AI operations consultancy
Halcroft works with business brokerages, M&A advisory firms, accountancy practices and PE operating teams. We find the workflows constraining growth, implement changes with a strong commercial case, and measure the result.
Firms differ, and not every firm has every problem below. These are the patterns we look for first across brokerages, M&A advisers, accountancy practices and PE-backed groups.
Enquiries, mandates, client documents and deal files move by email and memory. A brokerage qualifies buyers by hand, an accountancy chases documents by hand, and each new piece of work adds another handoff.
Leads, onboarding, delivery, follow-up, and reporting sit in separate tools and individual habits. Work is repeated, and leadership cannot see where the constraint really is.
Partners, deal leads and operating heads hold the judgement and the process knowledge, so repeatable work reaches them too. Capacity and margin do not improve at the rate the business grows.
What Halcroft does
Halcroft is an AI operations consultancy for business brokerages, M&A advisory firms, accountancy practices and PE operating teams. It assesses which workflow is limiting capacity, implements AI or automation where the business case is strong, and measures the result. The introductory call is free. Everything after it is scoped and agreed as a separate decision.
01 · Paid assessment
Interviews, a process and systems review, a baseline where the data allows, and ranked opportunities with the financial assumptions, the risks, and what not to automate. Useful even if no build follows.
02 · Scoped implementation
Built only where the assessment supports it, with an agreed problem, acceptance criteria, human review points, training, handover, and measurement of the result.
03 · Ongoing support
Offered where there is a real recurring responsibility, under a separately agreed fee and service scope.
What Halcroft has done
Case 01 · Business brokerage · UK
3x
more qualified discovery calls after every inbound enquiry was scored
The brokerage's own report also cites £1m+ in revenue generated. That figure is client-reported, has not been independently audited, and is not attributed to one workflow.
Read the full case studyCase 02 · Accountancy · UK
24 to 6 hrs
a week spent chasing documents, across one year-end cycle
On-time submissions rose from 62% to 88%. The £15,500 figure on the case study is an estimate of capacity released, not cash received. The client is anonymised.
Read the full case studyThese are single engagements and are not presented as typical results. Halcroft has not yet published an M&A advisory or private equity case.
How the work is controlled
Approved data, defined tasks, human review, clear ownership, and a traceable record of what went in, what came out, and who approved it. Judgement and final accountability stay with your people.
Ad-hoc AI use
Governed system
Helps one person complete a task
Runs a defined part of an accountable process
Depends on individual prompts and habits
Uses approved inputs, instructions, and ownership
Output is checked inconsistently
A named person reviews defined decisions
01
45 minutes, free. We look at where capacity is constrained and whether an assessment is worth doing. It is a conversation, not an audit.
02
Fixed fee, scoped before it starts. Interviews, process and systems review, a baseline where the data allows, ranked opportunities with the financial assumptions, risks, and what not to automate. The report stands on its own, whether or not Halcroft builds anything.
03
Separately proposed and only where the assessment supports it. Agreed problem, acceptance criteria, data and security arrangements, human review points, training, handover, and measurement of the result.
04
Optional, and only where there is a real recurring responsibility. Separately agreed, with its own fee and service scope. Many engagements end at handover.
Measured client work
The brokerage and accountancy studies set out what was measured, what is client-reported, and what is an estimate.
Read the case studiesFounder-led delivery
Harry Clancy leads every engagement from assessment through build and measurement. Clients work directly with the person accountable for the system and its result.
Meet the founderHalcroft does not replace the people who make the business valuable. It gives repeatable work a defined system, while judgement, relationships, and final accountability stay with the team.
Free, 45 minutes. Any assessment after it is paid.
What we do in that time