Selkie Solutions Ltd is a creative consultancy company founded in 2010 — primarily, but not exclusively, serving the energy industry. Our consultants have a wide range of experience and approach all assignments in a holistic manner seeking creative and innovative solutions to deliver long-term value to your enterprise. Our relationship with you, our client, is of the utmost importance. Whether we are engaged in a short-term assignment or providing an ongoing service we aim to build long-term relationships based on trust and the quality of our expertise and ideas.
We combine technical understanding with business — hence our strapline "Where technology and business meet". This is not a single intersection, the interactions are many and varied and occur throughout the life of an enterprise.
There are many ways in which we could assist your business including: providing non-executive directors; undertaking strategic reviews; delivering training; or traditional consultancy.
Technology Commercialisation
One area of our specialisations is technology commercialisation where the interactions between technology and business are often particularly challenging (e.g. crossing the "valley of death") and need to be addressed from a very early stage in the innovation and development process. Our expertise in academic and commercial R&D; commercial negotiation; strategy formulation; company governance; and business development makes us ideally placed to help organisations, whether large or small, along this challenging road. The road is particularly challenging in the energy industry where untried technologies, even after proof of concept and field trials, are seen as risky and there is an aversion to their adoption.
Commercial Agreements
Business is built on commercial relationships which are formalised in a variety of agreements which need to be negotiated, interpreted and implemented. Disputes do unfortunately occur and these need to be resolved. Whilst some may espouse a win/lose approach to commercial relationships, our experience is that successful business relationships need to be built on mutual benefit (win/win) and conducted in a manner (even where there is disagreement) that engenders mutual trust. We have extensive experience of building such trust, during negotiations, day to day operations governed by agreements, and during dispute resolution. We seek to take a holistic approach, seeking to understand and convey each party's drivers and concerns and then seek innovative and creative solutions — the simpler the better! Our specialist consultants would be delighted to work with you to ensure a robust and smooth-running commercial framework for your operations.
Intellectual Property
Unless you compete purely on the basis of cost, your intellectual property (IP) underpins your competitive edge. Do you fully understand what IP you have. Have you thought through how to protect it? What other IP do you need and where could you acquire it from? We have extensive experience in developing strategies for businesses built on IP and would be delighted to work with you to review or strengthen your position.
Non-Executive Directors
The role of the non-executive director is often poorly understood. Non-executive directors (NEDs), particularly independent NEDs, are able to bring valuable expertise to a board and by not being embroiled in the day-to-day running of the company can bring invaluable objectivity, clarity and challenge to the executive management. NEDs are as valuable in small to medium enterprises as they are in big corporations. Having an experienced non-executive chairman ensures that the board:
- has the right composition for the needs of the company at any time
- focusses on the strategic rather than the operational
- considers the interests of all stakeholders
- plans ahead (including contingency planning) as well as addressing immediate issues
- maintains an up-to-date and appropriate risk register and follows through on mitigating actions
- undertakes regular reviews of all areas including the performance and effectiveness of the board itself
We have NEDs with extensive experience, including as chairmen, in both commercial and not-for-profit organisations of various sizes.