Every engagement is different. We work to your scope.

Because every engagement is genuinely different, and publishing a number anchors both sides before we understand the work. A KYC redesign at a Tier 1 bank with 50+ systems is a different engagement from a NAV rebuild at a mid-sized asset manager with three vendor platforms — even though both are structurally the same shape. We commit to pricing transparently once we understand your situation, usually within the first 60–90 minutes of the working session.

We ask you to share your realistic budget band in the enquiry form, then we scope the engagement to fit it. If your budget is tight, we will be explicit about what we can and cannot achieve within it and recommend a focused starting engagement that produces a defensible outcome. If your budget is larger than the scope requires, we will say so and not pad the engagement. We would rather deliver a smaller piece of work that actually lands than win a bigger engagement that overreaches.

Four main variables. First, the scope of the priority workflow — a regulatory reporting rebuild is a different size from a credit decisioning redesign. Second, the depth of the data layer work required — most of the engineering effort in AI enablement sits here. Third, the regulatory environment — PRA and EU AI Act work requires more governance depth than a minimally regulated setting. Fourth, the political complexity of your organisation — Tier 1 banks have more stakeholders than mid-sized firms, which translates into more coordination time.

Yes. Our work involves senior practitioners and embedded delivery — we do not take engagements smaller than a focused diagnostic. If you are looking for single-day workshops, one-off presentations, or accelerator-style programmes, we are not the right fit. We will happily point you to alternatives in our network.

Yes. Our Transformation Programmes typically run 9–24 months, and we have supported multi-year arcs where we phase the engagement across several priority value streams. The structure is the same as a single engagement — diagnostic, blueprint, activation — but repeated across workflows, with each new workflow inheriting the data layer, governance machinery, and operating model work from the previous one.

Both, depending on the engagement shape. Diagnostics are fixed-price because the scope is tight and well-defined. Strategy & Blueprint engagements are typically fixed-price with a defined deliverable set. Transformation Programmes are usually time-and-materials with a phased budget and explicit gates — open-ended T&M without gates is a bad model for this work and we will not propose it. Retainers are a fixed monthly fee. We are explicit about which model applies before you sign anything.

Through a defined change-control process. If we discover something that materially changes the scope (a binding constraint we did not see in the diagnostic, a regulatory requirement that emerged, a workflow that turns out to be larger than expected), we surface it immediately, discuss the implications with the executive sponsor, and agree the next move before continuing. We do not bill against changes we have not discussed. We do not ambush clients with scope expansions.

No. The agreed price covers all senior practitioner time, deliverables, and travel within the UK and EU. For US-based engagements we agree travel costs upfront. We do not charge for proposal preparation, kick-off meetings, or the initial executive working session. What remains on your side: vendor licences (cloud, AI platforms, observability tools), infrastructure spend, and the cost of your own staff time.

Typically 30 days net for invoiced phases. Diagnostics are usually invoiced 50% at kick-off, 50% at completion. Blueprint engagements are usually invoiced monthly against phase milestones. Transformation Programmes are monthly against T&M actuals. Retainers are monthly in advance. We are flexible where procurement processes require specific terms — most of our clients have standard supplier arrangements we can accommodate.

Yes. Every engagement includes a defined exit clause, usually at the end of each phase. Diagnostics have no mid-engagement exit (they are too short), but Blueprints and Transformation Programmes can be paused or terminated with 30 days notice at any phase boundary. We would much rather have an honest conversation about misalignment than continue an engagement that is not working — it is bad for both sides.

Senior practitioners with 15+ years of experience in regulated operating-model and technology delivery work. No off-shored deck-builders, no junior consultants, no pyramid of analysts. The people in the room during the working session are the people doing the work throughout the engagement. We do not subcontract.

You need a named executive sponsor at COO, CTO, CRO, or Chief Transformation Officer level with authority over the operating model. Beyond that, we typically work with operations leaders, data and engineering leadership, risk and compliance, HR (for the role redesign), and the executives accountable for the priority value streams. We don't expect dedicated full-time backfill from your team — we design the engagement around your internal capacity.

Structurally different. Tier 1 strategy consultancies run slide-heavy engagements with large teams of generalists, typically priced by team-weeks. We run small engagements with senior technology-led practitioners who build, instrument, and operate the work. Our deliverables are operating-model artefacts, BPMN models, data architecture, decision rights matrices, and governance machinery — not decks. Our engagements are usually smaller than Tier 1 strategy work in total cost but produce more concrete output per week. If you want a 200-slide strategy deck, we are not the right firm.

Yes. Most of our clients have formal supplier onboarding processes, standard MSAs, and procurement-led negotiation cycles. We have experience working through these cycles and will adapt our contracting approach to fit your process. We are transparent with procurement about our pricing approach (scope-based, fixed-fee where possible) and we do not play commission games.

You own the outputs, documentation, and artefacts we produce during the engagement. We retain ownership of our underlying frameworks, methodologies, and templates, which we license for your use on the engagement. Standard NDAs are signed before any substantive discovery work, and we are comfortable with strict confidentiality regimes including restricted data room access and on-premise-only working.

We are UK-based and work primarily across the UK and EU. We have also run engagements for US institutions. The structural framework is the same; the specific regulatory frame changes (PRA/FCA in the UK, EBA/ECB in the EU, OCC/Fed/SEC in the US). We are transparent about travel costs for longer-distance engagements and we factor time zones into the engagement design. APAC engagements are possible but we assess them case by case.

You own the outputs, the playbook, the data layer, the governance framework, and the operating model design. Knowledge transfer is built into every engagement structure — your team should be able to continue the work without us. Many clients move into a retainer relationship for senior advisory access after the delivery phase ends; others bring us back six to twelve months later for the next priority workflow. There is no commercial pressure to extend.

Yes — that is exactly what the Diagnostic is. It is a four-week focused engagement that produces a structured answer to "is the full enablement work the right conversation now?" About two-thirds of Diagnostic clients move into the Blueprint engagement; the rest either delay (for reasons we identify together) or pursue something more focused. The Diagnostic is a real piece of work with a real deliverable, not a sales exercise.