Find the value. Prove it. Deliver it.
We help the people who run large property estates and financial institutions make big decisions well: what to spend, who to buy from, which systems to choose, and whether to buy, grow or sell a business. Then we stay to carry them out.
Built
Environment
For the people who run large property estates. We find where money is being wasted across maintenance, energy, suppliers and buildings, agree the savings with your finance team, and run the programme that delivers them.
Enter the practice → Practice 02Financial
Services
For banks, asset managers and wealth firms choosing new systems or suppliers. We write down what you need, test the market, help you choose on evidence, and see the project through.
Enter the practice → Start hereValue-at-Stake
Review
A free two-to-three-week review of any large estate. We look at your spend, contracts and sites and tell you how much could be saved and where to start. You keep the findings whether or not you work with us.
Enter the practice → Practice 04Supply Chain
Intelligence
For large estates and the big FM companies that serve them. We map which specialist contractors you rely on, where you depend on a single supplier, and where good alternatives exist.
Enter the practice → Practice 05M&A
Advisory
For owners of specialist contractors and financial services firms who want to buy other businesses, prepare to sell, or hand over to the next generation.
Enter the practice → Practice 06Partner
Advocacy
For a small number of excellent specialist contractors. We introduce them to the big FM companies, large estates and public bodies that need them.
Enter the practice →The Challenge
The money is usually already there.
Most organisations already spend enough to fix their biggest problems. What they lack is proof of where the money goes, and the people to change it. We provide both.
How We Work
Four rules, every practice.
We start with the numbers
Every recommendation is based on figures your finance team or board has checked. Nothing is promised until the evidence exists.
Senior people do the work
The people who lead each job have run the budgets, sat on the boards and done the deals themselves. We do not hand work down to junior staff.
We stay to deliver
We do not leave you with a report. We run the programme, the selection or the sale, and we measure ourselves on the results.
Decisions stay yours
Every contract, appointment and approval is your decision.
The Network
Two decades at board and C-suite level.
Senior business leaders who advise us and open doors for our clients.
We also run a private forum for the people who run major organisations: small tables, no suppliers selling, no fee. By invitation.
Andrew Barstow
Managing Partner
Former Managing Partner, EY & AlixPartners
Tamara Box
Senior Partner, Reed Smith
Past Managing Partner EME, Reed Smith
Jan Babiak
Board Member
Walgreens Boots Alliance · Bank of Montreal
Dr Richard Hargreaves
Chair, Boku Inc
Founder, Baronsmead plc · former Chair, BVCA
Tim Brooke Thom
Chair, Lunar Group
Former Chair, Monzo
Collective experience
Questions
Questions, answered.
Let’s Talk
If it is yours to run, grow or sell, we should talk.
We take on a small number of clients at a time
Built Environment
Spend less on your estate. Get more from it.
We help the people who run large property estates find savings across maintenance, energy, suppliers and buildings, agree them with the finance team, and deliver them. The people doing the work have run estates like yours.
Experience across
The Challenge
Most estates carry more cost than they need to.
Most large estates spend 8 to 15 per cent more than they need to, without any drop in service. The waste hides in over-specified contracts, the wrong mix of staff and suppliers, too many small contracts, plant running longer than it should, invoices that drift from the agreed rates, and data that cannot say what anything costs.
The Programme
Savings today fund the estate you need tomorrow.
We run a programme for you that finds the savings, agrees them with your finance team, delivers them, and puts part of the money back into your buildings. One programme instead of five.
Stage 1
Find the savings
We measure what you spend on contracts, assets and repairs, then show where the savings are, what they cost to get, and how quickly they pay back.
Stage 2
Deliver
Re-buy building services, reduce the number of suppliers, fix rates and specifications, audit energy use and tune the whole estate.
Stage 3
Check
Every saving is measured against the starting figure and signed off by your finance team.
Stage 4
Reinvest
Part of the proven saving goes back into repairs, upgrades and the estate’s long-term plan.
Where the savings come from
One starting figure
Your finance team signs off the number everything is measured against.
One list of savings
Every saving has its starting figure, its cost, its owner and its sign-off. Cash savings and avoided costs are kept separate, so nothing is counted twice.
Your decisions
Every approval, appointment and reinvestment is your decision. We make each one easier to take.
The Agenda
The problems we help with.
Cost is one of them. It also pays for the others.
Safety and compliance
Fire, water and building safety, with the evidence a board expects.
Energy and carbon
Plans built on real data about your buildings, with the funding to match.
Big spending plans
Approved, put in the right order, and easy to defend to the board.
Contracts that are not working
Fixed, re-tendered or replaced, led from your side.
How the estate is run
In-house or outsourced, one supplier or several, with staff transfers handled properly.
Systems and data
Maintenance systems you can trust, and building technology that pays for itself.
Working With Us
Three ways to work with us.
Everything starts with the free review. What comes next depends on what it finds.
The free review
Two to three weeks on your data and your sites. We tell you how much could be saved and where to start. You keep the findings either way.
The savings programme
We run the programme that delivers the savings, checks them with your finance team, and puts part of the money back into your buildings.
Re-tendering contracts
We write down what you need, run the tender properly, and lead it through to award.
The Process
Twelve weeks to a signed plan. Then the programme.
Weeks 1–2
Gather the facts
Spend, contracts, assets, energy and repairs, collected and checked on site.
Weeks 3–6
Size the savings
Each saving costed and risk-rated. Suppliers and energy first.
Weeks 7–10
The plan
Investment, payback and return over three and five years, ready for your finance team.
Weeks 11–12
Your decision
Approve, change or stop. The plan is yours either way.
The programme delivers, checks and reinvests, stage by stage. Every approval stays with you.
The Team
People who have done your job.
People who have run the budgets you run.
Between them: Selfridges, Stella McCartney, VIA Outlets, CBRE, JLL, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defence. Fire, water, surveying and regulatory specialists join when needed.
Collective experience
Let’s Talk
If the estate is yours to run, start with the review.
We take on a small number of clients at a time
Who this suits
- Estates spending £15m or more a year on property, maintenance and energy
- Savings available in four or more areas
- More repairs and upgrades needed than there is money for
- Support from the estates, finance and procurement teams
Not in the built environment? See our Financial Services practice.
Run a specialist supplier? See Partner Advocacy.
Financial Services
Choose the platform once. Choose it right.
We help risk, compliance, operations and technology leaders in banks, asset managers and wealth firms choose new systems and suppliers. We write down what you need, test the market, help you choose on evidence, and run the project until it is live.
Collective experience
The Challenge
The requirement is usually clearer than the market.
Most leaders already know what needs replacing. The hard part is choosing well. There are many suppliers, little hard evidence, and a bad choice costs money for years.
The Requirement & Market Case
One document, before any supplier is in the room.
A bad system choice is paid for over years: workarounds, fixes, regulatory trouble and a second selection sooner than planned. This document is how we avoid it.
What you need
Written with your leaders, from your own data and controls.
The market
Every credible supplier, checked for size, references and certifications.
The shortlist
Three to five options, tested on evidence rather than demonstrations.
Total cost
Licence, integration, change and running costs over five years, compared like for like.
The delivery plan
Order of work, dependencies, data migration and checks, settled before any contract is signed.
The decision record
What was chosen, why, and what the board was told.
Coverage
Where we work.
Banking
Retail, commercial and investment banks: the platform, data and control decisions owned by risk, compliance, operations and technology leaders.
Who we work with
Asset Management
Institutional managers, hedge funds and private-markets firms: operations, data and investment-platform decisions that scale across funds and entities.
Who we work with
Wealth Management
Private banks, wealth managers and platforms: advice, platform and client-lifecycle technology, chosen for the next decade.
Who we work with
Where we advise
How We Work
How we work.
For chief risk, compliance and operating officers, and heads of technology and advice.
Write down what you need
We define what the organisation needs with your leaders, from your own data and controls, before any supplier is involved.
Test the market
We check the best suppliers before they reach you: security certifications, regulatory readiness and references from clients your size.
You choose, we deliver
You make the decision. We run the project, check progress and measure the benefit until the system is live.
The Process
From need to decision in eight weeks.
Weeks 1–2
What you need
Agreed with your leaders, from your own data.
Weeks 3–4
The market
Who can really deliver at your size.
Weeks 5–6
Shortlist and evidence
Certifications, references and delivery checked, not claimed.
Weeks 7–8
Decision and start
You choose. We prepare the project.
We stay until the system is live and the benefit is measured.
The Team
People who have made these decisions.
People who have sat where you sit.
Senior careers in private banking, asset management, distribution and financial services law. Specialists in regulation, data and technology join when needed.
Where we have sat
Let’s Talk
If the decision is yours to make, we should talk.
We take on a small number of clients at a time
Who this suits
- A live need in risk, compliance, operations or technology
- A project worth £250,000 or more
- A leader who owns the decision
- Access to the data needed to test the market
Not in financial services? See our Built Environment practice.
The Value-at-Stake Review
Advice that pays for itself.
A free review of your estate. Two to three weeks to tell you how much could be saved. Twelve weeks to a plan your finance team signs. Led by people who have run estates like yours.
How It Works
Two steps.
The review finds the savings. The plan turns them into a number your finance team signs.
Weeks 1–3
The review
We read your spend, contracts, assets and energy against current market rates, and tell you how much could be saved and where to start. Free, and yours either way.
Weeks 4–8
Size each saving
Each saving costed, put in order and risk-rated with your estates and finance teams.
Weeks 9–12
The plan
Investment, payback, return over three and five years, and the team needed to deliver it.
Week 12
Your decision
Approve, change or stop. Every approval stays with you.
The programme delivers, checks and reinvests, stage by stage.
The Money
Most estates carry more cost than they need to.
of annual property and maintenance spend can usually be saved
Without cutting service levels. The waste hides in over-specified contracts, the wrong mix of staff and suppliers, too many small contracts, plant and energy running wide, invoices that drift from the agreed rates, and data that cannot say what anything really costs.
Ranges from programmes our team delivered in previous roles. Every estate is measured on its own figures.
The Exchange
What you give. What you get.
What you give
Someone in the estates team and someone in finance to back the work, and access to your spend, contract, supplier, asset, condition, energy, maintenance and capital data. If the data is poor, fixing it becomes part of the work.
What you receive
The plan: where the money goes and where the savings are; cash savings and avoided costs kept separate; investment, payback and return; and the team needed to deliver it.
What it commits you to
Nothing. The plan is yours whether or not you go ahead, and we put that in writing before we start.
The Return
What a programme typically returns.
Usually within the first year, without any drop in service.
Measured against the signed starting figure, after our fees.
In most cases, with early savings paying for later stages.
Typical ranges for programmes of this kind, from work our team has led in previous roles. Every estate is measured on its own figures. We only go ahead where the review shows a realistic path to at least three times our fees.
Commercial
How we charge.
The review is free
You see the size of the saving before you spend anything.
Then you choose
A fixed fee, or a share of the savings once your finance team has confirmed them.
Fees are capped
Always against the signed starting figure. Never open-ended.
Next Step
Start with the value-at-stake review.
We take on a small number of clients at a time
Run a supply chain for a large estate? See Supply Chain Intelligence.
Supply Chain Intelligence & Activation
See every gap. Close the ones that matter.
For large estates and the FM companies that serve them. We map which specialist contractors you rely on, check they can really do the work, show where you depend on a single supplier, and find good alternatives where cover is thin.
The Position
A live map of who can really do the work.
Who is actually good, where, at what size and at what price, kept up to date from our work across the market. Directories go out of date. This does not.
Cover mapped
Every trade and region, with the evidence behind it, so you can see what is covered and by whom.
Weak spots shown
Where you rely on one supplier or have too few, ranked by how much work depends on them.
Suppliers checked
Accreditations, health and safety, references and capacity, documented and open to your audit.
Decisions stay yours
Every contract award is your decision.
The Value
The right number of good suppliers.
Fewer, better suppliers
Hundreds of small suppliers reduced to the right number of good ones, by trade and region.
Check, then trust
Competence, safety, capacity and readiness proven before work moves. Exceptions controlled, not improvised.
Grow the best
More work directed to suppliers worth developing, with two proven options for every critical trade.
Manage performance
Scorecards, controlled exceptions and a quarterly review for every critical trade.
Three views, one set of data
The Method
Five stages. We run them. You decide.
Frame the brief
Agree the scope, trades, regions and outputs. You name the lead and the priorities.
Build the data truth
Your supplier list cleaned up and mapped by trade and region.
Add live demand
Your planned work and spend matched to supplier cover, by value, timing and place.
Validate the market
Current suppliers checked, capacity tested, new specialists found, with your permission.
Prioritise and activate
A gap report, priority actions, a plan to engage suppliers, and regular updates. Contract awards stay with you.
Commercial
Start with one pilot.
A fixed-price pilot. Eight to ten weeks, on one trade, account or region. Taken off the first year’s fee if you continue.
Programmes then grow from one country to a region to the whole business, on the same method and data.
Next Step
If the supply chain is yours to run, we should talk.
We take on a small number of clients at a time
Run an estate rather than a supply chain? See The Value-at-Stake Review.
Legal
Terms of Use
1. Who we are
Kinovo Partners is a trading name of The Head Fred Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under number 16705157, with its registered office at 41 Devonshire Street, London W1G 7AJ. References to "we", "us" and "our" are to The Head Fred Ltd trading as Kinovo Partners.
2. These terms
These terms govern your use of kinovopartners.com (the "site"). By using the site you accept them. If you do not accept them, do not use the site. We may update these terms from time to time; the version on the site when you use it applies.
3. Use of the site
The site describes our services and gives general information about our firm. You may view, download and print pages for your own business reference. You may not reproduce, republish, scrape, frame or commercially exploit any part of the site without our written consent, use the site in any way that is unlawful or that damages or impairs it, or attempt to gain unauthorised access to it or to any connected system.
4. Not advice
Nothing on the site is professional, legal, financial, procurement or investment advice, and nothing on it creates a client relationship with us. Figures, ranges and examples are illustrative. Any engagement with us is governed solely by the terms agreed in writing for that engagement, which take precedence over these terms.
5. Intellectual property
The site, its design, text, graphics, the Kinovo Partners name and wordmark and all related rights belong to us or our licensors. Third-party names and marks shown on the site belong to their owners and are used for identification only.
6. Third-party links and services
The site links to third-party services, including LinkedIn and Calendly for booking a briefing, and loads typefaces from Google Fonts. Those services have their own terms and privacy practices. We are not responsible for them, and a link is not an endorsement.
7. Accuracy
We take care to keep the site accurate and current, but we give no warranty that it is complete, accurate or error-free, or that it will be available without interruption. We may change or withdraw any part of it at any time.
8. Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all liability for any loss or damage arising from your use of, or reliance on, the site or anything on it. Nothing in these terms limits or excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
9. Privacy and cookies
Our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy explain how we handle personal data and cookies.
10. Law and jurisdiction
These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute relating to them or to the site.
Legal
Privacy Policy
1. Who is responsible for your data
Kinovo Partners is a trading name of The Head Fred Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under number 16705157, with its registered office at 41 Devonshire Street, London W1G 7AJ. We are the controller of the personal data described in this policy. We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer; our contact for data matters is hello@kinovopartners.com.
2. The data we collect
- Enquiries and bookings. When you email us, call us or book a briefing through Calendly, we collect your name, employer, role, email address, telephone number and the content of your message.
- Business contacts. As a business-to-business firm we hold professional contact details of clients, prospective clients, partners and suppliers, drawn from our dealings with them, from information they publish professionally (for example on LinkedIn or company websites) and from introductions within our network.
- Engagement records. When we work with a client we hold the information needed to deliver and account for that engagement, including contact details of the people involved and the correspondence and documents the engagement generates.
- Website data. The site does not use analytics or set cookies of its own. Typefaces are loaded from Google Fonts, which involves your browser sending a request, including your IP address, to Google; see our Cookie Policy.
3. Why we use it and our lawful bases
- To respond to enquiries and arrange briefings: our legitimate interest in running the firm, and the steps needed before entering a contract with you.
- To deliver and administer engagements: performance of our contract with the client, and our legitimate interests in managing our business.
- To tell senior decision-makers about services relevant to their role: our legitimate interest in business-to-business marketing, which you may object to at any time.
- To keep accounting and compliance records: our legal obligations.
We do not sell personal data and we do not use it for automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects.
4. Who we share it with
Service providers who host our email, documents and scheduling tools; our professional advisers; and, where a client engagement requires it and with the client's knowledge, counterparties to that engagement. Each provider is bound by contract to protect the data. We will disclose data where the law requires it.
5. International transfers
Some providers process data outside the United Kingdom. Where they do, we rely on UK adequacy regulations or on the International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum approved by the UK Information Commissioner.
6. How long we keep it
Enquiry data for up to 24 months after our last contact. Business contact data for as long as the relationship is active and for a reasonable period afterwards, reviewed at least every two years. Engagement records for six years after the engagement ends, to meet legal and professional obligations.
7. Your rights
You may ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, restrict or object to our use of it (including objecting to direct marketing, which we will always honour), and ask for it in a portable format where that right applies. Write to hello@kinovopartners.com. We will respond within one month. You may also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
8. Security
We keep personal data on access-controlled systems with encryption in transit and at rest, limit access to the people who need it, and hold engagement material under confidentiality terms.
9. Changes
We will post any changes to this policy on this page with a new effective date.
Legal
Cookie Policy
1. Our position
Kinovo Partners is a trading name of The Head Fred Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under number 16705157, with its registered office at 41 Devonshire Street, London W1G 7AJ. This site sets no cookies of its own and uses no analytics, advertising or tracking technologies. We do not need, and do not ask for, cookie consent for the site itself.
2. Third-party requests
- Google Fonts. The site's typefaces are served by Google Fonts. When a page loads, your browser requests the font files from Google's servers, which means Google receives your IP address and standard request data. Google's use of that data is described in its privacy policy.
- Calendly and LinkedIn. Links to book a briefing or to view profiles take you to those services, which set their own cookies under their own policies once you arrive.
3. Managing cookies
Your browser lets you block or delete cookies and control third-party requests. Blocking Google Fonts will cause the site to fall back to system typefaces; everything else will continue to work.
4. Changes
If we introduce cookies or analytics in future, we will update this policy and, where the law requires it, ask for your consent first.
Legal
Modern Slavery Statement
1. Introduction
Kinovo Partners is a trading name of The Head Fred Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under number 16705157, with its registered office at 41 Devonshire Street, London W1G 7AJ. Our turnover is below the threshold at which section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires a statement, but we publish one voluntarily because the sectors we work in, facilities management and the built environment, carry known modern slavery risks. This statement covers the financial year ending 30 September 2026.
2. Our business
We are a London-based advisory and programme firm. We provide estate strategy, programme management and procurement advice to large estates and financial institutions, and advocacy services to specialist contractors. We employ a small senior team and engage specialist associates.
3. Our supply chain
Our own supply chain is short: professional services, office and technology providers, and specialist associates. The higher risk sits in the facilities management supply chains we advise on, where labour-intensive services such as cleaning, security, grounds and catering have been linked to forced labour, debt bondage and illegal recruitment fees.
4. Policies and commitments
We have zero tolerance of modern slavery and human trafficking in our business and supply chain. We expect every supplier, associate and client supply chain we work with to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and to apply the same standard to its own suppliers.
5. Due diligence
- Before we advocate for any supplier, we check its accreditations, references and delivery capability, and we ask for its approach to labour standards and right-to-work checks.
- When we design or review a client's supply chain, modern slavery risk is part of the assessment, with higher-risk categories flagged for enhanced checks, audit rights and transparent sub-contracting.
- Our own suppliers and associates confirm compliance with the Act as part of onboarding.
6. Training and awareness
Our team is briefed on the indicators of modern slavery in facilities management supply chains and on how to raise a concern. Concerns can be raised in confidence to any director or to hello@kinovopartners.com.
7. Measuring effectiveness
We track the proportion of suppliers and associates with completed compliance confirmations, the number of concerns raised and how they were resolved, and whether modern slavery risk was assessed in every supply-chain review we delivered. We will report against these in each annual statement.
8. Approval
This statement was approved by the board of The Head Fred Ltd on 10 October 2026 and signed on its behalf by Jack Sheehan, Chief Executive Officer, Kinovo Partners.
M&A Advisory
Build it, buy it, or sell it well.
For owners of specialist contractors and financial services firms. We help you buy other businesses, get ready to sell, or hand over to the next generation. The people doing the work have done deals and run businesses themselves.
Three Situations
Growth, exit, or the generation after you.
Buying businesses
A clear idea of what to buy and why, a list of targets from our knowledge of the market, and checks on what matters in these sectors: contracts, people, compliance and in-house capability.
Getting ready to sell
Starting eighteen months out: the numbers, the contracts, the next tier of management and the story. Then introductions to trade and private-equity buyers, alongside your corporate finance advisers.
Succession
A management buy-out, employee ownership or a family handover, arranged so the business keeps its clients, its people and its value.
How We Work
We know the buyers, the sellers and the businesses.
In the market every week
FM companies are buying, private-equity firms are building groups, and founders are retiring. We know which businesses are wanted, by whom, and when.
Deal-makers and operators
Led by a chief executive who has completed more than £120m of transactions, a former lawyer from a global law firm, and an operator who has run the kind of businesses buyers want.
Alongside your advisers
We work with your corporate finance, legal and tax advisers, not instead of them. We are not a regulated financial adviser and do not arrange or advise on investments.
Next Step
If the business is yours to grow or sell, we should talk.
We take on a small number of clients at a time
Growing a specialist contractor? See Partner Advocacy.
Partner Advocacy
Be in the room before the tender lands.
We introduce a small number of excellent specialist contractors in fire, water, drainage and M&E to the big FM companies, large estates and public bodies that need them, and we stay involved until the contract is won.
Who We Represent
We only represent the best.
Buyers take our calls because we turn most contractors away.
Established
Proven delivery on contracts of £500,000 or more, with your own engineers doing the work that matters.
Accredited
Gas Safe, BAFE, REFCOM and the other schemes your trade requires, checked before we start.
Owner-led
National or multi-regional cover, the capacity to take on new work, and leaders who will stand behind it in the room.
Categories we represent
How It Works
We open the door. Then we remain.
Private briefing
A confidential conversation. We decide together whether we can help, and where.
Introduce and support
We introduce you to the decision-maker against a live need, and stay involved through scoping, pricing and negotiation.
Stay
Through onboarding and growth across the client, until the work is won and repeating. We measure success in contracts won, not meetings booked.
Next Step
Start with a private briefing.
We take on a small number of clients at a time
Thinking about growth or an exit? See M&A Advisory.