The decision you can’t take twice.

The decision you can’t take twice.

We work with boards and founders on the moves that don’t come round again. Six weeks, three people, and one answer you can act on.

We work with boards and founders on the moves that don’t come round again. Six weeks, three people, and one answer you can act on.

Ruth Halden, founding partner · Twenty-two years

Ruth Halden, founding partner · Twenty-two years

Two colleagues talking across a boardroom table beside tall windows
Two colleagues talking across a boardroom table beside tall windows

London · Est. 2009

London · Est. 2009

NORTHGATE

ELLERY

MERIDIAN

VALE & CO

HARBOURSIDE

01 / Conviction

Most firms don’t need a hundred slides.

They need one answer, defended, in the time the decision allows. Ruth Halden has spent twenty-two years being the person a board calls when the plan stops working.

Scope agreed, team named, fee fixed.

Proposal · 3 days

02 / Evidence

Work that moved a number

OPERATIONS

£4.2m

released from working capital

Ninety days of stock and a payment run nobody owned. We rebuilt the cycle and the cash came back before the facility was needed.

Ninety days of stock and a payment run nobody owned. We rebuilt the cycle and the cash came back before the facility was needed.

GROWTH

GROWTH

31%

increase in win rate

Twelve years of undercharging, defended by habit. We repriced against real win and loss data and not one account left.

RESTRUCTURING

RESTRUCTURING

9 months

of runway recovered

The board wanted a ten per cent cut across the board. We found the third of the cost base that was earning nothing instead.

03 / Working papers

The work a board actually remembers

Options paper.

4 scenarios.

Risk

Cost

Speed

Option A

Hold course, cut spend

●●●

●○○

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Option B · Recommended

Narrow to the core

●●○

●●○

●●●

Option C

Change the operating model

●●●

●●●

●○○

Option D

Sell or partner early

●●○

●○○

●●○

One recommended, and the numbers behind it.

Pricing model.

11 tiers.

Small accounts

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Mid-market

Tier 4

Tier 5

Tier 6

Tier 7

Tier 8

Key accounts

Tier 9

Tier 10

Tier 11

Rebuilt on your own win and loss data.

Operating map.

9 owners.

Board

CFO

CEO

COO

Sales

People

Product

Delivery

Legal

Who decides what, and by when.

01

Strategy under constraint

When the plan has to change and the runway hasn’t. We size the options, kill the ones that don’t survive the numbers, and defend the one that does.

Options paper.

4 scenarios.

Risk

Cost

Speed

Option A

Hold course, cut spend

●●●

●○○

●○○

Option B · Recommended

Narrow to the core

●●○

●●○

●●●

Option C

Change the operating model

●●●

●●●

●○○

Option D

Sell or partner early

●●○

●○○

●●○

One recommended, and the numbers behind it.

Pricing model.

11 tiers.

Small accounts

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Mid-market

Tier 4

Tier 5

Tier 6

Tier 7

Tier 8

Key accounts

Tier 9

Tier 10

Tier 11

Rebuilt on your own win and loss data.

Operating map.

9 owners.

Board

CFO

CEO

COO

Sales

People

Product

Delivery

Legal

Who decides what, and by when.

Options paper.

4 scenarios.

Option A

Hold course, cut spend

Option B · Recommended

Narrow to the core

Option C

Change the operating model

Option D

Sell or partner early

One recommended, and the numbers behind it.

Pricing model.

11 tiers.

Small accounts

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Mid-market

Tier 4

Tier 5

Tier 6

Tier 7

Tier 8

Key accounts

Tier 9

Tier 10

Tier 11

Rebuilt on your own win and loss data.

Operating map.

9 owners.

Board

CFO

CEO

COO

Sales

People

Product

Delivery

Legal

Who decides what, and by when.

Deliverable: Options paper

One recommended, and the numbers behind it.

02

Commercial and pricing

What you charge and why the market accepts it. Rebuilt against your own win and loss data, not a benchmark deck.

Options paper.

4 scenarios.

Risk

Cost

Speed

Option A

Hold course, cut spend

●●●

●○○

●○○

Option B · Recommended

Narrow to the core

●●○

●●○

●●●

Option C

Change the operating model

●●●

●●●

●○○

Option D

Sell or partner early

●●○

●○○

●●○

One recommended, and the numbers behind it.

Pricing model.

11 tiers.

Small accounts

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Mid-market

Tier 4

Tier 5

Tier 6

Tier 7

Tier 8

Key accounts

Tier 9

Tier 10

Tier 11

Rebuilt on your own win and loss data.

Operating map.

9 owners.

Board

CFO

CEO

COO

Sales

People

Product

Delivery

Legal

Who decides what, and by when.

Options paper.

4 scenarios.

Option A

Hold course, cut spend

Option B · Recommended

Narrow to the core

Option C

Change the operating model

Option D

Sell or partner early

One recommended, and the numbers behind it.

Pricing model.

11 tiers.

Small accounts

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Mid-market

Tier 4

Tier 5

Tier 6

Tier 7

Tier 8

Key accounts

Tier 9

Tier 10

Tier 11

Rebuilt on your own win and loss data.

Operating map.

9 owners.

Board

CFO

CEO

COO

Sales

People

Product

Delivery

Legal

Who decides what, and by when.

Deliverable: Pricing model

Rebuilt on your own win and loss data.

03

Operating model

Who decides what, how work reaches them, and where the current structure quietly stops it.

Options paper.

4 scenarios.

Risk

Cost

Speed

Option A

Hold course, cut spend

●●●

●○○

●○○

Option B · Recommended

Narrow to the core

●●○

●●○

●●●

Option C

Change the operating model

●●●

●●●

●○○

Option D

Sell or partner early

●●○

●○○

●●○

One recommended, and the numbers behind it.

Pricing model.

11 tiers.

Small accounts

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Mid-market

Tier 4

Tier 5

Tier 6

Tier 7

Tier 8

Key accounts

Tier 9

Tier 10

Tier 11

Rebuilt on your own win and loss data.

Operating map.

9 owners.

Board

CFO

CEO

COO

Sales

People

Product

Delivery

Legal

Who decides what, and by when.

Options paper.

4 scenarios.

Option A

Hold course, cut spend

Option B · Recommended

Narrow to the core

Option C

Change the operating model

Option D

Sell or partner early

One recommended, and the numbers behind it.

Pricing model.

11 tiers.

Small accounts

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Mid-market

Tier 4

Tier 5

Tier 6

Tier 7

Tier 8

Key accounts

Tier 9

Tier 10

Tier 11

Rebuilt on your own win and loss data.

Operating map.

9 owners.

Board

CFO

CEO

COO

Sales

People

Product

Delivery

Legal

Who decides what, and by when.

Deliverable: Operating map

Who decides what, and by when.

04 / People

The people on your engagement are the people you met

Ruth Halden, partner at Halden Advisory

Ruth Halden

Founding partner

Operations and turnaround · 22 years

Peter Adeyemi, partner at Halden Advisory

Peter Adeyemi

Partner

Commercial strategy · 16 years

Ines Marchetti, partner at Halden Advisory

Ines Marchetti

Principal

Operating model · 11 years

05 / Arguments

PRICING

March 2026

A concession made to close one deal becomes the number every later buyer negotiates from.

A concession made to close one deal becomes the number every later buyer negotiates from.

What we’re arguing about

Tell us the decision you’re facing.

A proposal comes back within three working days: the question as we understand it, who would do the work, how long it takes, and what it costs.

Request a proposal

Reply time

3 working days

Scope, team and fee, in writing.

Halden Advisory

London

Halden Advisory

Independent advisory for boards and founders. London.

Services

Strategy under constraint

Commercial and pricing

Operating model

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