NHA works from a clear picture of where a client's revenue is actually coming from, where margin is being eroded, and where the highest-value growth opportunities sit. The decisions that follow are grounded in that intelligence, not in convention or generic frameworks.
NHA operates a retained advisory model. Paul Foster works with one client per sector, per geography, which means that when a business in a given sector engages NHA, no competitor in that space is being served simultaneously. The client has Paul's full commercial focus, with no divided loyalties and no competing priorities.
All engagements are delivered personally. When a client engages NHA, they engage Paul Foster, the experience, the judgement, and the commercial relationships built across 49 years of senior practice. There is no team behind the scenes, no account manager fielding calls on Paul's behalf. That is the model, and it does not vary.
A retained adviser whose only financial relationship is with you, and whose only interest is your commercial success, is a fundamentally different proposition from any other kind of advisory engagement.
Before any strategy is proposed, any BD activity begins, or any recommendation is made, NHA establishes a clear and accurate picture of a client's current commercial position. This is not a discovery process for its own sake. It is the foundation on which every subsequent decision rests.
That picture covers where revenue is genuinely coming from, which accounts and relationships carry the most commercial weight, where margin is being eroded and why, which growth opportunities are real and which are aspirational, and what the commercial data actually shows versus what the business believes it shows. In most engagements, the gap between those two things is where the most significant opportunity lies.
NHA engagements are measured by commercial outcomes. The following represent the kinds of results clients typically experience, depending on the nature of the engagement and the commercial challenge being addressed.
Deteriorating relationships rebuilt before a competitor gains a foothold. The commercial case for continuity made unambiguous.
High-value new clients won through a structured BD approach grounded in commercial intelligence rather than activity volume.
Pursuit effort concentrated on the opportunities most likely to convert at the highest margin, eliminating low-probability activity.
Revenue growth translated into margin improvement, not just top-line growth. Commercial decisions evaluated against their EBITDA consequence.
The commercial case for what a business offers, sharpened and made consistently deliverable at every point in the sales process.
The 20% of accounts generating 80% of revenue identified, prioritised, and placed under active commercial management.
NHA is a retained commercial strategy and business development advisory practice. Paul Foster works with mid-market businesses, typically between £5 million and £500 million in revenue, that have the ambition to grow commercially and need the right architecture to do it.
The engagement is strategic. Paul works alongside leadership teams, contributing commercial judgement and BD architecture at the level where growth decisions are actually made. The work is not delegated, not project-scoped, and not time-limited to a diagnostic phase. It is a sustained, retained advisory relationship with a defined commercial objective.
NHA's commercial commitment is direct: if defined commercial outcomes are not realised within twelve months of engagement, NHA will stop invoicing and continue to provide advisory support at no further cost until they are, subject to the client meeting the agreed implementation schedule.
This is not a guarantee that every commercial objective will be achieved on a fixed timeline. It is a statement of how NHA approaches accountability, that the fee paid is for commercial outcomes, and if those outcomes are not achieved through any failure on NHA's part, the client does not continue to pay for work that has not delivered.
The right starting point is always a direct conversation about where your business is commercially and where it should be going.