Deals are thin on the ground. In the mid-market M&A landscape, transaction volumes have declined significantly over the past 12 months. According to Pitchbook, European mid-market deal activity fell 28% year-on-year, with the UK seeing some of the most pronounced slowdowns. Caution around interest rates, geopolitical risk, and valuations has pushed many funds into a […]

For years, boardrooms across the United States have been out of reach for the majority of small and mid-sized businesses . The benefits of having a seasoned Board Advisor or Independent Director are well understood – investor confidence, growth oversight, and exit readiness – but the costs of finding one have been prohibitive. Traditional search […]

The corporate boardroom is evolving. Once the domain of retired bankers and nonagenarian lawyers, the average age of Non-Executive Directors is falling – and fast. For the first time, business leaders in their 40s and 50s are becoming a fixture around the table, reshaping governance with fresh perspectives and energy. A Statistical Shift Spencer Stuart’s […]

Founders pour immense effort into pitch decks and financial forecasts, but increasingly, investors are looking at a different signal: whether the company already has an experienced Non-Executive Director on board. Evidence shows that startups with NEDs don’t just appear more credible – they raise more, scale stronger, and exit more often. Research confirms that early-stage […]

The role of the Non-Executive Director is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. Once the domain of retired lawyers, ex-bankers, and accountants with time on their hands and a Rolodex full of corporate contacts, the NED seat is now increasingly occupied by a very different type of individual: exited founders, scale-up veterans, and commercially minded […]

Selling your business is a bit like planning a wedding: it takes far longer than you expect, costs more than you budgeted for, and someone always forgets the prenup. Savvy founders are skipping the panic calls to bankers and pulling a smarter move – hiring a Non-Executive Director with M&A experience before the business is […]

Over the past decade, family offices have multiplied rapidly. Once reserved for ultra-wealthy dynasties managing generational wealth, the concept has evolved – and expanded – thanks to successful entrepreneurs, tech founders, and industry veterans who’ve exited businesses and chosen to “go direct” with their capital. It’s estimated that there are now over 10,000 single-family offices […]

As the final serves are struck and Centre Court falls silent once again, Wimbledon leaves more than memories of athletic brilliance. For those watching with a strategic lens – not just a sporting one – it offers a masterclass in high performance, resilience and decision-making under pressure. These qualities, familiar to elite athletes, are also […]

Professional sport in the UK is undergoing a governance evolution. Behind the roar of the crowd and the churn of transfer speculation, a quieter shift is underway in boardrooms – one driven by a growing recognition that emotional investment alone is no longer enough to sustain a sports club in today’s financial climate. At the […]

In a business world awash with dashboards, forecasts and AI-generated insights, it’s easy to overlook one of the most powerful yet intangible assets in the boardroom: human pattern recognition. For experienced non-executive directors, this isn’t a buzzword. It’s a finely tuned radar, shaped by decades of lived corporate experience. When Warren Buffett said, “What we […]

In the mythology of modern entrepreneurship, speed is everything. Growth is worshipped, scale is strategy, and founders are rock stars. But amid the adrenaline of hypergrowth, governance is too often viewed as a brake rather than a steering wheel. That’s a mistake. As companies race to expand – especially in tech, consumer, and fintech sectors- […]