Noctis

Unlocking value : Driving growth

Director

Matthew Halstead

I'm an entrepreneurial, energetic, and pragmatic Chartered Accountant with fifteen years experience building, restructuring, and managing high growth organisations of up to 150 staff in MD, CFO and COO roles.

I've worked across several sectors with organisations that offer novel technologies and exciting propositions to disrupt B2B, B2B2C and B2C target markets, including international & national charities, automotive, digital mental health, theoretical chemistry, property, and corporate finance. This cross-sector experience taught me a broad range of leadership, professional and technical skills that I apply at Board and Executive levels, particularly:

- Finance, operations, fundraising & restructuring to achieve sustainable business models that balance ambitious growth and profitability

- Business intelligence & go-to-market strategy execution to drive effective decision-making and profitable growth

- Digital transformation, automation, and data strategy to drive business value through tech-enabled efficiencies

In addition, I'm a self-funded PhD Candidate in Quantum Chemistry, and a Trustee / Board Director of Catch22, a £50m income social business that designs and delivers public services that build resilience and aspiration in people and communities.

Why?

I believe that organisations are empowered and valuable when they are:

Sustainable
Operating through self-sufficient and responsible business models
Possessing the right culture and skillsets to design and execute strategies

Scientific
Underpinning ideas and decisions with robust evidence
Learning and adapting by collating and analysing data

Product focussed
Truly understanding customer problems;
Infusing a product mindset across a business

I help organisations unlock value, achieve their potential and drive growth through the following services:

SUSTAINABLE
Commercial Advisory

Growth
Management experience enables the collation and analysis of organisational information to drive growth strategies
Strategy
Supporting management teams with strategic planning to clearly articulate goals, objectives and operational activities aligned with their mission, vision and purpose
Financial Sustainability
Designing and integrating business models into new or existing structures to achieve financial sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness. This is supported by persuasive business cases, robust financial models and sensitivity analysis to fully appreciate risk, reward and impact

Services:

Financial modelling (business, investment and growth)
Strategic & operational planning
Interim CFO & COO services

SCIENTIFIC
Research, Analysis & Investigations

Research
Undertaking research and analysis to support policy development, advocacy campaigns and commercial decision-making
Investigations
Analysing qualitative and quantitative data to understand and investigate opaque systems and issues
Data Analysis
Analysing datasets to understand key trends, correlations and insights
Visualisation
Making data understandable by presenting information clearly using computational data visualisation tools
Mapping
Visualising geo-spatial data using interactive maps, charts and graphs to analyse geographic trends and insights

Services:

Commercial, social, economic and environmental research and investigations
Qualitative and quantitative data analysis and modelling
Report drafting and publication
Peer review
Customer data analysis
Business intelligence
Digital mapping

PRODUCT FOCUSSED
Digital Transformation & Automation

Co-creation
Working collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to discover needs, wants and goals to better map systems, articulate problems and identify opportunities for change
Prototyping
Using digital technology to model, prototype and test hypotheses and understand challenges
Development
Turning valid and viable propositions into digital products to drive tech-enabled efficiencies; dashboards, platforms, tools and apps

Services:

Concept and proposition design
Digital project management
Prototyping and testing
Full stack digital development

articles

Thoughts and Case Studies

In the beginning...

...was an uncertain, interconnected and complex mess

Confused by complexity

How do we make sense of an increasingly complex and integrated world?

Embracing uncertainty

How do we embrace uncertainty in our forecasts, predictions and strategies?

"We can't eat peace"

Case Study (Research & Investigations): Oil theft, pipeline vandalism and artisanal refining in the Niger Delta

From chaos to order

Case Study (Commercial Advisory): Lessons from a nonprofit turnaround

Demo-crazy

Case Study (Digital Development & Data Discovery): Niger Delta Election Reporting 2019

Dirty Fuel

Case Study (Research & Investigations): An analysis of official and unofficial petroleum products in the Niger Delta

Helping you, help yourself

Case Study (Digital Development): The sidekick app

CLIENTS

I am proud to work with my clients...

Testimonials

...and greatly appreciate their feedback

Commercial Advisory & Data Discovery

I sought Matt's help when gearing up to raise our next rounds of investment (Seed & Series A). His ability to sit back and take a wider view of the business without diving straight into the nitty gritty blew me away. He understood our business inside and out and this truly showed through the forecasting model and business intelligence dashboard he built for us. I genuinely and literally use this model to drive our business strategy. This granular detail has helped us clearly communicate with VC's and Angels and helped raise our next round of investment.
Mike Grindy
CEO and Founder at Dropless
Digital Development

On Our Radar worked with the Noctis team to deliver our 2019 Nigeria Elections Reporting project.

Noctis were critical to the success of the project, supporting us to (1) win the work and structure the contract, (2) facilitate the co-design process and (3) project manage the deployment and delivery of the solution; a customised version of our Radius software.

The project was a great success enabling election observers to confidently report on incidences around the election period. Noctis' attention to detail, responsiveness and care throughout the project was exceptional.

We have worked with Noctis for many years and really value their expertise, attitude and approach. We very much look forward to working with them again in the future.
Laura Jump
CEO at On Our Radar
Commercial Advisory

Matt came in initially to help us improve our financial and operational systems which significantly relieved the stress they gave us day-to-day. He then went on to build a complete financial model of our business which in its detail, is incredible, and also really easy to use.

The bad news for Matt is that we now can't let him go and can't recommend him highly enough for those in need of his services. He's a pleasure to work with.
Leo Mellis
Founder at The Cotton Story
Data Discovery

Noctis' creative and analytical approach was a great asset to our recent work on the economics of artisanal oil refining in the Niger Delta. The topic is complex and opaque, but using vast sets of field data, Noctis generated a rigorous economic model and graphical visualisations to highlight trends in the evolution of the informal industry, supported by a clear and comprehensive narrative.

We have since used this information to develop evidence-based policy recommendations for the Federal Government and international oil companies, which were well received. This will go a long way towards advancing the debate on finding solutions to a problem that has hindered economic development, damaged the environment, and stabilisation in Nigeria for decades.
Stakeholder Democracy Network
Commercial Advisory

I was very impressed with the simplicity in which they showed complex ideas. This is one of my favourite business model formats I've seen to date.
Adib Bamieh
Director and Interim COO for Technology Startups
Commercial Advisory

We engaged Noctis to help us rebuild our financial model and forecast. From the start they were very engaged and their understanding of SaaS metrics and our general business requirements meant they were able to capture the detail quickly. The end product is excellent and we would have no hesitation recommending Noctis to other businesses.
Fergal O'Mullane
CEO and Cofounder at Validify
Research & Analysis

As part of our development of a complex piece of research looking at the environmental performance of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, we engaged Noctis to carry out an independent review and assessment of the underlying database.

We asked them to replicate and critique our analysis, and help us understand how to make it more robust. They went over the research with a fine-tooth comb, and their written evaluation and formal discussion of the methodology provided us with very clear recommendations on how we could improve our analysis.

Ultimately this has helped improve the quality of our work, and we are looking forward to seeing it published.
Kevin McCann
Research & Policy Officer at Stakeholder Democracy Network
Commercial Advisory

Noctis worked with Latis to develop a commercial model and help us decide whether to enter the coworking space market via mixed-use development acquisitions. Their knowledge of the coworking market, operating models and UK property resulted in a detailed financial model that took into account the intricacies of residential and commercial property development and asset management, tiered debt finance and multivariable sensitivity analysis across a five-year portfolio of acquisitions, benchmarked across national and global property funds.

High level operational and investor metrics and graphical visualisation allowed us to get our heads round a complex opportunity and ultimately enabled the best decision for our business. We really enjoyed working together and look forward to the next time.
Robin Edwards
Investor & Director at Latis Homes
Data Discovery

Impactt worked with Noctis to develop an innovative, simple and efficient worker voice and compliance algorithm, complimented by an in-house supply chain visualisation tool. Noctis' ability to translate tough and dense supply chain data and elevate worker voice was essential to the success of the project.

Further, their ideas and depth of knowledge made the entire process smooth and efficient. Very easy to work with, with great clear, outputs, sticking to deadlines each time. We hope to work with them again soon!
Luke Smitham
Senior Project Manager at Impactt
Commercial Advisory

Noctis worked with us to facilitate our post-merger strategy plan and develop a financial growth model. Our strategy session resulted in a clear, concise and accountable strategic plan; Noctis kept us organised and focussed to ensure we covered all priority areas whilst encouraging dialogue and participation – a real team effort!

The financial model incorporated historical accounting information and forecast earnings based on a range of growth assumptions and metrics. This enabled our Management team to consider and test a broad range of scenarios to support decision making around our strategic growth plan.

We loved working with Noctis, they balanced professionalism and proactiveness with a great sense of humour and look forward to working together again soon!
Rich Hurtley
Managing Director at Rich Insight
Commercial Advisory

Matt joined us as an member of our Advisory Board after a successful partnership with his former organisation, SDN. He gave us sound financial and operational support as we worked through unique challenges related to our social enterprise.

When a vacancy arose, we appointed him into a new role as Head of Finance and Operations in 2016. In this role, he led on organisational and project operations and established our financial systems, as well as being happy to step in to help with new business and creative aspects of our work. He then led as Acting CEO during my 6 months of maternity leave, giving the team a firm anchor during an important transition.

Since his departure he has remained a friend to On Our Radar and recently stepped back in to support us with our annual accounts submission. He has always been pleasure to work with and I would recommend his partnership.
Libby Powell
Founder at On Our Radar

info@noctis.co