Post-merger integration at Verano Media
Two publishers, two of everything, and an integration sequenced by what the customers would notice first.
Finance & Transformation · Verano Media
9 months
two businesses to one operating model
How it was measured
Measured as elapsed months from programme start to the last of the twelve integration milestones agreed in week one, and synergies against the board-approved case. Stated this way because a figure without its method is a claim. Ask us for the workings: we will send them.
A year after the deal closed, the two businesses still ran two commercial teams, two ad platforms and two finance systems. The previous integration in the group had taken three years and never really finished.
The sequence was set by what customers noticed first: one sales team and one rate card in month two, one ad platform by month five, one finance system by month eight. The org chart came last. A programme office with one plan and one risk register reported monthly to the board and weekly inside the firm.
Two businesses on one operating model in nine months, with the synergy case delivered at 104% of plan and the programme office handed to the group's own finance function.
The engagement, on paper.
The record
ClientVerano Media
SectorTechnology & media
ServiceFinance & Transformation
Year2026
Duration12 weeks to set up, 6–12 months to run
Fee£120–180k, fixed, then monthly
You leave with 12 weeks to set up, 6–12 months to run
A business case the CFO signs, not just the sponsor
An integration or recovery plan with dates the board tracks
A programme office that runs without us after month six
What Finance & Transformation hands over, whichever client bought it. This one is the version Verano Media runs now.
Where it sat in the method: stage 03, 12 weeks of the 28.
Finance & Transformation is stage 03 work. Every engagement opens with the audit whichever stage it lands in, and the roadmap from that audit is what priced this one.
“Two businesses were on one operating model in nine months. Our previous integration took three years and never really finished.”
Three more, the same sector first.
Budget recovery programme at Aldergate Council
£6.2m
recurring savings, budget balanced in-year
Model-risk framework for Cobalt Bank
14 days
to audit-ready, from ninety
The service behind itP.04
Finance & Transformation
Business cases, integrations, turnarounds and the programme office that carries them. Run to a number, reported to the board monthly, and closed on a date.
12 weeks to set up, 6–12 months to run · £120–180k, fixed, then monthly
Next in the register9 of 12
Regulatory reporting controls at Solent Water
0
late regulatory submissions in twelve months, from seven
Energy & utilities