Before you commit.

Who will we work with at DunDrake?

Every engagement is led by a senior operator who has run international expansion from the inside. The same person scopes the work, runs the interviews and working sessions with your team, signs off every finding and presents the readout. You will always know who is responsible for your report.

How does an engagement start?

1. A 30-minute introductory call, at no charge, to confirm the decision you face and whether we are the right fit.
2. A mutual NDA (yours or ours), signed before any company information is shared.
3. A letter of engagement setting out scope, timeline, fixed fee, deliverables and the people involved, including a single point of contact on your side.
4. A kick-off with the key participants to lay out the process, confirm timelines and agree the information that can be shared.

What do we need to provide to DunDrake?

A named sponsor, normally the CEO or founder. Time with the executives involved in the expansion decision, typically 30 to 45 minutes each; how many people depends on the report. The expansion plan and supporting financials in whatever form they exist today. We work with the material as it stands, so there is no need to prepare anything new for us.

How long does it take?

The Expansion Alignment Report takes ten working days from kick-off. Single reports typically take two to three weeks. The Full Mandate runs to around 90 days. The main variable is how quickly your executives can make time for interviews. We will confirm a detailed timeline at the kick-off.

Where do you work?

We work with leadership teams across ASEAN, the GCC, the UK and Europe. Interviews and working sessions are held by video. Readouts can be held in person where that adds value, with relevant costs agreed in advance.

Why should we trust the verdict?

We are paid the same whatever the verdict. Our fee does not depend on whether you expand, which market you choose or what you do next. That leaves us free to tell you what the evidence shows.

Do you take on follow-on work?

We do not take operating roles, such as fractional or interim executive positions, in businesses we have assessed. Where you need delivery support after a verdict, we can point you to independent providers.

How do you handle confidentiality?

We sign your NDA, or provide ours, before any information is shared. Your information is used only for your engagement. We never name a client, or use identifiable details in our own material, without written permission. We delete all working files within 90 days of the final report, unless you ask us to keep them for continuity or further work.

Who sees what our executives tell you?

Where a report draws on interviews with your leadership team, individual answers are never attributed. The CEO and board see patterns, divergence and themes across the leadership team, and no answer is traced back to a named person. That anonymity is what makes the answers honest, so we protect it even from the person who commissioned the work. Each executive is told this before their interview.

Do you record interviews and working sessions?

We may use recording and transcription tools, so we can focus on the conversation and capture it accurately. We always tell you and each participant beforehand, and we record only with their agreement. If your in-house rules, or your clients’ rules, do not allow these tools, tell us and we will switch them off and take notes instead. Recordings and transcripts are used only for your engagement and are deleted with the rest of your working files.

How do we send you information?

Through a dedicated, access-controlled folder created for your engagement and shared only with named individuals. Please do not send sensitive documents as email attachments.

How is our data stored?

Your information is held in Google Workspace, which encrypts data in transit and at rest. Every DunDrake account is protected by 2-step verification. Link sharing is switched off across our workspace, so files can only be shared with people named by email, and we are warned before anything is shared outside DunDrake.

What data do you actually need?

Only what the decision requires. For most reports, summary financials are enough, and raw ledgers or customer-level data are rarely needed. You may redact names, customers or figures that are not material to the question.

Do you use AI?

Yes. AI helps us process and cross-check information quickly, which keeps fees down and turnaround short. Every finding, verdict and recommendation is reviewed and signed off by an experienced operator. We are happy to talk through the tools we use, and how your information is handled, before you share anything.

How is pricing set?

Prices are published and fixed. The Expansion Alignment Report is £4,250, single reports start from £4,500 and the Full Mandate starts from £20,000. Where an expansion is materially more complex, we confirm one fixed fee for all remaining work once we have understood the expansion, before you commit to anything further. There is no repricing after that.

What makes an expansion more complex: several markets at once, a regulated sector, a larger leadership team, an entry through a joint venture or partner, limited data, or founder-led governance.

Prices are for businesses, shown in pounds sterling, and exclude VAT and any other local taxes.

Can we buy one report on its own?

Yes. Each report answers one question and stands on its own. Many clients start with the Expansion Alignment Report and decide from there; others go straight to the report that matches a gap they already know about.

What are the payment terms?

50% on signing the letter of engagement and 50% on delivery of each report.

Are expenses included?

Fees cover all remote work. Travel for in-person sessions is charged at cost and agreed with you before it is booked.

Do your prices include VAT or local taxes?

Our prices exclude VAT and other sales taxes. DunDrake is not currently registered for VAT, so no VAT is added to our invoices. If that changes, we will tell you before you commit to any further work. Where your country taxes services bought from abroad, for example through a reverse charge, GST or withholding tax, this is handled on your side under your local rules, and we will provide whatever invoice details you need.

Who owns the report?

You do. You may share it with your board, investors and advisers. We retain ownership of our methods, frameworks and tools.

What does each verdict mean in practice?

• Cleared for take-off means we believe the case holds and you can proceed.
• Cleared with conditions means we advise you can proceed once named conditions are met; the report says who owns each one and what evidence would clear it.
• Hold position means we advise that the case needs strengthening before you move, and the report sets out where.
• Grounded means we believe the fundamentals need reassessing before the plan goes further.

Most verdicts are conditional, and a clear list of what must be true before you commit is often the most valuable outcome.

What happens if management disagrees with the verdict?

That disagreement is useful information, and it goes on the record. Every report ends in a readout session where your team can challenge the evidence directly. If you show us something we missed, we revise the finding. If the evidence still stands, the verdict stands, with management’s view recorded alongside it so your board sees both.