Selbey Anderson
CASE STUDY | Mergers & AcquisitionsWe supported Selbey Anderson with several of their successful acquisitions by evaluating the workplace culture, internal dynamics and any blind spots that may have been present in the process.
Selbey Andersen
Client: Selbey Andersen
Sector: People-led professional services
Focus: Pre-acquisition culture, leadership and integration risk
The challenge
Selbey Andersen operates in a sector where the value of an acquisition sits overwhelmingly in people, judgement and relationships.
While financial and legal due diligence were well established, the leadership team recognised that these alone did not provide sufficient insight into the risks that most commonly undermine acquisitions in people businesses.
Leadership behaviour, cultural fit and post-deal decision-making styles were harder to see, but disproportionately likely to drive value erosion, stalled integration or the loss of key individuals once a deal completed.
The Approach
Quirk was engaged as part of Selbey Andersen’s acquisition process to bring structure and visibility to these people and culture risks before decisions were finalised.
Using a pre-acquisition leadership and culture diagnostic, Quirk worked with senior stakeholders to explore:
How leadership actually operated within target businesses
The cultural norms shaping performance and decision-making
Areas of alignment and potential friction with Selbey Andersen’s operating model
Individuals likely to be critical to post-acquisition stability and change
This work was designed to complement, not replace, traditional due diligence, ensuring that people and culture considerations were visible at the point decisions were being made.
Company culture
Team dynamics
Other blind spots missed by the existing financial due diligence process
The Outcome
The output from the diagnostic became a core input into Selbey Andersen’s acquisition decision-making and integration planning.
It enabled the Investment Committee to consider people and culture risks alongside financial and legal factors, rather than discovering them after completion.
Critically, it also allowed leadership, succession and integration priorities to be discussed and agreed in advance, reducing uncertainty and disruption during the post-deal period.
As Dom Hawes, Group Chief Executive Officer, explains:
“The Quirk people and culture work became an essential part of our acquisition process. It gave us visibility into risks we would not have seen through traditional due diligence alone and allowed us to plan integration and leadership decisions with far greater confidence.”
Why it matters
In people-led acquisitions, value rarely disappears overnight.
It leaks through slowed decisions, unclear leadership, disengagement and cultural friction.
By treating leadership and culture as commercial risks rather than secondary considerations, Selbey Andersen strengthened the quality of its acquisition decisions and reduced the likelihood of long-term value drain once deals completed.
One of the most critical risks when acquiring small and medium size businesses is people and understanding who they are. We now consider the Quirk People and Culture Due Diligence an essential part of every acquisition we do.
Dom Hawes
Group CEO, Selbey Anderson Group
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