Starting a business during a pandemic is no mean feat, let alone growing it fivefold and taking on large corporate contracts. But Adroit Cloud Consulting is just getting started.
Introduced via a word-of-mouth referral, the team sought the expertise of Trenches Law to draft legal documents for the business — seeing a more streamlined navigation of engagement and procurement, as well as protecting stakeholders from the outset.
About Adroit Consulting
Adroit Cloud Consulting was built and is run by engineers. The team offers technology leadership and CTO services, DevOps in-a-box products, OnDemand Engineering and Adroit Squads. Today, the London-based consulting firm is on course to grow substantially, with a new social media manager, client partnership director and long-term digital strategy in the pipeline.
Plus, with Cyber Essentials certification, Crown Commercial Services Supplier status, and efforts underway to achieve ISO 27001 credentials this year, the team is committed to enhancing the quality of its services on an ongoing basis too.
The challenge
Partners Pav and Tom came to Trenches Law during a period of significant growth. Referred by the CEO of a successful tech enterprise, Adroit required support navigating the legalities of work contracts, from procurement to employment.
Engineers by profession, Pav and Tom had limited legal experience. However, they understood that upcoming contracts would involve a lot of complex legalese. As such, they would need guidance drafting supporting documents — such as Master Service Agreements (MSAs) to be able to engage with clients at a supplier level, and set out the terms to protect both parties of the relationship.
The solution
Trenches Law drafted its CEO Sharon McDermott to assist Adroit from the outset, beginning with a consultation call in July 2020. Here, Sharon identified risks in new deals and offered advice on procurement and engagements.
A key driver for Adroit was to have a watertight MSA, underpinned by strong policies that would protect the company when working with clients and suppliers. At the point of engaging Sharon’s help, Adroit was ready to take on their first significant customer. They needed to know how to work through the procurement process.
Sharon was on-hand to provide advice at all times, producing an MSA document and finalising deals, as well as working with Adroit’s clients’ strict legal teams to negotiate fairer contracts, with a quicker turnaround. The relationship grew organically from here, and now, Adroit knows they can approach Sharon for any legal advice they may need, whenever they need it.
The results
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach for Adroit’s clients. Each one has a distinct engagement process, which could take up to six months to negotiate — some with very strict legal teams of their own. Sharon provided guidance in plain English, helping Adroit reach its goals as smoothly as possible.
What’s more, having a single point of contact provides Pav and Tom with valuable reassurance of the depth of account-specific knowledge, and therefore quality of service received. From text messages and phone calls, to email correspondence, they know Sharon is always on the other end of the phone to respond swiftly to queries large and small.
Crucially, Trenches Law helped Adroit break into the market, working with a company in the fintech sector to deliver projects pivotal to their business.. As a start-up with little legal experience, Adroit saved huge amounts of time and money. They began streamlining their MSAs and procurement documents, keeping stakeholders informed along the way.
The team is also now more knowledgeable in key legal issues, which will support its mission to grow more significantly in the years to come. Co-Founder Tom spoke highly of Trenches Law, adding that they would not have got the same service from a larger city firm.
He said: “Our relationship with Trenches Law is one of our most important. We wouldn’t have got to where we are today without them. We’d like to thank Sharon for her ongoing support.”
