We started Excellence Advisory because we had spent years on the receiving end of consulting advice and knew what was missing: consultants who had actually run the functions they were advising on. Every member of our team has held a P&L-accountable role before joining the firm.
In 2016, our founder Marcus Elliot left a group operations director role at a £180m distribution business. He had hired three different consulting firms over the previous five years. Two of them produced thorough analysis but struggled to translate it into change that stuck. The third was excellent but charged rates that only made sense for FTSE 250 companies.
Marcus set out to build a firm that combined deep analytical work with hands-on implementation support, priced for the mid-market. He brought in two former colleagues: one from finance, one from commercial strategy. That founding trio delivered their first twelve engagements in the first year, all through referrals.
By 2019 the team had grown to seven consultants. We opened a second office in Manchester (since closed; we found that working on-site at client premises was more productive than maintaining our own space). Today we are a team of eleven, based out of our offices near Great O'Hara, and we travel to clients across England, Scotland and Wales.
The firm has completed over 140 engagements. Our average project length is ten weeks. We have worked in sectors ranging from food manufacturing and logistics to healthcare technology and professional services. The common thread is companies between £5m and £250m in revenue that need practical advice from people who have done the job themselves.
We wrote these principles down in our first year and have revisited them every January since. They shape how we scope projects, hire consultants and handle disagreements with clients.
We tell clients what we see, even when the diagnosis is uncomfortable. Sugarcoating a problem delays the fix and wastes the client's money. Our engagement letters include a clause that explicitly gives us permission to challenge assumptions at any level of the organisation.
Every engagement has a fixed price agreed before work begins. We invoice in three milestone-linked instalments. If the project takes longer than we estimated, the additional cost is ours. This structure forces us to scope carefully and keeps our interests aligned with the client's.
A slide deck is not a deliverable. We stay through the first phase of implementation and hand over tools, templates and training so the client's own team can sustain the change. Our 90-day roadmaps include named owners, deadlines and measurable targets for every action.
We do not operate a leverage model where partners sell and juniors deliver. The consultant who attends the pitch is the consultant who runs the project. Our minimum experience threshold for hiring is eight years in an operating role plus two years in consulting or advisory work.
Eleven consultants, each with at least a decade of industry experience before joining the firm.
Founder and managing director
Former group operations director at a £180m distribution company. Marcus leads our operational improvement practice and has personally delivered more than 50 client engagements since founding the firm in 2016.
Head of financial advisory
Chartered accountant with 14 years at two Big Four firms before moving into industry as finance director of a consumer goods group. Priya runs our pricing reviews and cash flow modelling engagements.
Head of growth strategy
Spent nine years in commercial leadership roles across SaaS and healthcare technology before joining the firm. David leads market entry assessments and channel strategy projects, with a particular focus on companies preparing for institutional investment.
Senior consultant, organisational design
Former HR director at a 1,200-person engineering services firm. Claire designs reporting structures, performance frameworks and role architectures. She also facilitates our leadership alignment workshops for senior teams going through restructuring.
Marcus Elliot, Priya Kapoor and David Osei completed twelve engagements in the first year, all through personal referrals from former colleagues. Initial focus was operational improvement for logistics and distribution companies.
Priya built a dedicated pricing review methodology after three consecutive clients asked for help with margin erosion. The financial advisory practice now accounts for roughly 30 per cent of revenue.
Hired four experienced consultants, each with at least ten years in industry. Opened a temporary office in Manchester to support a cluster of North-West clients.
Claire Fenton joined and built our fourth practice area. First engagement was a full restructuring of a 600-person facilities management company following an acquisition.
Client retention rate reached 83 per cent (measured as clients who engage us for a second project within eighteen months). Average client satisfaction score: 4.6 out of 5 across post-engagement surveys.
Current focus areas include pre-investment operational readiness for private equity-backed companies and post-merger integration support for mid-market acquisitions.
If your company is facing an operational challenge, a strategic decision or a financial question that needs outside perspective, we would like to hear from you. Initial conversations are free and confidential. We will tell you honestly whether we think we can help, and if we cannot, we will point you toward someone who can.
United Kingdom, England, Great O'Hara, FE3 8DN, 818 Trystan Grove