Case studies
Supporting value creation planning at Optima Partners
The Challenge
When Growth Capital Partners (GCP) was evaluating its investment in Optima Partners, the business presented an attractive growth opportunity.
Optima had established a strong position in its market, a compelling proposition and an impressive growth trajectory. However, like many professional services firms experiencing rapid expansion, the next stage of growth would require more than simply continuing what had worked in the past.
The key question was how the business would need to evolve as it scaled.
GCP wanted a clear understanding of how Optima’s systems, processes, operating model and leadership structure might need to change to support a business several times larger than its current size. They also wanted to identify where future investment in people, technology and operational capability would have the greatest impact on value creation.
As part of the investment process, GCP needed a partner who understood the realities of scaling professional services firms and could provide practical insight into both the opportunities and challenges ahead.
The Solution
Garwood Growth worked alongside GCP and the Optima leadership team to conduct a detailed Growth and Operational Due Diligence assessment focused on the business’s readiness for scale.
The work examined the end-to-end operating model, including client acquisition, onboarding, service delivery, key account management and broader go-to-market processes. Garwood also reviewed the systems and technology underpinning the business, including how Optima was using its Professional Services Automation (PSA) platform and where opportunities existed to improve data flows, automation and operational efficiency.
Rather than approaching the exercise as a traditional diligence process, Garwood adopted its highly collaborative, workshop-led approach. This enabled the team to work closely with both management and GCP, build trust quickly and create an environment where opportunities for improvement could be openly explored.
Alongside operational and technology recommendations, Garwood helped identify opportunities to strengthen organisational design, clarify roles and responsibilities and create a more structured framework for developing client-facing leadership capability as the business expanded.
The review ultimately provided a prioritised roadmap of the operational, technology and people initiatives that would have the greatest impact on future growth.
The Result
The work provided GCP and the Optima leadership team with a clear roadmap for value creation following investment.
Garwood highlighted opportunities to reduce manual effort, improve data visibility and extract greater value from Optima’s existing PSA platform.
The review also helped define critical growth roles within the business, including clearer expectations, responsibilities and performance measures for client-facing leaders. This created a stronger foundation for future recruitment and organisational development as the business expanded.
Importantly, the engagement established a level of trust that extended beyond the initial diligence process. The insights generated during the review informed value creation initiatives and led to further post-deal collaboration between Garwood, GCP and the Optima management team.
