Blackheath Advisors
CASE STUDIES
Real boards. Real pressure. Real outcomes.
Five illustrative engagements across board formation, strategy, culture and crisis.
Illustrative case studies
STRATEGY + CULTURE
Foxtrot Finance
Cross-border money transfer · FCA-regulated · £130m revenue · 500 employees
SITUATION
Foxtrot Finance is a high-growth fintech facing a fast-shifting competitive landscape. Shareholders are pushing for expansion while the board is increasingly concerned about execution risk and a culture described as "overly autocratic." A newly appointed CEO has triggered turbulence in the top team. Strategy and culture keep slipping into "nice-to-have."
ACTION
At the urging of the board, the new CEO commissioned a 2-day Board + ExCo offsite, ostensibly as a "Strategy Retreat" but with the additional objective of building trust and shaping the culture.
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Culture & leadership diagnostic (CLA): top 20 leaders completed the Collective Leadership Assessment to reveal gaps compared to their desired state and financial services benchmarks.
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Confidential interviews: 8 key executives interviewed to understand cultural nuances and strategy blockers.
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Culture impact session: facilitated interactive session surfacing themes of micro-management, perfectionism, and fear of retribution — driving a culture of "playing not to lose."
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Hot Topic Deep Dive: curated expert session on stable coins and implications for the business model, using PESTLE framework to identify blind spots.
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Strategy Decision Sprint: board-level strategy session using PESTLE → Porter's 5 Forces → SWOT. Sub-groups developed 3 strategic directions culminating in a decision tree with trade-offs.
RESULT
✓ Established a baseline + desired state for leadership culture and agreed 3 behaviour shifts to support strategy execution
✓ Clear accountability for culture and conduct
✓ Measurable progress within 12–18 months
BOARD FORMATION
Tango Transfers
Provisionally licensed fintech · Preparing for full EMI authorisation · £18m revenue · 140 employees
SITUATION
Tango Transfers has built strong early traction under a founder-led model. The company has a "helpful" Advisory Board, but decision-making is informal, governance documentation is thin, and reporting is inconsistent. The firm needs to demonstrate regulator-ready oversight for full EMI authorisation.
ACTION
Blackheath partnered with the founder, incoming Chair, and Company Secretary to move from advice to accountable governance.
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Governance blueprint + board purpose: clarified board purpose, decision rights, escalation triggers, and "rules of play" including how the shareholder interfaces with the board.
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Board composition + independence plan: designed the target board profile (skills, independence, capacity) and supported selection of NEDs aligned to regulatory ambition.
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Governance hygiene pack: refreshed Articles, board/committee terms of reference, annual calendar, delegation matrix, and cadence.
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MI & oversight upgrade: defined a regulator-grade MI pack (risk, safeguarding, financial/prudential, fraud, operational resilience, outsourcing) with clear KRIs and owners.
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Light-touch board health check: facilitated a practical effectiveness review to ensure the board operated as a governance board, not an "advisory forum."
RESULT
✓ Established a formal governance board with clear independence, committees, and decision rights within 10–12 weeks
✓ Implemented an MI pack aligned to regulatory expectations and growth-stage risks
✓ Agreed a board reporting rhythm and escalation triggers appropriate for EMI readiness
✓ Entered EMI authorisation preparation with a clearer story of oversight, accountability, and control maturity
BOARD strategy day
Platypus Platform
Multi-sided tech marketplace · Payments-enabled platform · £55m GMV · 220 employees
SITUATION
A fast-growing tech platform in a multi-sided market — it must win supply partners and end-users simultaneously to create a flywheel. CAC is rising, supply quality is uneven, and a new CEO wants to pivot from "growth at all costs" to a focused strategy with clearer trade-offs. Board discussions are stuck in feature-level debates; the leadership team is not aligned on where to play, how to win, and what not to do.
ACTION
Blackheath designed and facilitated a highly interactive 1-day Board Strategy Day preceded by targeted pre-work.
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Pre-work interviews + decision framing: confidential interviews with key directors/executives to surface "silent disagreements," then codified 3–4 decision questions the day must answer.
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Zoom-out strategy stack: PESTLE → Porter's 5 Forces → SWOT to expose blind spots and avoid "inside-the-product" thinking.
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Platform flywheel + incentive design: mapped the two-sided flywheel (supply quality, liquidity, trust, pricing, onboarding friction) and stress-tested incentives across both sides.
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Strategic options sprint: sub-groups built 3 pivot options (vertical focus vs geography focus vs partnership-led distribution) with investment requirements, risks, and "kill criteria."
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Decision-ready outputs: converted debate into a decision tree, balanced scorecard, and 30–60–90-day plan with named owners and board follow-up cadence.
RESULT
✓ Aligned on the pivot thesis and explicitly chose the trade-offs (including what to stop)
✓ Agreed a single "north star" outcome metric and supporting leading indicators for both sides of the market
✓ Locked a 90-day execution plan and a board cadence designed to keep strategy off the "nice-to-have" list
CULTURE & CLA
Mongoose Mutual
UK insurance provider · Regulated · £420m premium book · 1,600 employees
SITUATION
Mongoose Mutual has strong technical capability and good intentions — but performance is slowed by a culture described internally as guarded, controlling, and reactive. Leaders avoid conflict, decisions get escalated unnecessarily, and the organisation optimises for "not making mistakes" rather than "winning." The CEO and Chair want a measurable shift toward a courageously authentic culture.
ACTION
Blackheath ran an evidence-based culture engagement using the Collective Leadership Assessment (CLA) approach.
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Baseline + desired state: top team and selected board members completed the CLA to establish current-state patterns and the target cultural profile.
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Heat-map insights: translated data into practical "culture frictions" impacting execution (over-control, perfectionism, fear of candour, low empowerment).
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Leadership dialogue sessions: facilitated sessions connecting culture patterns to business outcomes (customer outcomes, speed to decision, cost, risk posture).
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Behaviour shifts + operating mechanisms: agreed 3–5 explicit behavioural commitments (candour norms, decision rights, "disagree-and-commit") built into leadership routines.
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Tracking rhythm: created a board-visible cadence for measuring progress (quarterly pulses, leadership objectives, management reporting).
RESULT
✓ Established a shared language for culture that was measurable (not vibes-based)
✓ Reduced "over-escalation" decisions and improved speed-to-decision on priority initiatives
✓ Aligned leaders around a clearer purpose, priorities, and accountability routines
✓ Created a repeatable rhythm to track culture shifts as a core driver of performance
RESULT
BOARD advisory
Paprika Pay
EMI · £95m revenue · 430 employees · Pan-European operations
SITUATION
Paprika Pay suffered a significant cyber incident (credential compromise + service disruption) that triggered customer harm, media scrutiny, and a subsequent regulatory enforcement action. The board faced simultaneous pressure: stabilise operations, protect consumers, satisfy the regulator, and manage shareholder expectations — while the executive team was stretched and fatigued. Trust was deteriorating fast.
ACTION
Blackheath joined on a retainer-style advisory basis to strengthen crisis governance and accelerate regulator-confidence restoration.
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Crisis governance reset: established a board-level crisis cadence (committees, decision rights, daily/weekly rhythm, escalation triggers, single source of truth).
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Regulatory response architecture: shaped the remediation narrative, evidence plan, and governance pack to demonstrate control, accountability, and pace.
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Independent assurance mobilisation: supported rapid commissioning/coordination of external assurance (security, fraud controls, operational resilience, third-party risk).
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Stakeholder alignment: facilitated hard conversations between Chair/CEO/CCO/CTO to align on priorities, sequencing, and communications.
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Crisis simulation + lessons learned: once stabilised, ran a simulation to institutionalise learnings and harden the operating model.
RESULT
✓ Restored decision clarity and board control during the highest-pressure period
✓ Accelerated remediation delivery with clear ownership and measurable milestones
✓ Improved regulator confidence through stronger evidence, cadence, and assurance
✓ Exited "constant fire-fighting mode" and embedded sustainable governance practices for resilience