How mandates are reviewed, approved and maintained.

The four qualification tests

No mandate is published unless it evidences all four of the following. Failure on any test is grounds for decline, not deferral.

1. Funding position

Evidence appropriate to the buyer type, committed equity, credit approval in principle, investor confirmation, or a documented balance sheet capacity, that the acquirer can complete a transaction of the size described.

2. Investment thesis

A coherent, testable statement of what the buyer is looking for and why. Sector, scale, geography, structure and timing must be consistent with the buyer's stated capacity and history.

3. Adviser standing

Where an intermediary represents a mandate, we confirm instruction and take a named contact. Advisers acting on unattributed briefs are not published.

4. Readiness to transact

A stated timeline and a decision-making structure consistent with a live acquisition search rather than a scoping or market-mapping exercise.

Taxonomy and structure

Every mandate is placed under a single primary sector and, where appropriate, a sub-sector. The taxonomy is a controlled vocabulary maintained by our team; buyers do not select their own classifications. Fields such as target turnover band, transaction structure and geographic preference are captured on a fixed vocabulary so mandates can be compared without translation.

Writing standards

• Written in natural British English, not translated buyer language.
• No superlatives, no marketing claims, no invented details.
• No client identification: mandates refer to "the buyer", "the acquirer" or "our contact", never to a named individual or firm.
• Public copy is separated from private source narrative; the two are never conflated.

References and continuity

Each published mandate receives a permanent register reference. The reference is immutable, never reused and never rewound. Withdrawn mandates retain their reference in the internal register but disappear from public view.

Maintenance and withdrawal

Live mandates are re-tested when they are materially updated and, regardless, on a rolling review cycle. Mandates that no longer meet the four qualification tests are withdrawn from public view. The register is not intended to preserve historical demand.

Confidentiality controls

Buyer identities are never published. Owner enquiries are handled under a standing confidentiality expectation and are never disclosed to a buyer without written authority. Sensitive administrative actions on the register require step-up authentication.