The directors present the strategic report for the year ended 31 March 2023.
Sicsic Advisory is a strategic risk and regulatory consultancy. Its principal activity is to work with financial services boards and senior managers to deliver sustainable business models by helping them achieve commercial, operational, and financial resilience. Sicsic Advisory was established with a vision to provide expert regulatory insight, senior-level industry experience and honest, collaborative delivery.
In the four years since inception, the company has assembled a team of 20 senior consultants with a wide range of deep expertise gained through direct experience as ex-regulators, lobbyists, consultants, and relevant business leaders and practitioners. Industry presence is maintained through membership of the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the British Brokers Association (BIBA) and as regulatory advisory partner to Insurtech UK.
Over the past year, Sicsic Advisory has increased its already strong industry profile, being featured over 80 times in industry media, providing keynote speakers at several industry events, publishing a dozen of thought leadership guides and ensuring its industry guidance is effectively promoted online, such as LinkedIn and its website.
The company has been set up in a flexible way to enable both fully digital and hybrid working. Most activity is performed remotely but important in-person activity is undertaken either on client sites or at the company’s offices in the City of London.
The strong revenue growth since inception in 2019 continues, amounting to £4.0m for the year to 31 March 2023 generated by delivering over 70 assignments across 42 clients during the year. Over 50% of clients have returned for further support or projects after an initial engagement over the last year. With the exception of one large project, revenue concentration continues to reduce, with no one individual client representing more than 15% of total revenue in the period.
Sicsic Advisory has a strategic focus on maintaining strong relationships with the highest level of business decision makers, as well as with relevant technical experts, in client organisations. This is to ensure the advice and assignment delivery the company provides remain highly relevant to the specifics of clients’ business objectives, models and cultures. The value this approach to clients enables profitability to remain consistently strong and industry leading: gross margins above 40% and operating profit above 30% of total revenue.
Demand for the company's services continues to grow, driven by a combination of ever-increasing regulatory standards together with client satisfaction with assignments delivered by the company.
Sicsic Advisory’s strategy is to leverage its risk and regulatory expertise, focussing on making its clients’ business models more sustainable, across the general insurance sector and extending to adjacent areas in the insurance sector (life, pensions, specialty) and consumer finance sector. The company has a keen focus on sectors newly subject to financial regulation such as funeral plans and the buy now pay later sector. Key areas of activity during the year included advising and assisting mid-sized to large client firms with implementing new product pricing projects, Consumer Duty programmes and regulatory due diligence in M&A transactions.
The company aims to develop a long-term partnership with clients, becoming a key resource for their ongoing strategic and commercial development, and advising across all areas of our expertise. The company already serves non-UK based clients on a demand-led basis, and the geographic spread will be increased selectively to support our client base.
Continued success and growth of the company is dependent upon its ability to anticipate key trends in financial regulation which will impact the sustainability of client firms’ business models and maintain quality delivery of assignments which attract high client satisfaction. In common with businesses of a similar nature and scale continued revenue generation is dependent on a small number of key people and continuing to secure the right human talent. An economic downturn may put downward pressure on revenue and profit margins.
Sicsic Advisory Ltd is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Lynwood House, 373-375 Station Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 2AW.
The director, in the prior year, had taken a decision to change the accounting period from 30 September 2022 to 31 March 2022, a period shorter than one year. The financial statements for prior year were prepared for 6 months to 31 March 2022. Therefore, comparative amounts presented in the financial statements (including related notes) are not entirely comparable.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is credited or charged to profit or loss.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, bank loans, loans from fellow group companies and preference shares that are classified as debt, are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received, net of transaction costs. Dividends payable on equity instruments are recognised as liabilities once they are no longer at the discretion of the company.
The average monthly number of persons (including directors) employed by the company during the year was:
The total number of employees at the balance sheet date amounted to 3, consisting of 2 directors and 1 employee.
At the reporting end date the company had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, as follows:
No disclosure has been made of the company's transactions with other wholly owned group companies in accordance with FRS 102 Section 33 paragraph 33.1A.
Included within other creditors is an amount of £62 (2022: £18) due to the directors.
The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sicsic Holdings Limited, which is registered at Lynwood House, 373-375 Station Road, Harrow, Middlesex, United Kingdom, HA1 2AW.