Case in Point – What happens after you win the acquisition?

By Kath Harvey, Proposition and Commercial Director, Jigsaw Tree

A firm we work with had recently been acquired and repositioned as the regional integration hub for a national consolidator group. On paper, it looked like exactly the right platform for that role: a strong client-centric culture, an experienced leadership team, an established technology stack. The kind of firm that gets held up as a good acquisition. 

The group’s strategy depended on this firm doing something much harder than looking good on paper. Becoming a repeatable acquisition hub, able to absorb deal after deal without losing control of process, data or client experience is a different test entirely and it’s not one you can pass by inspection. 

 Discovery 

We ran a structured Discovery Workshop and database assessment.  

This included looking at the firm’s strategy, governance and acquisition readiness, alongside what their data was telling us. As part of this, we reviewed client data quality, segmentation, fee models, income reconciliation, workflows and compliance.

What it surfaced wasn’t visible from outside and it isn’t unusual. Growth had been organic, so processes varied adviser to adviser, management information was inconsistent and a handful of individuals were carrying knowledge the rest of the business depended on. 

None of that shows up in a due diligence pack. All of it determines whether the next three acquisitions integrate cleanly or just get bolted on. 

The fix wasn’t a policy document 

The firm needed one documented, ‘board approved’ operating model. What we ended up calling it’s “One Best Way”. Something that every future acquisition could be integrated into. Not a set of guidelines nobody follows after the deal announcement fades but something built to stick.That meant a 12month embedded transformation programme addressing process redesign, technology reconfiguration, service segmentation, a rebuilt MI and dashboard suite. Plus, critically, a structured floorwalking and training phase, because standards only hold if someone’s in the building reinforcing them once the initial excitement wears off. Strategic consultancy ran alongside the technical work throughout, covering governance, board reporting and acquisition readiness, with monthly reporting built specifically for board and investor visibility. 

Why this matters beyond one firm 

This is the pattern across most acquisitive advice groups, not an isolated example. What determines whether a deal holds its value after completion isn’t the price paid It’s whether the acquired firm’s processes, data and people get integrated into something repeatable or simply added to a group structure and left to find their own way. 

 We’ve applied this same discovery-to-embedded-partnership approach across financial planning businesses for 14 years and it’s identified operational efficiencies generating over £3m in savings, for one firm, through process redesign and standardisation alone. 

 If your growth story currently depends on doing this well; because you’ve just been acquired, you’re consolidating others or you’re gearing up to be acquired, the question worth asking isn’t “does our firm look fine on paper?” It’s can we prove, right now, that we could absorb another acquisition without losing control of process, data or client experience? 

 If you’re not sure, that’s usually the tell. 

If you any of this resonates with you and you would like to chat further please do so: Book a discovery call – Jigsaw Tree