Flint Global
Political, policy, regulatory and competition advisory
Contributing Sustainable Development Goals
Background
Flint is a political, policy, regulatory and competition advisory firm that specialises in advising clients on complex business issues where government and business meet. They have three service areas: Policy and Political Analysis, Competition and Regulation and Markets and Investor Advisory.
Flint operates from offices in London and Brussels, employing over 100 people.
We partnered with founders Ed Richards and Simon Fraser and the wider management team, through a minority investment in December 2021.
Our investment partnership
Flint has delivered remarkable growth since it was founded in 2015. The business is differentiated by the calibre and experience of its people within both the private and public sectors and embedded relationships with an exceptional blue-chip client base.
Flint expertly combines technical capability with political knowledge, making it a market leader in a rapidly developing growth market. It is recognised for its deep sector expertise in financial services, pharma, technology, telecommunications, energy, and sustainability.
Our track record of supporting professional services businesses to scale made GCP a natural partner for Flint’s next phase of growth.
Strategic support through our Growth Toolkit
Since our investment we have closely supported Simon and Ed and their team with numerous strategic growth initiatives, leveraging our Growth Toolkit and Network:
Strategic Clarity
Business Shape
-
International Expansion - Successful international expansion strategy (from 13% or revenue at investment to 20%+ today), with new offices opened in France, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore and network of senior advisers across APAC
- Senior team lift to accelerate launch of French office and bolster European office
- Launch of US offering with a partner firm
Proposition
-
Service Line Development - Service line and sector expansion through hiring senior subject matter experts
Accelerating Growth
Commercial
-
Sales/GTM - Worked with GCP’s Network Director to make introductions to relevant target clients
-
Key Account Management - Introduced client feedback programme
People & Organisation
Leadership
-
Senior Team - Creation of a new board seat for a member of the Partner group
- Hired COO, Head of People and Chair
-
Org Structure - Creation of an Operational Exco team sitting between the board and the wider business
- Input on development of the organisational structure
-
Succession Planning - Hired COO in Brussels as long-term succession plan from Europe founder
- Recruited business’ first CEO as succession plan for two founding partners
Talent & Culture
-
People Function - Support for wider equity participation amongst senior employees
- Invested in Head of People
- Introduced first employee survey and implemented changes in response to feedback
-
Recruitment Engine - Provided hands-on support to source senior hires in the back office
-
L&D - Developed onboarding and best practice materials for staff as business has grown
Platform for Success
Finance and Operations
-
Finance Function - Hired COO/CFO, Financial Controller and Management Accountant to bring finance function in house
-
Operating Systems - Management accounts production being brought inhouse with the recruitment of a Management Accountant
- Introduced first employee survey and implemented changes in response to feedback
- Management information has been developed and improved, with key KPIs reported monthly
Delivering the Best Outcome
-
Maximising Value Through Process - To underpin deliverability of the deal, GCP provided all of the funding for the transaction at completion, with flexibility to refinance at a later date with the right funding package