What we do
Four lines of work, each described in plain words: what you get and how we do it. Most engagements draw on more than one.
Start with your situation
Pick the one that sounds like you.
- Our strategy is due for renewal, or the last one sat on a shelf.
- An auditor, a regulator or a funder has raised questions.
- Your board or a funder has asked for an independent evaluation.
- The organisation has grown faster than its systems.
- We are designing a new programme and want it to hold up.
- Staff turnover or disputes point to weak foundations.
- We collect data and no one uses it.
- Staff are already using AI and no one has set the rules.
- A report is due and the numbers do not add up.
- A partner or funder asks about our data security.
- The board wants a dashboard it can read.
- We hold personal data about the people we serve.
- A funding cycle is ending and we need a plan we can defend.
- We need to show a funder what changed, not only what we spent.
- We are growing, merging or opening in a new country.
- Our policies exist and no one follows them.
- Reporting takes weeks and still arrives late.
- Our numbers sit in different systems that do not agree.
- We want to use AI and do not know where to start.
- We have had a security scare, or a near miss.
A strategy is a set of choices, written down.
Strategy and advisory
Where your organisation is going, and how it will know it is getting there.
Talk to us about strategyWhat you get
A strategy your board can hold you to and your staff can use: written plainly, with the choices made explicit and the evidence behind them shown. Independent advice when a decision is hard. Programme designs that say how the work leads to the change you want. Evaluations and learning reviews that tell you what happened and why, in time to act on it.
How we work
- Strategic review
- We read what you have, talk to the people who carry it out and to those you serve, and say plainly what is working and what is not.
In practice
A few weeks of reading, interviews and one workshop. You get a short written read of where the strategy works, where it does not, and the three or four decisions the board needs to take, with the evidence for each.
- Theory of change
- A written account of how a programme's work is expected to lead to the change it wants, step by step, so each step can be checked.
In practice
One or two workshops with the people who run the programme, then a one-page diagram and a written account you can put in front of a funder or a board.
- Evaluation
- An independent study of whether a programme did what it set out to do, and why. We choose the method the question needs and explain it before we start.
In practice
We agree the questions and the method before fieldwork starts, share early findings with the team so nothing surprises anyone, and write the report for the reader who has ten minutes.
- Learning review
- The same questions, asked together with the people who ran the work, so the answers change what they do next.
In practice
A facilitated session with the team, working from the same evidence, ending in decisions written down with owners and dates.
- Advice to boards and leadership
- Short, written, and clear about what we recommend and what we are unsure of.
In practice
A written note before the meeting and a conversation in it. We say what we would do, what we are unsure of, and what we would need to know to be sure.
Systems that hold when no one is watching.
Organisational strengthening and governance
How your organisation actually runs, and what would make it sounder.
Talk to us about governanceWhat you get
A clear picture of how decisions are made, how money and people are managed, and where the gaps are. Policies and controls that fit your size. Human resources systems that are fair and followed: roles, performance, recruitment, staff development, and compliance with employment law. A plan to grow capacity that the organisation can carry out itself.
How we work
- Governance review
- We look at the board, its committees, its papers and its decisions, and compare them with what your own rules and the law require.
In practice
We read the founding documents, minutes and policies, sit in on a board meeting where we can, and interview board members and senior staff. The report says what holds, what does not, and what to fix first.
- Capacity assessment
- A structured look at what an organisation can do well now, where it is stretched, and what it would take to grow. Done with the organisation, not to it.
In practice
A structured instrument scored with your own staff, then a discussion of where the scores came from. The result is a shared picture, not a grade.
- Policy and control review
- Reading the rules you have against how work is actually done, and closing the gap in whichever direction is right.
In practice
We walk a sample of real transactions and decisions from start to finish and compare each step with the written rule. Gaps are listed with the fix that fits your size.
- Human resources systems
- Job descriptions, performance frameworks, recruitment support, staff development plans, and compliance checks.
In practice
Job descriptions, a performance framework and a staff handbook that people can actually follow, drafted with the people who will use them and checked against employment law.
- Organisational development plan
- The steps, the owners and the order, written so a board can track them.
In practice
The steps in order, each with an owner and a date, written so a board can track them at every meeting.
The same data, the same answer, next quarter too.
What you get
A data strategy that says what to collect and why. Systems that hold your data properly, whether it comes from operations, finance, people, services or customers. Measures a manager can read. Analysis that answers the question that was asked. Reports and dashboards that are reproducible, so the same data gives the same answer next quarter. Data quality and governance that stand up to an auditor, a regulator or a funder.
How we work
- Data strategy and systems
- What to collect, how to store it, who owns it, and which tools fit your size.
In practice
We start from the decisions you need to make, then work back to what to collect, where to keep it, who owns it and which tools fit.
- Data collection design
- Forms, surveys, transactions or system exports: designed so that what you collect measures what you mean and can be trusted.
In practice
Whatever the source, a form at a counter, a survey, a device or an export from your finance or operations system, we test it with the people who will use it, and set out who collects the data and how it is checked.
- Measurement frameworks
- The measures that tell you whether the strategy is working, with baselines and targets you can defend.
In practice
Each measure tied to your strategy or, for a programme, to its theory of change, with a definition, a source, a baseline and a target, so two people would count it the same way.
- Analysis and reporting
- From cleaning the data to drawing the insight, with every step recorded so anyone can repeat it.
In practice
Scripts rather than spreadsheets where the analysis will repeat, so the same data gives the same answer, and a short report written for the reader who has ten minutes.
- Dashboards
- Built for the people who will use them, showing the few things that matter.
In practice
One page, the few measures that drive decisions, designed with the people who will look at it every month.
- Data quality and governance
- Checks, roles and rules so the data stays reliable after we leave.
In practice
Checks built into collection, clear ownership of each dataset, and rules for access and retention that meet the law where you work.
Judgement stays with people.
AI and cybersecurity
Adopting AI where it helps, declining it where it does not, and keeping data and systems safe.
Talk to us about AI and cybersecurityWhat you get
A clear-eyed view of where AI could help your work and where it would not. Contained pilots with success measures set before they start. A policy for the use of AI that says who is accountable. A cybersecurity readiness review in plain words. Data protection that meets the law where you work and the expectations of the people whose data you hold.
How we work
- AI readiness
- Where your work is repetitive, text-heavy or data-heavy, and where judgement must stay with people.
In practice
A short review of where staff spend time on repetitive text or data work, what data you already hold, and where a mistake would matter. You get a shortlist of uses worth piloting and a list to avoid.
- Contained pilot
- One use, one team, a fixed period, and a measure of success agreed before it starts.
In practice
One team tries one tool on one task for a set period, with a measure agreed before it starts. At the end you decide with evidence, not enthusiasm.
- Policy for use
- Who may use what, for which tasks, with what checks, and who answers for the result.
In practice
A one or two page policy in plain words: what staff may use AI for, what they may not, how they check the output, and who is accountable.
- Cybersecurity readiness review
- Accounts, devices, backups, access and habits, checked against a recognised baseline and explained without jargon.
In practice
Accounts, devices, backups, access and habits checked against a recognised baseline, with a short list of fixes in order of risk and cost.
- Data protection
- What the data protection law where you work requires of an organisation like yours, where you stand, and the steps to close the gap. The duties are much the same from one country to the next; the detail is not.
In practice
What the law where you work requires of an organisation like yours, where you stand, and the steps to close the gap, written so a board can approve them.
One firm, four lines
Most engagements draw on more than one line: a governance review that leads into human resources systems, a strategy that needs better data to steer by. We scope each engagement with you, say what we will do and what we will not, and explain every method before we use it.
Tell us the question your organisation has.
Half an hour of talking usually beats a week of wondering.