Practice areas

Four areas of expertise serving a single focus

The four practice areas are the firm’s points of entry: strategy and organisation, investment and development, crisis management and restructuring, public affairs and territorial policy. Together they comprise sixteen service lines, deployed individually or in combination according to the nature of each case.

A single case rarely involves just one discipline: a customs audit raises questions of compliance, sales strategy and governance at the same time; an investment project draws on financing, law and relations with institutions. The practice areas are designed as the instruments of a single engagement: resolving complex problems at critical moments and turning points for organisations.

Strategy & Operations

Strategic advisory

“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favourable.”

The Strategy & Operations practice leads the firm’s strategic advisory work. It addresses what determines an organisation’s trajectory: the clarity of its positioning, the coherence of its offer, the performance of its sales set-up, the quality of its internal operations and the robustness of its information systems.

It is called upon at turning points — launching a business, repositioning, strategic reorientation, growth that outpaces the existing structure — when strategy can no longer remain implicit and must be formalised, quantified, then translated into organisation, tools and words.

The practice is called upon to

  • Conduct a 360° strategic diagnosis of the business
  • Formalise a strategy and turn it into an action plan
  • Launch a business, a product or a new offer
  • Reposition a brand or a company in its market
  • Revive flagging sales performance
  • Structure an organisation that has grown faster than its processes
  • Optimise costs, purchasing and internal organisation
  • Prepare a digital transformation
  • Equip the leadership team with management tools and a coherent information system

Service lines

Marketing & Innovation

This service line deals with the decisions that set an organisation's place in its market: whom to serve, with what offer, at what price and with what message. The analysis starts from the market — demand, competition, regulation, channels — and leads to a reasoned positioning and a structured offer.

The 360° strategic diagnosis is the starting point: it examines the market, the offer, the sales organisation and communication simultaneously, to establish an overall view before any recommendation. For a launch, the approach then covers the whole path, from market study to business plan, so that the investment decision rests on verified assumptions. For an established organisation, it comes into play when positioning has become diluted, the offer has fragmented or communication no longer reflects the strategy.

Services

Deliverables

360° strategic diagnosis: market, offer, organisation, communication
360° strategic diagnosis report
Market studies and competitive analyses
Market study
Segmentation and targeting
Competitive analysis
Positioning definition and offer architecture
Positioning platform
Pricing policy
Offer architecture and price list
Brand strategy and communication platform
Brand platform
Business plan and financial modelling of the launch
Business plan
Support for launching new businesses
Marketing and communication plan

Sales Performance

This service line addresses an organisation's ability to turn its offer into revenue. It examines sales strategy, target segmentation, the organisation of the sales force, the objectives set and the way activity is monitored.

The aim is to make sales performance clear and manageable: realistic, cascaded objectives, monitored indicators and formalised sales processes. Where the organisation has no sales director, the firm can perform that function on an outsourced basis for a defined period.

Services

Deliverables

Diagnosis of sales organisation and practices
Sales diagnosis
Sales strategy and target segmentation
Sales action plan
Structuring of distribution channels
Objectives broken down by segment and channel
Setting and cascading objectives
Sales organisation chart and job descriptions
Organisation and sizing of the sales force
Formalised sales processes
Sales processes and customer relationship management
Sales pitches and sales materials
Dashboards and sales management tools
Management dashboard
Outsourced sales management
Outsourced sales management reports

Audit & Interim Management

This service line diagnoses how the organisation actually works: decision-making channels, allocation of responsibilities, processes, costs and purchasing. It highlights the gaps between the formal organisation and actual practice, as well as the weak points that weigh on performance or create exposure to risk.

The diagnosis leads to a prioritised transformation plan, which the firm can implement through interim management: process formalisation, reorganisation, cost and purchasing control, and support for teams until the new operating rules are fully adopted.

Services

Deliverables

Organisational audit and operational diagnosis
Diagnosis report
Analysis of decision-making channels and responsibilities
Target organisation chart and allocation of responsibilities
Process mapping and formalisation
Process map
Cost analysis and purchasing optimisation
Procedures manual
Internal control and operational risk management
Cost and purchasing optimisation plan
Change management and reorganisation
Transformation plan
Interim management
Transformation tracking dashboard
Support for teams through to adoption
End-of-assignment interim management report

Information Systems & Digital Transformation

This service line treats the information system as an instrument of strategy. It works upstream of technical choices to define needs, choose between solutions and organise digital transformation in line with the organisation and its objectives.

Its work covers IT master plans, the scoping and support of management and reporting tool projects, and data governance: quality, flow, security and use for decision-making. The information systems dimension is also built into the assignments of the other service lines where the case requires.

Services

Deliverables

Diagnosis of the existing information system
Information system diagnosis
Information system master plans
Master plan
Requirements definition and specifications
Specifications
Assistance in selecting solutions and providers
Bid evaluation grid
Steering and support of deployment
Digital transformation roadmap
Dashboards and decision-support tools
Management dashboards
Data governance, quality and security
Data governance charter
Change management and user training
User training plan

Investment & Development

Capital structuring

“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

The Investment & Development practice leads the firm’s capital structuring work. It supports decisions that commit an organisation over the long term: investing, raising finance, mobilising public incentives, securing international transactions or opening new markets.

It combines financial analysis, command of the legal framework for investment and knowledge of public support schemes. Files are built to be admissible, bankable and legally sound, from the first diagnosis through to the decision of the bodies concerned.

The practice is called upon to

  • Assess the feasibility of a project before any commitment
  • Structure an investment project and its financing plan
  • Mobilise the incentives provided by the Investment Charter
  • Prepare a bank financing application
  • Secure an international investment or contract
  • Negotiate an international partnership or contract
  • Structure an early-stage project or a start-up
  • Launch an export development strategy
  • Make the most of free trade agreements

Service lines

Financial Engineering & Grants

This service line builds investment and financing applications: project structuring, financing plan, financial forecasts and supporting case. It identifies the schemes available — Investment Charter incentives, public support programmes, bank financing — and checks their eligibility conditions.

The quality of the application determines the decision: the firm ensures its overall coherence, prepares the required documents and supports the sponsor in exchanges with the reviewing bodies until a decision is obtained.

Services

Deliverables

Financial diagnosis of the project or company
Financial diagnosis
Structuring of investment projects
Investment application
Financing plans and financial forecasts
Financing plan
Identification of available incentives and public schemes
Multi-year financial forecasts
Eligibility analysis for Investment Charter incentives
Eligibility memo
Preparation of bank financing applications
Incentive applications
Compilation of applications
Bank financing application
Follow-up of the review with the bodies concerned
Commitments tracking table

International Business Law

This service line secures cross-border transactions: foreign investments, partnerships, international commercial and distribution contracts. It analyses the applicable legal framework, the parties' commitments and the risks attached to the transaction.

The work draws on command of international investment law and trade agreements, in order to address points of friction — governing law, dispute resolution, investment protection — before signature rather than at the litigation stage.

Services

Deliverables

Analysis of the legal framework for investments
Legal analysis memo
Analysis of applicable agreements and treaties
Memo on applicable agreements
Review and structuring of international contracts
Annotated contract review
Governing law and dispute resolution clauses
Model clause library
Investment protection
Due diligence report
Legal due diligence of a transaction
Risk map
Legal risk map
Risk mitigation recommendations
Coordination with local legal counsel
Contractual commitments tracking table

Entrepreneurship & Early-Stage Ventures

This service line supports project sponsors and start-ups at the stage when founding choices are made: validating the idea, business model, legal and financial structuring, preparing the first funding applications.

Project assessment separates sound assumptions from fragile ones before any commitment. Support draws on the founder's experience in entrepreneurial mentoring and on knowledge of the schemes supporting business creation and early-stage funding.

Services

Deliverables

Project assessment and feasibility studies
Assessment report
Market and assumption validation
Feasibility study
Business model design
Business model
Choice of legal form and structuring
Business plan
Business plan and financial forecasts
Early-stage funding application
Preparation of early-stage and funding applications
Investor presentation
Preparation of presentations to investors and partners
Launch roadmap
Long-term support for project sponsors
Start-up dashboard

International Trade & Export

This service line supports organisations expanding internationally: choice of markets, entry modes, organisation of the export function and command of the regimes applicable to trade.

It draws on knowledge of trade agreements, rules of origin and tariff classification, built up through the firm's customs work, so that market access rests on a sound basis and the tariff preferences provided by the agreements are actually obtained.

Services

Deliverables

Export readiness diagnosis
Export diagnosis
International development strategy
Export strategy
Market selection and entry modes
Target market study
Analysis of trade agreements and rules of origin
Memo on applicable regimes and agreements
Tariff classification of exported products
Tariff and origin analysis
Organisation of the export function
Export action plan
Search for partners and distributors
Organisation of the export function
Prospecting support
Partner selection grid

Crisis Management & Restructuring

Legal risk management

“Nothing is permanent except change.”

The Crisis Management & Restructuring practice is the firm’s backbone. It is called upon when the situation is critical, deadlines are tight and quality is non-negotiable: business difficulties, audits by the authorities, disputes between partners or managers, successions that threaten continuity.

The engagement consists in rapidly establishing a complete picture of the case — facts, documents, legal texts, parties, deadlines — securing the organisation’s position and building a reasoned response. Representation before the courts is the remit of lawyers: the firm prepares the files and works in liaison with them.

The practice is called upon to

  • Deal with financial difficulties or insolvency proceedings
  • Restructure a weakened organisation
  • Respond to a post-clearance customs audit
  • Secure customs compliance: origin, tariff classification, agreements
  • Prevent litigation through pre-litigation handling
  • Resolve a dispute between partners or between shareholders and managers
  • Ensure governance continuity in an emergency
  • Prepare a succession or a change of leadership
  • Manage an organisation’s communication in a crisis

Service lines

Business Rescue & Turnaround

This service line supports companies facing difficulties that threaten their continuity: cash-flow pressure, loss of markets, debt, disorganisation. It acts preventively, from the first warning signs, as well as within court-supervised proceedings.

Diagnosis of the financial and operational situation makes it possible to draw up a realistic, reasoned turnaround plan. The firm prepares what is needed for discussions with creditors, partners and the bodies administering the proceedings, and handles pre-litigation situations before they turn into disputes.

Services

Deliverables

Diagnosis of the financial and operational situation
Crisis diagnosis
Analysis of the causes of the difficulties
Cash-flow plan
Cash-flow plan and emergency measures
Emergency measures plan
Business rescue and turnaround plans
Turnaround plan
Support for companies under court supervision
Proceedings documentation
Preparation of negotiations with creditors
Proposals to creditors
Operational restructuring
Restructuring plan
Handling of pre-litigation situations
Implementation monitoring

Customs Compliance & Litigation

This service line handles post-clearance audits by the customs administration and the underlying compliance issues: origin of goods, tariff classification and application of free trade agreements.

On each file, the firm reconstructs the audited transactions, analyses tariff lines and proofs of origin, and builds the company's technical and legal case. More than fifty customs audit files and more than one thousand tariff lines have been handled. Litigation files are prepared in liaison with lawyers.

Services

Deliverables

Assistance during post-clearance audits
Compliance audit
Reconstruction of audited transactions
Tariff analysis
Analysis of origin and proofs of origin
Origin analysis
Review of tariff classification
Transaction reconstruction file
Application of free trade agreements
Reasoned responses to the customs authorities
Customs compliance audit
Litigation file
Responses to notices from the customs authorities
Customs risk map
Preparation of litigation files in liaison with lawyers
Compliance recommendations

Governance & Dispute Resolution

This service line steps in when governance itself becomes a source of risk: disagreements between partners, tensions between shareholders and managers, unsuitable decision-making rules, a crisis of confidence with partners.

The firm maps the positions and interests at stake, proposes avenues for settlement and supports the overhaul of governance rules. When the crisis becomes public, it takes charge of crisis communication, so that the organisation retains control of its messaging.

Services

Deliverables

Governance diagnosis
Governance diagnosis
Map of positions and interests
Stakeholder map
Facilitation of dialogue between partners and managers
Crisis resolution scenarios
Development of crisis resolution scenarios
Crisis resolution protocol
Revision of governance and decision-making rules
Revised governance rules
Risk prevention and mapping
Risk map
Crisis communication
Crisis communication plan
Support for governance bodies
Key messages

Leadership Transition & Continuity

This service line supports business transfers, successions and changes of leadership, the moments when an organisation's continuity is most exposed. It anticipates the asset, legal, managerial and relational issues raised by the handover.

The approach organises the transfer over time: assessment, scenarios, timetable, preparation of the successor and the teams, communication with partners. It aims to preserve the value of the business and the continuity of its governance.

Services

Deliverables

Transferability diagnosis
Transfer diagnosis
Development of transfer scenarios
Transfer scenarios
Organisation of successions and leadership changes
Transfer timetable
Preparation of the successor
Leadership continuity plan
Support for teams
Successor support plan
Formalisation of key knowledge and functions
Key functions framework
Communication with partners
Communication plan
Post-transfer follow-up
Post-transfer review

Public Affairs & Policies

Institutional insight

“Nothing is possible without people; nothing lasts without institutions.”

The Public Affairs & Policies practice leads the firm’s institutional insight work. It works with ministries, local authorities, public agencies and cooperation bodies, as well as with private organisations whose projects depend on their relationship with institutions.

It brings together institutional advisory and territorial engineering, responses to public tenders, executive and team training, and the facilitation of decision-making forums. The relationship with institutions is treated as a condition for the sustainability of projects.

The practice is called upon to

  • Conduct a territorial or institutional diagnosis
  • Develop a territorial strategy or master plan
  • Structure a public or partnership project
  • Structure an organisation’s relationship with institutions
  • Decide whether to bid for a complex tender
  • Build a response to a public tender
  • Design and deliver a training programme leading to a certificate
  • Build the capacity of staff and teams
  • Organise a conference, a panel or a consultation

Service lines

Institutional Advisory & Territorial Engineering

This service line supports ministries, local authorities and public agencies in designing their strategies and master plans. It combines territorial analysis, a reading of the legal and institutional framework and consideration of the stakeholders involved.

The work draws on the founder's training in public law and territorial development. It produces operational documents — diagnoses, strategic orientations, action programmes and monitoring systems — designed to be owned and implemented by the institutions that adopt them.

Services

Deliverables

Territorial and institutional diagnoses
Territorial diagnosis
Master plans and territorial strategies
Master plan
Analysis of the legal and institutional framework
Institutional analysis memo
Consultation with local stakeholders
Consultation report
Action programmes and implementation plans
Action programme
Institutional structuring of projects
Project sheets
Advice to public and semi-public institutions
Monitoring and evaluation dashboard
Monitoring and evaluation systems
Assessment report

Tender Intelligence & Public Procurement

This service line works upstream of and during responses to complex tenders. The decision to bid is first informed by analysis of the tender documents, requirements, risks and real chances of success.

Once the decision is taken, the firm builds the response: understanding of the contracting authority's expectations, methodology, team organisation, technical proposal and overall coherence of the bid. Monitoring of opportunities makes it possible to anticipate rather than respond at the last minute.

Services

Deliverables

Monitoring and qualification of opportunities
Monitoring memo
Analysis of tender documents
Bid/no-bid decision memo
Support for the bid/no-bid decision
Requirements analysis grid
Analysis of competition and expectations
Technical proposal
Structuring of consortia and partnerships
Methodology note
Drafting of technical and methodological proposals
Team schedule and organisation
Compliance check of bid files
Compliance grid
Lessons learned after award
Post-award analysis

Executive Learning

This service line designs and delivers training for all audiences: executives, managers, operational teams, public officials. Instructional design starts from the organisation's needs and the real situations participants face.

The programmes cover the firm's areas of expertise — strategy, marketing, law, compliance, crisis management, institutions — and lead to the award of a training certificate. Formats range from short seminars to capacity-building programmes.

Services

Deliverables

Training needs analysis
Needs analysis
Instructional design and programme development
Training programme
Delivery of seminars and workshops
Training materials
Tailored in-house training
Case studies
Capacity-building programmes
Assessment tools
Case studies and role plays
Training certificate
Learning assessment
Assessment report
Award of a training certificate
Follow-up recommendations

Facilitation & Moderation

This service line organises and facilitates the forums where decisions are shaped: conferences, panels, round tables, strategic workshops. It handles their design, the preparation of speakers and the moderation of discussions.

Facilitation is geared to a concrete outcome: bringing out positions, trade-offs or actionable directions. Each event is followed by a debrief recording the contributions and next steps.

Services

Deliverables

Design of conferences and panels
Concept and programme
Moderation of round tables
Scoping note
Facilitation of strategic workshops
Facilitation run sheet
Management seminars
Facilitation materials
Facilitation of consultation processes
Speaker briefing sheets
Speaker preparation
Summary of proceedings
Design of materials and running order
Record of decisions
Debrief of proceedings
Recommendations

A project to structure, a decision to prepare

Every assignment begins with a preliminary diagnosis that clarifies the need and scopes the case before any proposal is made. Every assignment is led directly by the founder.