Stress-test your strategy before the institution does.
Independent senior challenge for strategies and recommendations that need to survive academic, executive and governance scrutiny.
New strategy? Major recommendation? Heading to committee or governance?
Send me the strategy and the evidence behind it. Within 2-3 working days, I'll identify where the argument is strong, where the logic or evidence is exposed, and what needs another look before it faces institutional scrutiny.
£400 + VAT fixed price
Written Stress map + assessment + 30-minute debrief
How it works
1. You send…
Your strategy, recommendation or plan, along with the key evidence behind it and enough context for me to understand the situation.
2. I stress-test…
I interrogate the logic, evidence and assumptions, using the Four Strategic Bets to expose weak points and anticipate where the strategy is most likely to be challenged.
3. You get…
A clear view of what stands up, what needs attention and what to do next — captured in a one-page Stress Map and concise assessment, followed by a 30-minute debrief.
Four Strategic Bets
Every strategy rests on assumptions about customers, competitors, your ability to deliver and the world around you. The Stress Test makes those bets explicit, then asks whether the evidence is strong enough to support them.
Customer
What are you betting people will want, value or do?
Competition
What are you betting competitors will ignore, copy or fail to match?
Capability
What are you betting your organisation can actually deliver?
Context
What are you betting will remain true about the market, category or environment?
Twenty years testing decisions against evidence
I've spent two decades helping organisations make difficult decisions about audiences, markets, propositions and growth — including extensive work with universities and higher education teams.
My work in HE has involved research, positioning, proposition and strategy across complex institutions where recommendations need to work commercially, stand up to evidence and secure support from multiple stakeholders.
Across previous roles, that has included:
£500m investment ambition supported by new positioning
Positioning strategy for a university innovation platform
119 academics and founders aligned around a new proposition
GTM positioning for a quantum commercialisation platform
Repositioning a university across a complex institution
Research and strategy for a major UK university.
Finding competitive advantage in a changing student market
Perception and competitor analysis for a UK university.
Selected previous experience:
“Nick will always bring a new and different perspective to your thinking.”
“If you’re serious about the quality of your work then having really smart people around you, pushing, prodding and inspiring is crucial. Nick’s one of them.”
“Whatever the challenge, Nick identifies and understands it at lightning speed.”
You don’t need another strategy. You need confidence in this one.
Tell me what you're working on and where the strategy needs to go next. I'll tell you whether a Stress Test is the right fit.