Vaughan Evans & Partners

We help our business clients build a winning strategy, using our proprietary, tried and tested, no nonsense 'Strategy Pyramid' approach – as set out in the acclaimed The Financial Times Essential Guide to Developing a Business Strategy by Vaughan Evans (FT Publishing, 2013). We ensure that the resultant strategy is robust and backable - whether by your board or by an outside investor.

We deploy those key strategy tools which are pertinent to the situation - viz the broad range set out in Vaughan Evans's best selling Key Strategy Tools: The 88 Tools for Every Manager to Build a Winning Strategy (FT Publishing, 2nd edition, 2021) or in his more succinct 25 Need-to-Know Strategy Tools (FT Publishing, 2014), where tools are classified as either 'essential' or 'useful' and are grouped in line with the strategy development process.

For startup and small business clients, we deploy a greatly simplified approach to strategy development. We focus on the three main strategic facets: understanding the market, creating competitive advantage and managing risk - as set out in Strategy Plain and Simple: 3 Steps to Building a Successful Strategy for Your Startup or Growing Business. The book is unashamedly targeted at the small businessperson. It is as light on the theory as possible, it strives to be jargon-free and it is most concise - readable in one plane or train journey.

And we help management write backable business plans - see the top selling guide to business planning in the U.K. The Financial Times Essential Guide to Writing a Business Plan: How to Win Backing to Start Up or Grow Your Business, by Vaughan Evans (FT Publishing, 3rd edition, 2022).  These plans are carefully crafted to identify and address the main concerns of your backer – the risks and opportunities around market demand, competition, strategy, resources and financials.  The resultant plans are purpose-designed to get you the backing you need for your business to succeed.

Finally, VEP works with business clients to manage the risks and opportunities of their strategic transactions – be they investments, acquisitions, alliances or divestments. Vaughan Evans has specialised in strategic due diligence over four decades, whether on stand-alone investment transactions or on synergy-intensive acquistions and alliances, and is the author of Let the Sun Shine! How Strategic Due Diligence Is Key to Acquisition Success (Business & Careers Press, 2015).

For our financier clients, whether investors or bankers, VEP is one of the most experienced advisers in the UK in strategic due diligence.  Vaughan Evans, founder of VEP, has been advising private equity and structured finance clients on strategic risk and opportunity since LBOs first arrived in the UK in the mid-1980s.  He has worked with >25 private equity houses on >200 deals ranging from <$10 million to >$10 billion.  His experience and judgement are offered to selective private equity clients on pre-due diligence strategic screening.  Finally VEP advises investors and management teams on post-deal strategy development and works alongside management in frawing up a robust, achievable post-deal business plan.