot support the full programme, the first fortnight becomes a cash programme — and we tell you that before you sign anything.

  • No insolvency practitioner work
  • No statutory audit
  • No strategy reviews without execution
  • No interim line management

What it asks of you.

Your finance lead's time in week one; the 13-week cash flow is built with them, not for them. A partner in the building every week. Decisions taken by you, in your own meeting rhythm. Nothing else changes about how the agency trades.

07 · The fit call

The cheapest month of the engagement is the fifteen minutes before it.

One call, one named partner. Your numbers, our straight answer on fit, including "you don't need us".

Request the 15-minute fit call Model published · Numbers in the proposal