Strategy & Commercial Due Diligence

Experience-led,
AI-enabled.

Cortara is a next-generation strategy and commercial due diligence consultancy for lower mid-market consumer businesses. We help founders build the commercial case for sale, and investors understand what they are buying. We use AI to compress the research and analysis — which buys back time for the kind of senior engagement most advisory firms reserve for pitch and handover.

Cortara joins two ideas: cor — core insight, the analytical engine — and tara — the guiding star, the deliberate thinking that turns evidence into the right move.

Get in touch → How we work ↓

Why we exist

Lower mid-market investors and operators are underserved — by market data and by advisory.

Most advisory firms were built for deal sizes above £100m. Below that threshold, the economics of the existing models rarely translate — fees are calibrated to larger mandates, and delivery relies on junior teams. The data infrastructure to do it well has historically been expensive and slow to build.

Both of those things have changed. The market intelligence that used to require a large analyst team can now be assembled quickly and at lower cost. That frees time for the judgement that drives value — the careful analysis that connects data to a conclusion you can act on.

The lower mid-market is where the most interesting consumer businesses operate.

It is also where advisory has historically been least adequate. That is the gap Cortara is built to close.

What investors and founders actually need has not changed.

Experienced people, honest conclusions, and work that stands up to scrutiny. AI enables that at a price point that previously required a much larger firm.

Senior experience matters more, not less, when AI does the data work.

The risk in a world of faster analysis is shallower judgement. That is what we are designed to prevent.

How we work

Three capabilities. One team.

The first two rings compress data and analysis. The third is where senior judgement happens — the part that cannot be automated.

Market Intelligence Platform

A proprietary dataset covering every brand, retailer and SKU in our target sectors — pricing, ratings, financials, growth signals. The foundation that lets us challenge or corroborate any claim a business makes about its market.

AI-enabled Workflows

The client's own data — performance, proposition, channels, customer base — interrogated against the market. We use AI to handle the volume and speed. We do the interpretation.

Senior Hands-On Advisory

Where the technology stops. Two principals working directly with the client — the careful, deliberate thinking that turns the analysis into a recommendation worth acting on.

What we do

Commercial due diligence, growth strategy and pre-exit preparation.

Sell-side CDD

For founders heading to market. A thorough commercial assessment of what you have built and why investors would be excited by the equity story. Delivered as a vendor due diligence report your advisors can put in front of buyers.

Founders & Owner-managers

Buy-side CDD

For investors and their advisors. A clear commercial view of the opportunity — market sizing, competitive dynamics, commercial health, management challenge. Sprint-format available where timelines are tight.

PE Houses & Corporate Finance Advisors

Pre-exit Programme

For founders 12 to 36 months ahead of a sale. We help build the commercial case before you are in the room — quarterly milestones, hypothesis-led analysis, and a running view of what buyers will want to understand. Few advisory firms offer this properly; most CDD practices are organised around the transaction, not the preparation for it.

Founders planning ahead

In build

Sector Intelligence

A subscription dataset tracking brands, retailers and SKUs across targeted consumer sub-verticals — pricing, ratings, financials, growth signals. Skincare is our first wave. Being built for funds and CF advisors who want ongoing sector coverage rather than point-in-time reports.

Who we work with

Consumer sector. Lower mid-market.

Our work sits on both sides of the transaction. The approach is consistent; the emphasis shifts depending on who we are working for.

Founders

We have been in founder positions ourselves — built and scaled consumer businesses before moving into consulting. We know the questions investors ask, and we can help you get ahead of them. Whether you are eighteen months from a sale or still working out what that looks like, we can be useful early.

Corporate Finance Advisors

We work as the CDD provider for your founder clients — senior throughout, with a track record the market will recognise. We keep to brief, keep to timeline, and give you a clear commercial picture of the business.

Investors

We bring sector-level market data to every engagement — the kind that lets you interrogate assumptions rather than simply accept them. Buy-side sprint or full CDD, both available depending on where you are in the process.

About

Our story.

Cortara was founded in 2026 by Tom Holt and Jacob Gascoine-Becker. Forty years between us across consulting, digital and retail. The work we kept being asked to do at larger firms — growth strategy and commercial due diligence for owner-managed consumer businesses — was either priced out of reach or delivered by teams without enough senior involvement. We thought there was a better model.

Tom Holt

Co-founder

Twenty years in consumer strategy and commercial due diligence. Most recently led consumer CDD at BDO, having grown Pragma from a small boutique into a 40-person multi-practice strategy firm before that. He has built practices, led clients and run complex engagements — and knows what a credible commercial case looks like from both sides of the table.

Consumer Strategy Commercial Due Diligence Private Equity Advisory Practice Building

Jacob Gascoine-Becker

Co-founder

Twelve years as a consultant spanning due diligence, digital transformation and growth strategy at Pragma, Kin + Carta and STRAT7. Before consulting, grew a pure-play consumer retailer from 3 to 30 people. Helped develop STRAT7's AI platform and brings that applied experience directly into Cortara's research and analysis workflows.

Growth Strategy Commercial Due Diligence Digital Transformation AI Tooling

Get in touch

If you are working on a deal, or building towards one, we would like to hear from you.

We work with founders preparing businesses for sale, investors and their advisors diligencing what they are buying, and CF advisors who want a CDD provider they can rely on. We find it useful to talk early — before a brief is fully formed.

enquiries@cortara.co.uk

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Experience-led,AI-enabled.