James de Bass

Independent advice on the decisions that are difficult to undo.

I work with organisations at a turning point — a merger, a new line of business, an investment in scale — usually once the decision has outgrown the information available. Most engagements come down to the same three things: working out what the figures actually say, being clear about where the risk sits, and giving you a straight view of what I would do in your position.

I take on a small number of clients at a time. You deal with me directly throughout — there is no team behind me, and nothing gets handed to someone more junior once the work is won.

What I do

School mergers and federations

Financial and operational analysis for schools weighing up a merger, federation or closer partnership. I model the combined position, test the assumptions underneath it, and set out plainly what governors need to decide, in what order, and by when. Where the case does not hold together, I say so early — that is usually the more valuable answer.

Scale-up advice

Support for founders and boards through the awkward middle stretch of growth: financial planning that survives contact with reality, the right structure and governance for the size you are becoming rather than the size you were, and the operational questions that tend to arrive faster than anyone budgeted for.

Due diligence

Independent review ahead of an acquisition, investment or merger. What you are actually buying, which of the seller’s numbers stand up to pressure, and the handful of things that would genuinely change your mind about the deal — separated clearly from the many things that would not.

How I work

Most work is a short, defined piece with an agreed deliverable and a fixed fee — an analysis, a model, a written opinion your board can act on. Some clients keep me on afterwards as a sounding board for the decisions that come next.

I will tell you when I think you are wrong, and I will tell you when a piece of work is not worth paying for. Both happen often enough to be worth mentioning up front.

A first conversation costs nothing and is usually enough for both of us to know whether there is something here.

Contact

Tell me what you are weighing up and roughly when you need to have decided. I read everything that comes in and reply to anything that looks like a real question.