Back in 2003 when Tiffany founded the business, her vision was to provide practical and pragmatic commercial contract support to small and medium-sized businesses. Having seen the way many such businesses were disadvantaged in their negotiations with large corporations, she was determined that they should receive high quality, reliable legal and contractual advice, without having to battle through the legalese offered by a typical solicitor’s firm. 

Levelling up

In 2021 many hundreds of businesses have benefitted from having the Devant team on their side, with ”levelling the playing field’ for clients being a key part of the company’s mission. Helping clients to ‘level up’ is another! Over the last 18 years, we’ve helped a number of clients grow from ’spare bedroom startup’ to a ‘£Multi-million exit’. Companies like Chip&PIN Solutions Limited embraced Devant’s support, engaging the team’s expertise to draft and negotiate sensible agreements with their clients, partners and suppliers to build a solid, secure commercial foundation – which paid off handsomely when it was time to sell the business.

The Devant team has grown and evolved during its transition from startup to ‘grown-up’, and learning and development continues to play a big role within the business. Our focus for the current year is on delivering even greater value to Devant’s high-growth clients, by ensuring that their commercial and contracting strategy is aligned to their corporate objectives – and that the contract infrastructure they have in place will support their ambitious goals.

Developing the team

Our recent Team Day, at The Elvetham Hotel in Hampshire, delivered some intensive learning with consultant Peter Hume on the commercial building-blocks needed to deliver serious growth for our clients.

Digging for charity

So how did the Devant team celebrate the company’s coming of age? In a slight change of gear, we took some time in the great outdoors, volunteering at the allotments for Launchpad, one of Devant’s sponsored charities. Digging up onions, clearing beds for winter and spreading manure to ensure a rich and fertile bed for next season’s planting kept the team busy (and warm!) on a blowy September afternoon. Fuelled by tea and cake from Launchpad’s allotment-support team, your favourite commercial consultants did their bit to ensure the Launchpad Food Bank will continue to be well stocked with fresh produce in the year to come.

Preparing for the future

As we settle into autumn, the importance of investing time and effort now, to prepare for future growth, is at the front of mind for all Devant team members. We’re investing in knowledge management, to ensure we can continue to deliver the insight and expertise you rely on, quickly and efficiently. We’re recruiting more consultants, with a wider experience base, to help us support more companies on their growth journey. And Devant is becoming an SRA-approved training provider, to help us attract and retain talented staff. So as you lay your own plans for your company’s next growth stage, you can be confident that Devant will be ready, willing and able to deliver the commercial and contracting support you need to help you achieve it.