Strategy & Turnaround
Stalled, stuck or reshaping?
We work it through at board level
A Copernicus principal works directly with your board and senior team to diagnose what is holding the business back, build a coherent strategy, and turn it into an implementation plan with real milestones. Where useful, non-executive-style support continues for 3–12 months after delivery.
Who This Is For
Three situations this engagement Is built for
Strategy & Turnaround is a senior advisory engagement. It is not a deck-production exercise, and it is not an analyst-army consultancy. A Copernicus principal works directly with your board and senior team on one of three situations:
Companies that have stagnated
Flat profits for two years or more. Strategy has drifted. The senior team no longer agrees on where growth comes from. A board-level reset is overdue.
Turnaround situations
Companies reshaping for international growth
5
Continents covered through a dedicated local network
1000+
Discrete engagements completed for global clients
72
International markets reached via in-country partners
The Two-Phase Engagement
How the Engagement Is Structured
Two phases, the second optional. Phase 1 is a bounded, fixed-fee Strategy Development Engagement: situation review, board and senior-team workshops, a written strategy, and an implementation plan with milestones, typically over 8–14 weeks.
Phase 2 is an optional non-executive-style retainer, typically 1–3 days per month on a fixed 3–12 month term, supporting execution, keeping the plan honest and providing external challenge at board level. The same Copernicus principal leads both phases: no handover to associates, no rotating cast.
- Phase 1: Strategy Development Engagement
- Phase 2: Optional Ongoing Support (non-executive-style)
- Scoping call: The Copernicus principal meets the owner, chair or CEO to understand the situation, confirm the right level of engagement, and agree scope and fee before work starts.
- What it is: A fixed-term retainer of typically 1–3 days per month, over 3–12 months, led by the same principal who ran Phase 1. Explicitly optional; roughly half of Phase 1 engagements continue into it.
- Situation review: A structured diagnosis of financials, market position, operations, team, customers and competition. Typically 3–4 weeks, run directly by the principal using your data and targeted interviews.
- What it looks like in practice: Management meetings, progress reviews, challenge to the senior team, and a sounding board for the owner or CEO. The principal steps in as situations arise: a hire, a renegotiation, a pivot.
- Strategy & implementation plan: A written strategy with a sequenced plan: milestones, owners, dependencies, a first-90-days action list and KPIs. Built to be used, not parked on a shelf.
- Why clients choose it: Execution is where most plans fail. The retainer keeps the plan on track and the senior team honest against it. The cheapest challenge a mid-market board can buy.
- Handover session: A final board session to commit to the plan, assign ownership of each workstream and set the governance rhythm for execution. Phase 1 is then formally complete.
- How it's structured: Contracts of 3, 6, 9 or 12 months with 3-month break clauses. Days per month are fixed and do not roll over. Extensions in 3-month increments by agreement.
Indicative Fees
What the engagement typically costs
(1)
Phase 1: Strategy Development Engagement (fixed fee)
| Company size | Indicative fixed fee | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|
| Small: <£5m revenue, <50 staff | £25k — £45k | 8–10 weeks |
| Mid-market: £5m — £50m revenue | £45k — £90k | 10–12 weeks |
| Larger mid-market: £50m — £250m revenue | £90k — £175k | 12–14 weeks |
(2)
Phase 2: Ongoing Support (optional monthly retainer)
| Company size | Indicative fixed fee | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|
| Small: <£5m revenue, <50 staff | £3,500 – £6,000 | 1 – 2 days |
| Mid-market: £5m — £50m revenue | £6,000 – £12,000 | 1 – 3 days |
| Larger mid-market: £50m — £250m revenue | £10,000 – £20,000 | 2 – 3 days |
* Contract length: 3, 6, 9 or 12 months. Break clauses at 3-month intervals.
** These are indicative ranges. A scoping call will give you a firm fee for your situation. We do not quote fees without understanding the brief.
Who Delivers
Each engagement is led by a Copernicus principal
Direct principal leadership
(01)
Every engagement is led personally by a Copernicus principal. A single principal owns the engagement end-to-end, not a rotating cast of associates.
Seniority Profile
(02)
Typically 25+ years of commercial leadership experience in mid-market businesses. Experience spans executive and non-executive board roles, P&L leadership, buy-and-build programmes, international expansion, and turnaround situations.
Board-level credibility
(03)
Principals are used to sitting across a board table with owners, chairs, CEOs, CFOs and non-execs. The conversations are peer-level, not consultant-to-client.
Continuity into Phase 2
(04)
If the engagement continues into Phase 2 ongoing support, the same principal stays on. Nothing is handed down or handed off.
How we work
From Scoping Call to Optional Ongoing Support
STEP 1/6
Scoping call
Situation review
Board workshops
Strategy & plan
Handover
Optional ongoing support
6-8 Weeks
Entity live and compliant.
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Typical engagement shapes
Single-market setup
Multi-market rollout
Exploratory scoping
Single-market setup
One jurisdiction. Full incorporation and compliance coordination through a single vetted local partner.
Multi-market rollout
Several jurisdictions run in parallel, with UK-led oversight keeping entity choice, banking and compliance consistent across markets.
Exploratory scoping
A comparative brief on entity options, tax exposure and banking friction, used to decide where and how to set up before committing.
Related services
Where buyers go next
Answers to Common Questions
If you can’t find your answer, email us at enquiries@copernicus-consulting.com
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