DRAFT v0.1 / FILE REF CDD/2026/UK-MID-MKT / INDEPENDENT REFERENCE - NOT M&A ADVICE
§ TYPE 2
T2.

Full Commercial Due Diligence

All seven chapters of the spine. The default sponsor commission on a competitive process.

§ DIRECT ANSWER

Full CDD covers all seven chapters of the spine: market, customer, competitive, operations, financial-commercial bridge, risk, synthesis. Boutique mandates run £25-50k over 3-5 weeks; Big-4 deal advisory runs £75-150k over 5-8 weeks.

§ 1.1Scope

Every chapter of the spine, normally with 15-20 customer interviews, 5-8 win-loss interviews, a competitor map, an ops bridge tied to the QofE workbook and a one-page IC summary.

§ 1.2Fee anchors

Boutique: £25-50k. Big-4: £75-150k. Both are engagement-letter mandates, not list prices.

§ 1.3Timeline

Boutique 3-5 weeks; Big-4 5-8 weeks. See the day-by-day cadence at /playbook/.

§ 1.4When mandatory

Where the sponsor IC requires syndication-grade reliance, where lenders have CDD covenants in the financing pack, or where the chair simply will not sign off on a red-flag-only diligence.

VERIFIED 21 JUN 2026NEXT REVIEW 21 SEP 2026SRC: ICAEW CF; BVCA Industry Activity 2025-26

Marked-up by Oliver Wakefield-Smith. Draft v0.1, 21 June 2026.