COMMERCIAL CLARITY™

We are a Leeds-based independent strategy and planning consultancy specialising in accelerating growth by focusing andaligning business and marketing objectives. We work by cutting through the noise withour hands-on approach to develop solutionsborn from smart insights garnered through years of experience. We work with a rangeof B2C and B2B clients across multiple sectors. We avoid unnecessary clutter and start by stepping back taking a holistic view of the business to help deliver a strategic plan that produces results over both the short andlong term. We believe that your strategies should be fully aligned to realise your full commercial success.

We are a Leeds-based independent strategy and planning consultancy specialising in accelerating growth by focusing and aligning business and marketing objectives. We work by cutting through the noise with our hands-on approach to develop solutions born from smart insights garnered through years of experience. We work with a range of B2C and B2B clients across multiple sectors. We avoid unnecessary clutter and start by stepping back and taking a holistic view of the busines to help deliver a strategic plan that produces results over both the short and long-term to achieve your commercial success

Whitecap Consulting works with predominantly northern, mid-sized companies, PE firms and advisers

Strategy is about the choices and options available to get to a desired outcome

Whitecap ConsultingCommercial Clarity™

Established in 2012, Whitecap Consulting works with CEOs of predominantly northern based

mid-sized businesses with a turnover of circa £10 - £300m, providing strategy and commercial

consultancy.

We provide a range of professional business services and implementation support including:

• Strategy Development: Helping shape future direction for businesses, brands, products and services

• Business Case & Planning:

Organising, detailing and aligning the company to deliver the strategy

• Implementation Support:

Providing hands-on help and support to execute critical initiatives effectively

• Commercial Due Diligence:

Undertaking commercial due diligence to support M&A and transactions

Our client-side experience across different companies, business models and market sectors

means we provide insightful, pragmatic and hands-on support for our clients, whether that is

developing long-term strategy options or reacting to immediate challenges or opportunities.

Working as an extension of the leadership team, we help clients articulate ambitions, focus

and align priorities, develop commercially sustainable propositions and then execute growth

initiatives quickly and more effectively.

We also work with smaller firms that have high growth ambitions, and with larger companies and

divisions of corporate businesses on specific strategic, commercial and marketing projects.

www.whitecapconsulting.co.uk

How we helpWe help clients address a range of opportunities and challenges

Challenges

o Market is rapidly changing and the business model looks tired

o Competitors are consistently outperforming the business

o 1-3 year plans are not focused or aligned

o Functions operate in silos and are not aligned to the overall business aims

o Declining sales volume and/or margin

o Not sure about the brand positioningo Uncertain about the marketing effectiveness in the businesso Declining performance in key sales channelso Poor or declining customer retention

o Poor customer perception about the company & brand

Mid-sized businesses face a variety of different challenges and often reach a point where independent, external advice and practical hands-on support can be very beneficial.

Some businesses may be very successful and growing out of control, some will have steady performance but no long-term plans, whilst for others their growth may have stalled and they are in need of a new direction as their market has changed.

As a result, it is common and understandable that in these businesses the majority of time and effort is focused on day-to-day operational issues and short-term P&L drivers; however as a consequence there may be limited time and resource allocated to planning and driving growth initiatives.

As these companies seek to grow it can become harder to ensure all parts of the business are pulling in the same direction. The long-term business vision may be less clear today than it was previously, and often the organisation and established controls have outgrown the traditional ways of working.

The CEO should be able to look ahead and around at what is going on in the market, but faced with these types of challenges, may not have the time to do so. And in a mid-sized business there is unlikely to be a full-time Strategy Director to share the load.

As a result responsibility may land with the FD, Commercial or Marketing Director, who are also likely to have their hands full with immediate priorities.

We are hands-on and pragmaticOur clients are typically mid-sized northern companies

Whitecap Consulting helps by providing experienced client-side directors to facilitate structured planning at board level, documenting aims, designing practical implementation and execution, as well as engagement with colleagues, customers and suppliers.

We work hard to understand our client’s business and operate as an extension of the leadership team on stand-alone projects, retained and interim assignments. This enables our clients to focus on delivering the annual P&L, achieving year-on-year growth and connecting long-term and short-term initiatives effectively and quickly without having to resource this activity in-house.

We apply our experience and processes to Buy and Sell side commercial due diligence

Management teams can develop a view of the market and business potential based on what has happened, rather than what might happen. We undertake independent commercial analysis, including assessment of relevant macro and industry trends, key competitors, products & services, and the related key internal skills and compentencies. This provides a forward-looking view and a clear picture of the sustainability and robustness of forecast income and key opportunities for growth.

Opportunities

o Planning next growth phase

o Strategy documentation to support new funding

o Identifying acquisition targets and potential strategic partners

o Commercial due diligence

o Facilitating company ambitions and assessing alternative strategies

o Leadership team alignment around strategic and annual priorities

o Developing and aligning business plans

o Market trends and competitor assessments

o Innovation of new products and services

o Expansion into new markets / sectors

o Expanding internationally

o Acquiring new customers

o Creating new customer cross-sell opportunities

o Increasing revenue per customer

o Increasing customer retention and loyalty

Helping clients to develop & implement growth plans effectively

FocusWe help leadership teams focus on the things that are important to a business’ commercial success.

ClarityWe see past the noise of day-to-day activity and help develop clear plans based on robust analysis and evaluation of current and future factors, internal and external.

AlignmentWe ensure corporate, business, brand and marketing strategies are aligned, which helps drive focused planning, decision making and effective delivery of strategic objectives.

You might find it useful to complete the Whitecap Strategy Survey, a free tool to gauge the effectiveness of your strategy alignment and the related implementation activity.

Find it here:www.whitecapconsulting.co.uk/strategysurvey

We focus on four levels of strategyTo be effective, each needs to be developed and aligned effectively

Marketing • Consumer needs, CRM & Insight

• Integrated multi-channels

• Awareness, acquisition, cross-sales, retention & advocacy

Corporate • Shareholder and enterprise value

• Corporate vision & long-term ambitions

• M&A pre- /post- transaction

• Commercial due diligence

Business• 1-3 year business planning

• Growth through products & services, channels, sectors & countries

• Leadership team clarity & alignment

Brand• Position in the market relative to competitors

• Proposition & differentiation

• Rational and emotional benefits

Every assignment is different

Whilst there may be some similarities given the scale and maturity of the business, each has different challenges and different needs, therefore every assignment is unique and a ‘one-size fits all’ approach does not work. We flex and adapt to work with clients to deliver what they need; we don’t ask them to fit into a rigid consultancy model. An example client assignment may develop through the following process:

We flex and adapt to meet the needs of each client

Immersion

Understanding the business is of course essential, in particular its history, culture, operating model, its position in, and the nature of the market, competitors, historic and recent P&L performance, current critical issues and the appetite for growth and risk.

Appraisal & Analysis

Defining and assessing the specific challenges and opportunities to be addressed is central to any engagement, analysing relevant internal and external sources available. Also as part of this process we would typically ask the leadership team to complete our proprietal strategy survey to help assess the current degree of alignment around the top table:

www.whitecapconsulting.co.uk/strategysurvey

Options & Implications

Developing, documenting and recommending the strategy options and operational, financial, resource, regulatory and sometimes business model implications, represents the significant part of many assignments with clients; taking into account the length of time available for the strategy to evolve, and the commercial and leadership objectives.

Implementation

Arguably the easy part is to write the strategy, but it is often much more difficult to execute it and keep the daily work across all functions connected and driving it, especially over a long period of time. We work with clients to develop strategies, and we also help clients implement strategies that other consultancies have created. We effectively translate strategy into practical business plans and help drive necessary actions.

How it all fits togetherWhitecap’s strategy development process

©Whitecap Consulting 2015

Nostrum Group

Nostrum Group is a fast growing, award winning, FinTech company providing disruptive automated loan management software that enables finance companies to adopt a completely digital lending model. Established in 2001, the firm has experienced 137% revenue growth since the end of 2012 and is now working with some of the biggest financial and retail brands in the world.

Already clear on the business growth strategy, Nostrum’s board recognised the need for a strategically aligned and professionally delivered B2B brand and marketing strategy to support the next stage of evolution. Whitecap was appointed in August 2014 to lead the development and implementation of this strategy.

“Working with Whitecap has brought focus and clarity to our marketing and has delivered demonstrable results. At a time when we are experiencing major growth pressures we have found there have been significant benefits in using experienced and independent external resources to ensure our brand and marketing plans support and are not compromised by surges in demand for our services.”

Richard Carter, CEO Nostrum Group

Costcutter Supermarkets Group

In early 2013, Costcutter Supermarkets Group commenced a major shift in strategy, with the announcement to separate from long-term supply partner Nisa. In doing so, CSG had 18 months to re-design the business and operating model, create new strategic partnerships, create a JV and launch an entirely new own label brand.

Whitecap was assigned for 18 months to help develop and implement the new brand and marketing strategy for Costcutter, Mace and kwiksave retail brands for all external and internal collateral through traditional and digital channels, rebuilding the marketing team and launching the new ‘Independent’ own brand across 500+ product lines.

“Richard joined the company at the start of a full business transformation programme. He very quickly made an impact by being able to contribute strategically and at the same time providing tangible deliverables. He brought knowledge, capability and energy to the team in a very demanding situation.”

Darcy Willson-Rymer, CEO Costcutter Supermarkets Group

Examples of our recent workHere are a few studies showing how we help

National Accident Helpline

A long-standing market leader in its field, over the last few years NAHL Group (formerly CCG) has successfully transitioned from private equity backing to PLC status on the AIM market, and continues its impressive growth story today.

Whitecap has worked with NAHL Group throughout this critical period of its evolution, providing strategic input and hands-on practical implementation support. This has included strategy development, commercial due diligence on potential acquisitions, proposition development, and programme management.

“As a fast growing, lean and dynamic business, we don’t always have the necessary in-house skills immediately to hand to tackle key business challenges, and even when we do, it’s still sometimes important to bring in an external perspective. We’ve worked with Whitecap in this way since early 2013 and have greatly valued the support, insight and flexibility they bring to the table”

Russell Atkinson, CEO National Accident Helpline

CPP Group plc

Between 2003 and 2010 CPP grew very successfully in UK through product diversification and launched its core product in numerous international markets, including China, India, Mexico, and Brazil. It experienced a dramatic change of fortune through 2010 as pressure came on regulated sales in the banking sector.

Whitecap was appointed to help support and facilitate the creation of a new strategy based on increased consumer relevance, articulating new business ambitions, priorities over a 3-year planning horizon and alignment across the leadership team. Regrettably this was not implemented due to further regulatory sanctions imposed on the business.

“The process we worked through was simple and straightforward. It helped us debate and agree group priorities and to set a strategic roadmap with clear annual priorities and milestones.”

Stephen Kennedy, former COO CPP Group plc

Our experienced team works individually and collectively on specific client projects and retained assignments. Occasionally, we work as individuals on interim contracts and occupy non-executive roles. Our skill base covers business and market analysis, strategy formulation, proposition development, P&L management, marketing and brand strategy. In addition we have specialists in CRM, internal communications and executive coaching, change and programme management.

Whilst we have a shared passion for strategy and planning, we also demonstrate significant differences in our personal approach and experience. This means that we bring a broad range of skills, experience and different perspectives to client opportunities and challenges.

“I’m delighted to be a Non Executive Director of Whitecap, a business with objectives that are very closely aligned to my own – namely to help businesses to identify and achieve their growth targets. At a time when many businesses are seeking external funding to fuel their growth it has never been more important to be able to clearly articulate a robust and well thought-through business and commercial strategy.”

Gary Lumby MBE FCIBS, Non Executive Director, Whitecap Consulting

Richard CoatesManaging Director

Founder of Whitecap, Richard has been strategy and marketing director for several businesses in different market sectors in the UK and internationally.

His strategy development and implementation experience includes corporate strategy development, strategic partnerships, preparation for trade sales and IPOs. Richard has led numerous brand and transformational business and marketing strategies.

He specialises in helping leadership teams develop a clear vision of future growth, shaping achievable ambitions and driving critical work streams to deliver enhanced valuation and P&L performance. Richard’s sector experience includes Financial Services, Retail, Travel, Tourism, Hospitality, Automotive, Petrol and Oil. Richard has an MBA from Leeds University Business School.

Our senior teamWe have extensive, hands-on client side experience

Alex ConnollyDirector

Alex has been developing and implementing business strategies for 20 years. His passion is working with businesses and their leadership teams to identify new ways to grow their revenue and profit. He’s done this as both an employee and a consultant, and has worked with large and small companies ranging from new start-ups to large corporates including Barclays, Hitachi and Aviva.

His experience, with a strong analytical capability, includes organic growth, new market entry, acquisitions and JVs, new product development and product overhaul. As a true Yorkshireman, Alex knows that talk is cheap, and that great strategies only add value once they’ve been implemented effectively. Alex has an MBA from Warwick University.

Julian WellsDirector

Julian is an experienced strategy and marketing director with proven commercial expertise across traditional and digital channels.

In a career spanning nearly 20 years he has helped launch, build and enhance numerous business propositions that have made a significant P&L impact.

Julian has worked for BCG, Nationwide, Merrill Lynch and HML, where he has helped drive major growth and commercial change initiatives. He has also worked with numerous fast-growing companies on a consulting basis ranging from start-ups to established corporates. Julian’s specialisms are B2B, Financial Services, Lending, Professional Services, Digital and Technology.

Some recent clients include

Collectively we have experience across numerous market sectors including:

Financial Services

Mortgages & Lending

Insurance

Digital & Mobile

Legal Services

Professional Services

FinTech

Convenience Retail

Consumer Services

Hospitality

Outsourcing

Tourism

Automotive

Fuel & Oil

To find out more about Whitecap, please get in touch or visit our website atwww.whitecapconsulting.co.uk

Find us on social media. We are on Twitter @WhitecapConsult, have LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+ pages

© Whitecap Consulting Limited 2015 Company Number 8057237.

Whitecap Consulting Limited Gresham House 5-7 St Pauls Street Leeds West Yorkshire LS1 2JG

Tel: 0113 834 3133

www.whitecapconsulting.co.uk info@whitecapconsulting.co.uk