FOURTH PHOENIX Book a free intro call →
Peak business performance

Find what's holding your business back. Focused business diagnostics.
A 90‑day plan to move things forward.

We look at cash, leader capacity and systems together, with the analytical discipline of banking and private equity, to help you build a stronger business.

For fast-growing, founder-led businesses, and teams within larger ones.
Typically £500k–£5m in revenue.

Book your free 30-minute intro call → See the Bootcamp
Free30 minutesNo obligation
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3 days · the Bootcamp

Performance Accelerator

Cash, leader capacity and systems, ending with your 90-day plan.

See the three days → 1 day · one priority

Super Days

A focused day on cash, leader capacity, or systems and processes. For you alone or with your team.

Explore Super Days → 2 hours · as and when

Power Sessions

Two-hour sessions booked when you need them, as a one-off or more regularly. No tie-in.

Explore Power Sessions →
Led by Mathilde Mougin-Blanc Ex JPMorgan banker, Richard Branson's family office, entrepreneur, business owner and CEO
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The problem

Growing businesses rarely get an operating partner

When a private equity fund buys a company, an operating partner comes in alongside to unlock cash, productivity and efficiency. A founder-led business of the same size usually gets none of this.

PE-backed business

  • Cash
  • The cost base
  • The organisation
  • The leader's own bandwidth

All looked at in the first months.

Founder-led, fast-growing: often missing

  • A full-time CFO
  • A COO
  • An investor going through the numbers with you

Many growing businesses don't yet have all three.

Growth hides inefficiency: revenue rises, but productivity per person stalls.

The Performance Accelerator

Three days. Cash, capacity and systems. One plan.

Day 1 looks at your cash, Day 2 at your own capacity as a leader, and Day 3 at the systems and processes that protect both. This is performance improvement, not a restructuring: we find the most important constraints, make the decisions that can be made in the room, and turn the rest into a 90-day plan your team owns.

01
Day 1

Cash

How efficiently does your business turn revenue into cash, and how much headroom do you really have?

We cover

  • A 12-month cash flow forecast, tested with you
  • Working capital: debtor days, creditor days, stock
  • Gross margin by product, service or customer
  • Top 10 cost lines and headroom
  • The 5–8 KPIs to watch every week

You leave with

  • A live 12-month cash flow model your team owns
  • Cash and margin levers ranked by estimated £ impact
  • A one-page weekly KPI dashboard
£400k

Illustrative exampletied up in slow payers at a £4m distributor paid in 68 days instead of 30.

02
Day 2

Leader Capacity

Is your own capacity the real constraint on the business, and where is your time actually going?

We cover

  • Where the last four weeks really went, from your calendar
  • The work only you can do, and the hats that aren't yours
  • Alignment: how well the work fits you
  • Sleep, nutrition and training, because they set how much good decision-making you have in a day

You leave with

  • A map of where your month goes
  • The hats to hand over, ready for Day 3
  • Your peak hours, and what should fill them
  • A personal capacity and performance protocol
20%

Illustrative exampleof the month on work only the founder could do, at a £5m agency. 26 hours went on firefighting.

03
Day 3

Systems and Processes

What has to change in how the business runs to protect your cash and your time, and what do you implement first?

We cover

  • Structure, gross profit per head, and what your senior team really thinks
  • Decisions and sign-off limits off your desk
  • Core processes walked end to end
  • Tools and AI: what to cancel, what to adopt
  • Meeting rhythm and your ideal week

You leave with

  • Your 90-day plan: every fix with an owner, a date and a why
  • Top five process fixes, ranked by hours or £ saved
  • Tech and AI recommendations for the plan
4 days

Illustrative exampleaverage wait for a quote at a £3m services firm, until sign-off moved off the founder's desk.

Book your free 30-minute intro call → Only need one of these? See the Super Days
Before, during and after

Where the work happens

Most of the analysis is done before you're in the room, so the three days are spent on testing, deciding and assigning, not gathering data.

3 weeks before

Preparation

You send

  • 24 months of management accounts, bank statements, debtors and creditors
  • Four weeks of your calendar and short questionnaires
  • Org chart, roles and the tools your team uses
  • A 5-minute anonymous survey from your senior team

We prepare

  • A draft 12-month cash flow model
  • Our analysis of your numbers, time and processes
The three days

Decide in the room

  • We test the cash model and the analysis with you
  • We agree the decisions that can be made on the day
  • Every fix gets an owner and a date
  • Your team is trained on the cash flow model and KPI dashboard
Afterwards

Momentum

  • Your written 90-day plan within a week
  • A follow-up call at 30 days
  • A momentum review at 90 days
  • Optional Power Sessions if you want support along the way

Not part of the three days: implementing the changes (your team leads this, with Power Sessions available if helpful), tax or legal advice, and recruitment.

From constraint to action

What changes, in practice

Every item in the 90-day plan follows the same chain. Illustrative example

1 · The constraint

Quotes over £5k wait four days for the founder's sign-off.

2 · The decision

Raise the founder's sign-off threshold to £25k, agreed on Day 3.

3 · The owner

The operations manager signs off quotes under £25k from next week.

4 · The first action

A one-page sign-off policy is written and shared in week 1 of the 90-day plan.

What you walk away with

Not a report that sits in a drawer

A ranked list of fixes

Each one with an estimated £ impact, so you know what's worth doing first.

A model you own

A live 12-month cash flow model. Your team owns it, and we can support it if helpful.

A 90-day plan

Every fix with an owner, a date and a why, linked back to what we found on Days 1 and 2.

Momentum

A follow-up call at 30 days and a momentum review at 90 days, so the plan actually happens.

Book a free intro call →

Why Fourth Phoenix

We've sat on all three sides of this table

We listen, investigate and problem-solve for a living. Fourth Phoenix is led by Mathilde Mougin-Blanc, who over 20+ years, as a banker, an investor and then a scale-up CTO and CEO, has helped analyse, manage and build dozens of companies.

Every engagement is led personally by Mathilde. Your team owns implementation, and we bring in trusted specialists where needed, for example on tax, legal or tech build.

The investor

Banking and private equity

Trained during periods of restructuring and through Covid: reads a business through its cash and its cost base.

The operator

CEO and CTO for 12 years

Built a company, built a recognised brand, built software aimed at improving productivity.

The adviser

Coach, mentor and board member

Often called upon to coach, mentor and advise across sectors, by leaders under sustained pressure.

Track record
Finance and investment
Leveraged Finance at JPMorganBusiness analysisRichard Branson's family officeCompany valuationsPE portfolio monitoringFundraisingInvestor managementExit
Building
Co-founder, CTO then CEO of BLANCSoftware founderBrand builderHands-on: strategy, finance, product, logistics, marketing, people
Governance and people
Board member of multiple companiesBoard reportingCharity Financial TrusteeTrained in coachingSchool governorWomen's mentor

Book a free intro call →

Working alongside your other advisers

How the Accelerator fits with what you may already have

Each of these does valuable work. The Accelerator looks at cash, capacity and systems together, through one lens: productivity.

If you work with…They typically focus onWhat the Accelerator adds
A fractional CFOCash, forecasting, reportingLinks the numbers to how the organisation runs and how the leader spends their time
An EOS or Scaling Up coachA leadership-team operating system and meeting cadenceHands-on financial modelling and a cash lens on every decision
A CEO peer groupPeer advice and perspectiveWorks through your actual numbers, diary and processes with you
A large advisory firmIn-depth programmes, usually for larger organisationsA three-day format sized for a £500k–£5m business
Questions leaders ask

Before you book

What happens on the intro call?

It's 30 minutes and free. We ask where cash, your time and the team are under pressure, and you ask us anything. If we can help, we'll suggest the format that fits and send a tailored proposal. If we can't, we'll say so.

What can realistically be achieved in three days?

Three days won't solve every problem in a business. They will find the most important constraints, settle the decisions that can be made in the room, and leave you with a 90-day plan in which every action has an owner and a date. Much of the analysis is done beforehand, so the days are spent deciding.

What preparation is needed?

About three weeks before, you send management accounts, bank statements, debtors and creditors, four weeks of your calendar, your org chart and short questionnaires. We use them to build a draft cash flow model and our analysis ahead of the days.

Who implements the plan?

Your team. Every action has a named owner. We check in at 30 and 90 days, and you can book Power Sessions with us if you want support along the way.

What does ongoing support involve?

Two-hour Power Sessions, booked when you need them, as a one-off or on a regular rhythm. There's no subscription and no tie-in.

How much does it cost?

Every engagement is shaped around your business, so we talk fees on the call once we understand what you need. The Accelerator and Super Days are fixed price, agreed upfront.

Is it only for founders?

No. It's for founders and senior leaders of fast-growing businesses, typically £500k–£5m in revenue, and for leaders running a team or business unit within a larger organisation.

Super Days · one focused day

One day. One priority. Done properly.

Each Super Day is one of the three Accelerator days, run on its own for the priority that can't wait, for you alone or with your leadership team. Same preparation, same depth. Fixed price per day.

Book your free 30-minute intro call → Or see the full 3-day Accelerator
Free30 minutesWe'll help you pick the right day
01

Cash Super Day

Best if you're profitable on paper but cash is tighter than it should be, or you're about to raise, borrow or invest.

How efficiently does your business turn revenue into cash, and how much headroom do you really have?

Before the day: 24 months of management accounts, aged debtors and creditors, bank statements, your budget and any loan or facility terms. We use them to build a draft 12-month cash flow model before we meet.

On the day we cover

  • Your cash position and the 12-month cash flow forecast, tested with you
  • Working capital: debtor days, creditor days, stock, and the cash tied up in each
  • Gross margin by product, service line or customer
  • Top 10 cost lines, and which have grown faster than revenue
  • Headroom: facilities, covenants, VAT/PAYE timing, burn and runway
  • The 5–8 KPIs to look at every week

You leave with

  • A live 12-month cash flow model your team owns
  • Cash and margin levers, ranked by estimated £ impact
  • A one-page weekly KPI dashboard
  • A follow-up call at 30 days
Book a free intro call →
02

Leader Capacity Super Day

Best if everything still runs through you, you're at full stretch, and you can't see when that changes. Works equally for a founder or for a senior leader running a team inside a larger business.

Is your own capacity the real constraint, and where is your time actually going? Are you working in the business, or on the business?

Before the day: four weeks of your calendar, a one-week capacity log (two minutes a day), short sleep and nutrition questionnaires, and optional blood tests.

On the day we cover

  • Alignment: how well the work fits you
  • Your time: where the last four weeks really went, and what only you can do
  • Delegation: the hats you wear that aren't yours, and what stops you handing them over
  • Sleep, nutrition and training, because they set how much good decision-making you have in a day

You leave with

  • A map of where your month really goes
  • The hats to hand over, with who should take them
  • Your peak hours, and what should fill them
  • A personal capacity and performance protocol
  • A follow-up call at 30 days
Book a free intro call →
03

Systems and Processes Super Day

Best if the team, tools and processes haven't kept up with how fast you've grown.

What has to change in how the business runs, and what do you implement first?

Before the day: your org chart, roles and salaries, the tools your team uses, and a 5-minute anonymous survey of your senior team.

On the day we cover

  • Structure: spans of control, gross profit per head, what your senior team really thinks
  • Decisions: who owns what, and sign-off limits that move off your desk
  • Core processes walked end to end, e.g. quote-to-cash
  • Tools and AI: what you pay for, what's used, what could be automated
  • Rhythm: which meetings to kill, and your ideal week

You leave with

  • A map of your organisation and decisions, with new owners
  • Your top five process fixes, ranked by hours or £ saved
  • Tech and AI recommendations
  • A 90-day plan: every fix with an owner, a date and a why
  • A follow-up call at 30 days
Book a free intro call →

Not sure which day you need?

That's what the intro call is for. A cash problem is often a capacity problem underneath. You can always add the other days later.

Book a free intro call →
Power Sessions · two hours, as and when

Senior support, when you need it.

Two-hour Power Sessions with Mathilde, booked as a one-off or on a regular rhythm. Use them to work through a decision, keep your 90-day plan moving, or get an operating partner's view on what's in front of you. No subscription and no tie-in.

Book your free 30-minute intro call →
Free30 minutesNo obligation
Two ways to use them

Book them the way that suits you

As and when

Ad-hoc Power Sessions

Book one when you need it

For a specific decision, a board or investor meeting to prepare for, or a problem you want a second pair of eyes on.

A regular rhythm

Regular Power Sessions

Book a few ahead, at your own pace

For keeping your 90-day plan on track after the Accelerator or a Super Day. Book the next one when you're ready. Stop whenever you like.

Typical uses

What a session can cover

Cash and KPIs

Review your cash flow model and weekly KPIs, and decide what to act on.

The 90-day plan

Unblock a stuck action, re-prioritise, or check in with the owners.

Board and investors

Prepare the numbers and the story for a board or investor meeting.

A big decision

Work through a hire, a price change, an investment or a new market.

Your capacity

Reset your week, your delegation and your protocol when things slip.

Tools and AI

Decide what to adopt, what to cancel and how to roll it out.

Next step

Let's talk about your business

If cash is tighter than it should be, the team isn't keeping up with growth, or every decision still lands on your desk, book a free 30-minute intro call. We'll talk through where the main constraints are, and which format fits: the Accelerator, a Super Day or Power Sessions.

Book your free 30-minute intro call →
Free30 minutesNo obligation
Book your free 30-min intro call →