Services
Six engagements, from a three-week assessment to an eighteen-month program, plus the free Check. Each has a plain name, a defined scope and terms agreed in writing.
For owners
In the order most owners take them. You can start anywhere and stop after any step.
The Check
How dependent is the business on you, and where is it thinnest?
A short, private screen. You see a score, a band and your weakest area straight away.
The Review
What would a buyer find in the operating side of your business?
An evidence-based assessment of the operating side, written to stand up in front of a buyer.
The Blueprint
When could you credibly go to market, and what has to happen first?
A full assessment that ends in a date and a sequence your accountant, lawyer and broker can act on.
The Crossing
Can the business be made to run without you — and proven?
The program that does the work, with your people, and ends with the Three-Week Test.
The Record
Can a buyer or lender verify what changed?
The evidence file: before-and-after scores, the signed absence log and what is still open.
For buyers and lenders
The operating side of an acquisition, before and after closing.
The Buyer Review
What will this business cost you once the seller leaves, and when?
The operating workstream of due diligence, delivered inside your exclusivity window.
The First Year
How do you get the seller’s knowledge out before he goes?
Inside the business after closing, moving what the seller knows into your people and systems.
How are fees set?
Fixed, in writing, before any work begins.
Every owner-side engagement has a fixed fee, set by its scope and the size of the business, and agreed in writing before work starts. The fee is discussed on a short call, once it is clear which engagement fits.
On owner-side work there are no success fees, no commissions, no share of a sale and no hourly billing. Buyers and lenders rely on what Corefield finds, so its fee can never depend on what it finds.
If you move from one engagement to the next within an agreed period, what you paid for the earlier step is credited toward the next. Fees are not negotiated down; when a budget is tight, the scope is narrowed instead.
Can I stop after one step?
Yes. Every report is written so you can act on it yourself, and longer programs have agreed points where either side can stop with notice. There is no penalty for stopping, and no pressure to continue.
What does Corefield work on, and what does it refer?
Staying narrow is what makes it safe to bring in alongside your existing advisors.
Corefield works in six areas: owner dependency; customer concentration and who holds the relationships; key-person and licence risk; deferred maintenance and capital needs; systems and data; and operational compliance.
Everything else is referred, and Corefield reports back to whoever referred you.
| Outside Corefield’s scope | Referred to |
|---|---|
| Valuation | Chartered business valuator |
| Tax structure and capital gains planning | Tax specialist in owner-managed businesses |
| Financial statements, quality of earnings | Transaction-services accountant |
| Contracts, legal drafting, corporate clean-up | Transaction lawyer |
| Environmental assessment | Environmental consultant |
| Employment law | Employment lawyer |
| Listing, marketing, finding buyers | Licensed business broker or M&A advisor |
| Financing | Lender or financing advisor |
| Family dynamics and governance | Family enterprise advisor |