Best Startup
We’re a business services firm focused on Finance, Technology and other sectors critical to the transition to a cleaner economy. Our mission is to enable businesses to grow or evolve sustainably. We work with small & mid-sized businesses (SMBs) and larger ones in the UK and internationally.
Our definition of SMBs: companies with a turnover of up to 25 million GBP per year. However, most businesses below 20 million seem to rely on free advice offered by Government-funded organisations, angel investors or similar – we can’t and don’t want to compete with these.
Primarily, we’re geared to serve the market of businesses with 20 million revenues or higher. From that stage, businesses usually face challenges where external expertise is needed and have a budget for it. There are exceptions, so we do help some smaller business and start-ups.
We offer core services, such as Expert Advice and Venture Support, and custom services to help clients with whatever they need to achieve their goals, including hands-on services. In addition, we operate the Green Business Marketplace (GBM).
We’re a proud member of the CDRT – the Coalition for the Decarbonisation of Road Transport established by the Green Finance Institute, supported by HM Treasury.
Tell us about yourself?
I’m the founder and the Strategy & Finance Director of P27. I’m a former investment banker with over 25 years of business experience. I worked on projects for large businesses such as UBS, Deutsche Bank, Rothschild, Ford, Fiat and Suzuki; across Europe, the US and Asia.
Currently, I’m working with select start-ups and larger organisations in finance, technology and mobility. My projects include strategic change, business valuation, funding options, automated trading, wealthtech, ESG and compliance.
I’m a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, the global professional body for those working in finance.
I sat on their Corporate Finance Forum Committee for over ten years. I’m a CISI Specialist (Capital Markets) and Mentor. And I’m an alumnus of London Business School (Investment Management Programme) and Henley (MBA).
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
None – I mean I don’t think there’s anything I’d have done much differently. I expected COVID to be a challenge for longer and the regionalisation of the world economy to take longer (I think the war in Ukraine has accelerated it) but am happy with the decisions made then.
What problem does your business solve?
The post-COVID, deglobalising, climate-challenged world is forcing businesses to navigate a sea of change. No matter what stage or size.
Sometimes, change means growth, which, when approached incorrectly, can destroy value – and make climate change worse. Sometimes, change means evolution. Ultimately, you want to increase the value of your organisation, which now must also account for environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.
P27 is the sustainable change partner: we help businesses grow or evolve sustainably. We offer services to complement the capabilities of businesses in Finance, Technology and other strategic sectors and help them change, i.e. grow or evolve, sustainably.
We help them improve key value drivers such as sales, earnings, investments and ESG factors.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
I’m passionate about business – I think business is the best organisation to make the world better. The future belongs to today’s SMBs and larger businesses (but not too large!) that can increase their value by developing goods and services the world needs, while managing their impact on people and the planet.
And I’m passionate about sustainability. Climate change is a project too big for any one government – business leaders must take the lead.
What is your magic sauce?
Our structure and approach enabled us to redefine business services and their delivery. They allow us greater flexibility in what we do, how we do it and how we charge for it. They allow us to provide better value for our clients.
Our team is experienced, entrepreneurial, tech-savvy, environmentally & socially conscious, and offers both change – growth or evolution – and sector-specific support. To deliver our services and run our business, we tap into our international network of experienced business experts and partners.
We approve less than 10% of expert applicants. Our team is diverse already, certainly compared to other advisory firms based in the UK, but we want more. We aim to increase the % of women as close as possible to 50. We also aim to increase diversity in other terms.
We only work with partners that have values closely aligned with ours.
We are building a digitally native advisory firm. Our innovative yet practical approach is based on both traditional management models and alternative ones and takes advantage of project-based smart working and the project economy.
Others are trying to do what we do. But I believe nobody can beat us on execution and value for money.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
Develop several steady revenue streams across our priority sectors: Finance, Technology, Automotive/ Mobility, Energy and Fast-Moving Consumers Goods (food in particular). We have 150+ experts (advisors and NEDs).
We want to increase that to 500+ by 2023(4). We have a few partners – we want many more. We have only 25 green business solutions listed on our marketplace (still in beta). We want to have 1000+ by 2023(4).
We want to be more than an advisory firm – we want to be a community of practice and an ecosystem that enables SMBs and larger businesses to be major contributors to the transition to a greener, less divided world.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Getting in front of decision makers of mid-sized businesses with revenue of 20 million GBP or larger since COVID. The lack of face-to-face events is not helping. Virtual events, even the ones with breakout rooms, are no replacement (yet) for face-to-face. We started using LinkedIn and Google Ads more, but lead generation has been slow so far.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
We want more clients – if you are looking for experienced business advisors and non-executive directors that are former executives at banks, corporations and tech start-ups; environmentally and socially conscious; and from around the world, please visit p27.network.
We want more experts – if you are an independent expert, please visit the Work with Us section of our website.
We want more partners – if your organisation is offering services related to ours and you believe that we are a good cultural fit, please visit the Partners section (under More).
And we want more green solution providers and buyers – if you are one, please visit the Marketplace section and check the minimum listing requirements and plans.
