Ideas worth acting on.
Practical thinking from the Waterfront Advisory team, plus free tools to help you see where you stand.
Latest thinking.
14 articles from the Waterfront Advisory team. Each is researched and sourced.
The five questions every mid-sized business should be able to answer
Most boards can recite revenue and EBITDA. Fewer can say where margin is made, where cash sits or what breaks first. Five questions to test that.
Read the article →
The margin problem hiding in plain sight
Gross margin looks healthy and operating margin keeps sliding. The gap usually sits in costs nobody owns, and in 2026 they are rising faster than prices.
Read the article →
Scope 3: your biggest regulatory headache is also your biggest opportunity
Supply chain emissions are mostly purchased materials, freight and packaging. Those are also your largest controllable costs. Treat the carbon map as a cost map.
Read the article →
When to redesign your supply chain network, and when not to
A network redesign fixes structural problems and locks in cost for a decade. Done for the wrong reason, it fixes nothing. How to tell the difference.
Read the article →
Nearshoring versus far east sourcing: how to compare properly
A unit price gap of 15% or 20% can shrink to almost nothing once you count inventory, obsolescence, quality and duty. Compare total landed cost.
Read the article →
What a good supply chain diagnostic should give you
A diagnostic should end with a short list of decisions, each sized in pounds, owned by a named person and sequenced. If it ends only with a maturity score, ask for your money back.
Read the article →
Designing products and packaging for lower impact without losing margin
Packaging fees, carbon border charges and customer data requests now attach a price to design decisions. Used well, the same decisions can protect your hard earned margin.
Read the article →
CSRD, UK SRS and CBAM: what actually applies to a mid-sized business
After the EU Omnibus changes, far fewer mid-sized firms report directly. Many are still affected through customers, imports and listings. A plain guide, current to October 2026.
Read the article →
Operational due diligence: the questions financial diligence misses
The quality of earnings report tells you what the business earned. Operational diligence tells you whether it can keep earning it, and what it will cost to grow.
Read the article →
The first 100 days: where supply chain value hides in a new acquisition
Most 100-day plans are strong on governance and reporting and thin on the supply chain. That is usually where the quickest cash and the stickiest margin sit.
Read the article →
How to read your Margin Diagnostic results
Your Margin Diagnostic report gives you scores, maturity levels and pound signs. Here is what each part means, how much weight it deserves, and what to do next.
Read the article →
A practical guide to cost-to-serve
Gross margin tells you what a product earns. Cost-to-serve tells you what a customer earns once you've delivered, invoiced and chased them. The two can look very different.
Read the article →
Estimating your Scope 3 footprint from spend data
If you have a purchase ledger, you can produce a first Scope 3 estimate in a few days. It won't be precise, but it will show you where to look.
Read the article →Earlier articles.
Earlier writing from Gopal and the team.
UK–India Free Trade Deal: opportunities for retail and brands
India is no longer just a low-cost sourcing hub; it won’t work with old playbooks.
Read the article →Preparing for the next black swan: five strategic steps for retailers
Five strategies to build resilience and adaptability.
Read the article →Preparing global supply chains for resilience
Five steps to build adaptability and proactive planning into global supply chains.
Read the article →See where you stand.
Answer a few questions about the business. No name or company is needed for your result.
Margin Diagnostic
Where your margin is actually going, across pricing, cost-to-serve, operations, procurement and data.
Start the diagnosticWarehouse Margin & Operations Diagnostic
For own-account warehouses and 3PLs: where warehouse margin is going, across cost recovery, space and stock, labour, flow and quality, and systems.
Use the toolCost-to-Serve Quick Check
Which customers, channels and sites actually make you money once delivery and service costs are allocated.
Use the toolResilience Stress Test
How your supply base holds up against supplier failure, single-sourcing, lead-time spikes and geopolitical shocks.
Use the toolSustainability Regulation Readiness Check
Which reporting, carbon, packaging and supply chain rules apply to you (CSRD, UK SRS, CBAM, packaging EPR and more), when, and the first step for each.
Use the toolSupply Chain Carbon Snapshot
A spend-based estimate of your Scope 3 footprint by category. No carbon data is needed to start.
Use the toolUK–India Landed Cost Comparator
Is the UK–India trade deal worth acting on for you? Compare against your current sourcing origin.
Use the toolFollow us on LinkedIn.
Occasional insights from Waterfront Advisory. New articles, tools and what we are seeing across supply chains go on LinkedIn first.