Private equity · M&A · Value creation
The extra partner, when the deal needs one.
Interim deal and portfolio work for private equity.
Escott Consulting is Will Escott Hammond. Interim deal and portfolio capability for sponsors, platforms and operators. Buy-side and buy-and-build, from thesis through origination, diligence and integration. Sell-side and exit execution, from equity story to close. Data, automation and hands-on portfolio finance and value creation. Whole-market origination is its own business, separate and productised: Wayleave Partners.
Track record
Evidence, not adjectives.
£178m
BrightStars, exited to Oakley Capital
As part of the three-person team that built the platform from inception to the UK's third-largest Early Years provider across circa 50 sites, site selection adjudged by the platform, returning £133m of net proceeds, MoM > 25.0x.
30+
Acquisitions led or supported
£15m of aggregate EBITDA acquired across platforms and bolt-ons.
€150m+
Rydoo, exit process for Marlin Equity Partners
Sat between management, ownership, buyers and brokerage, and made the process work, preparation through close.
£9m+
EBITDA sourced directly off-market
Deals identified, approached and executed through the long-term development of Will's proprietary off-market direct origination model.
And the technology behind the decisions: proprietary platforms that map an entire acquirable market to its ultimate owners, screen every company on financial, demographic and commercial data, and reach an initial investment view in minutes rather than weeks.
Capabilities
Sourcing, Creating, Realising Value.
Tailored entry, exit and transformation expertise. Executed adeptly and seamlessly across all stages.
Buy-side and buy-and-build.
Thesis through completion: market mapping, off-market origination, approach strategy, diligence coordination and integration planning for platforms and bolt-ons.
Market-leading origination platform.
Developed the tooling in-house for automated industry assessment, market mapping and subsequent direct origination, purpose-built for private equity sourcing.
Sell-side and exit execution.
Managing stakeholders, preparing assets for institutional processes, building the equity story, owning investor materials, VDR and FDD Q&A, running normalisation and quality-of-earnings work, and holding the process together through to close.
Tech and AI consultancy.
Practical technology and AI advisory for funds and portfolio companies: automating screening and diligence, building data infrastructure, and deploying AI where it moves the P&L rather than the pitch deck.
Data, analytics and automation.
Proprietary origination and screening platforms, purpose-built for private equity sourcing and applicable to any market or sector. Beyond the deal, automation across finance, sales, operations and customer workflow, stripping out manual cost and compounding into the earnings growth that drives equity returns.
Portfolio finance and value creation.
Hands-on finance leadership inside portfolio companies: reporting, forecasting, board-grade information, management incentive plans and the operational transformation that follows a deal.
Sectors
Founded, sold or acquired across.
About
Will Escott Hammond
Will has spent his career on both sides of the transaction. As part of a three-person private equity team he helped build a nursery group from inception to the UK's third-largest Early Years Education provider and a £178m exit, sourcing acquisitions off-market, securing the debt behind the expansion and building the analytical tools the investment committee used to decide where to buy next.
He has since led financial workstreams through institutional sale processes, run finance for a leading cybersecurity company, and been brought in by sponsors when a transaction becomes complicated. He founded and operated his own businesses before any of it, including a biotechnology company with international operations and, at 27, a micro-cap private equity vehicle whose first acquisition he sourced, structured, financed, negotiated and executed himself.
The result is a rare combination: someone who can underwrite a deal, execute it, and then live with the consequences inside the business. Sponsors get GP assessment rather than adviser process. Management teams get someone who has sat in their chair.
Selected previous clients
Sponsors, platforms and operators.
What partners say
On the origination platform.
[TESTIMONIAL 1: awaiting the partner's own words. Placeholder, do not publish.]
[TESTIMONIAL 2: awaiting the partner's own words. Placeholder, do not publish.]
Start a conversation.
Interim and advisory mandates across M&A, portfolio value creation, data and automation. Direct with the person who does the work.
will@escott-consulting.comCurrently considering select advisory and interim mandates. London based, working UK-wide.