Entrepreneurial spirit. Enduring value.The next chapter · Strategic concept

Investment
that stays close
to the work.

Independent businesses. Shared strength.
One ambition to create lasting value.

Discover Our Model
RYAN HOWSAM / FOUNDERACTIVE OWNERSHIP
Ryan Howsam at his desk
Independent ambition.
Collective strength.
HOWSAM
BUSINESS SYSTEM
Ownership with an operating edge.Explore Howsam
01 Entrepreneurial accountability
02 Shared operating capability
03 Disciplined capital

A portfolio of businesses.
A common conviction.

Great businesses need the freedom to lead and the strength to go further. Howsam brings both together.

We are an active owner and operator. We combine entrepreneurial business leadership with patient capital, operating expertise and a shared system for creating value.

Our businesses retain their identity and accountability. We invest where we can make a difference, scale what works and recycle capital as the portfolio evolves.

02 / OUR MODEL

Accountability, vertical.
Advantage, shared.

Close enough to shape performance.
Entrepreneurial enough to move.
An active operating centre that makes each business stronger.

Passive holding companyHOWSAM Active portfolio companyFully integrated group
PORTFOLIO & VALUE CREATION

Leads portfolio strategy and value creation.

Daniel Blackmore translates shareholder ambition into portfolio strategy and measurable value creation. He leads the Howsam Business System, sets portfolio-wide priorities and performance cadence, and holds business and capability leaders accountable for agreed outcomes. He architects and orchestrates strategic programmes across the portfolio for value creation, with SKY and BLUEBIRD as examples. He aligns capital and capacity, resolves cross-business trade-offs and recommends where Howsam should invest, stop or defer. Business leaders own day-to-day trading; his involvement is limited to intervention when agreed commitments are missed.

ESTABLISHED BUSINESSESESTABLISHED OPERATING LEADERSHIP
EMERGING VENTURESFOUNDER-LED · BUILDING FOR SCALE
Shared scale across the portfolio

Proposed operating relationships. Business mandates and investment influence depend on agreed governance and ownership rights.

Clear ownership.
Connected execution.

The Founder sets the ambition. The Group MD brings it into one portfolio value creation plan: shared priorities, connected objectives and key results (OKRs), and a delivery sequence agreed with business and capability leaders. Corporate Development brings opportunities into that plan.

Leadership fits the asset: C-suite teams lead established businesses, while founders and entrepreneurial teams lead emerging ventures. Business leaders own day-to-day trading and business outcomes. The Group MD architects and orchestrates strategic programmes across business boundaries, holds leaders accountable for agreed commitments and intervenes when those commitments are missed.

Select a role, business or capability to explore its mandate.

Build once. Benefit together.

Centralise only where portfolio economics justify it.

01

Finance

One economic view

Group Finance brings discipline to capital allocation, portfolio performance, investment cases, cash, valuation and transaction economics. Common standards and control create a reliable portfolio view.

Stays close to the businessEmbedded finance supports local decisions, business partnering and delivery against the plan.

02

Technology

A common foundation

The strongest candidate for shared scale: platforms, architecture, engineering capability, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data foundations and AI enablement. Intervest could be retained and developed as a portfolio platform.

Stays close to the businessBusinesses set outcome priorities and consume services against agreed economics, service levels and roadmaps.

03

Marketing

Federated by design

Group leverage in media buying, martech, CRM platforms, agencies, procurement, creative production and specialist expertise. Shared buying power and tools improve effectiveness.

Stays close to the businessBrand, proposition, customer strategy and commercial outcomes remain with business leadership.

04

Data / AI

AI-native operating design

Our ambition is to design future operating models from the top down, using AI-native first principles. Start with customer outcomes and the economics of the business, then rethink end-to-end workflows, roles, decision rights and technology around what people and AI can achieve together. BLUEBIRD exemplifies this ambition for the future model.

Design across the portfolio. Deliver within the business.The Group MD architects the future model and orchestrates strategic programmes with business and capability leaders. Data / AI provides trusted data, reusable capabilities and evaluation standards. Business leaders own adoption, customer outcomes and day-to-day trading; human judgement and accountability are designed into the model.

Group capabilities serve the portfolio. Staysure remains a business within the model, rather than becoming the parent of the others.

03 / THE HOWSAM BUSINESS SYSTEM

Make the important
things happen.

HBS / FIVE DISCIPLINES

Lasting value comes from clear choices and consistent delivery. The Howsam Business System connects our ambition to the work that matters: in every business, across shared capabilities and through our biggest programmes.

One way to set priorities, commit to measurable outcomes and act on what we learn. Build enduring businesses, with the readiness to pursue a strategic exit when the right next owner and timing offer the strongest path to value.

01 / CHOOSE WHAT MATTERS

Where will we make
the biggest difference?

Translate shareholder ambition into a focused portfolio value creation plan. Make clear choices about customer growth, operating improvement and where to invest.

From principle to practice

  • A clear ownership thesis and value creation priorities for each business or investment, including the case for continued ownership or a strategic exit.
  • Business and capability leaders agree the most important outcomes collectively.
  • Build, buy, partner, retain or exit decisions tested against long-term value, resources and strategic fit. Review the ownership case as the business and opportunity evolve.
THE OUTPUT

One portfolio plan, with explicit choices about what deserves capital and attention.

ONE CONNECTED VIEW

From portfolio ambition
to measurable progress.

The Group MD sets portfolio-wide priorities and performance cadence, orchestrates strategic programmes and holds business and capability leaders accountable for agreed outcomes. Business leaders own day-to-day trading; the Group MD intervenes when commitments are missed.

PORTFOLIO

Ambition & value creation goals

The outcomes we choose to pursue together.

BUSINESSES & SHARED CAPABILITIES

Connected objectives & key results

Named owners, shared outcomes and clear contributions.

PROGRAMMES & TEAMS

Sequenced work. Measured outcomes.

Delivery plans linked to dependencies and available capacity.

PROPOSED SOFTWARE PLATFORM

One place to see
the whole portfolio.

A shared view designed to connect investment decisions to delivery and results.

Investment
Capital and people committed
Expected value
Benefit, baseline, target and timing
Delivered value
Actual results, forecast and evidence
Accountability
Linked OKRs and named owners
Dependencies
What each commitment relies on
Capacity
Shared resources and delivery sequence
STRATEGIC PROGRAMMES · EXAMPLES
  • SKY
  • BLUEBIRD
PROPOSED VALUE CREATION FUNCTION

The discipline behind
the decisions.

Led by the Group MD, this function would maintain the portfolio value creation view, coordinate strategic programmes and track agreed commitments. Business leaders own day-to-day trading; capability leaders own their delivery commitments.

Make the value clear

Bring investment cases, OKRs and benefits into one view, working with Finance to test expected and delivered value.

Connect the work

Map dependencies, test capacity and prepare collective choices about priorities and sequencing.

Keep decisions moving

Run the portfolio performance cadence, surface missed commitments and support Group MD interventions and accountable leaders’ recovery plans. Coordinate exit readiness with Corporate Development and Finance; Corporate Development leads transaction execution.

A rhythm that keeps
the whole portfolio moving.

Agree the priorities together.
Review the evidence. Adjust the plan.

  1. 01Choose

    Agree the outcomes
    that matter most.

  2. 02Commit

    Set OKRs, investment
    and accountable owners.

  3. 03Sequence

    Resolve dependencies.
    Match work to capacity.

  4. 04Deliver

    Run the business.
    Advance the priorities.

  5. 05Review

    Track value. Retain, scale,
    change or exit. Repeat.

Proposed cadence Annual strategy & capital choicesQuarterly OKRs & value reviewsMonthly portfolio performance & delivery reviewsEscalate material blockers as they arise

COMMON BY DESIGN

One standard of discipline.

Connected OKRs. Investment and benefit definitions. Named owners. Leadership standards. Dependency and capacity reviews. Security and control. Evidence for decisions.

LOCAL BY JUDGEMENT

Accountability stays close.

Businesses own P&L, brands, customers, products and execution. Capabilities own their service commitments and contribution to shared outcomes. Apply the system proportionately to scale and investment rights.

BEFORE WE COMMIT Is the value clear? Is someone accountable? Do we understand the dependencies? Do we have the capacity—and what will we stop or defer?

04 / OUR PORTFOLIO

Distinct businesses.
Connected ambition.

Businesses, platforms and strategic interests with different roles in the portfolio. Each with its own opportunity to create value.

INSURANCE01

Staysure Group

A family of specialist insurance brands, combining customer understanding, distribution and technology.

Operating businessExplore business
Role in the proposed model

Business leadership owns P&L, customers and execution. Selected capabilities can become Group services with explicit mandates and economics.

TRAVEL & EXPERIENCES02

Holibob

Technology connecting travel brands, destinations and operators with bookable experiences.

Operating businessExplore business
Role in the proposed model

Entrepreneurial business leadership retains product and customer accountability, drawing on Group expertise where it accelerates profitable growth.

SPORT & EXPERIENCES03

Legends Tour

Professional golf, playing experiences and partnerships connecting the game with its audiences.

Strategic interestExplore business
Role in the proposed model

A distinct sports and experiences interest. Value creation and collaboration would reflect the relevant partnership arrangements and governance rights.

TECHNOLOGY & SHARED SERVICES04

Intervest

Engineering, technology and shared services supporting insurance and travel businesses.

Platform capabilityExplore business
Role in the proposed model

A candidate for a retained portfolio platform, with a clear service proposition, transparent economics and measurable outcomes for the businesses it supports.

A portfolio designed
to evolve.

BuildBuyPartnerRetainStrategic exit

We build and scale enduring businesses, retaining ownership where we can keep creating value. We maintain readiness for full or partial strategic exits when the right next owner and timing offer the strongest path to value, then reinvest realised capital in the next opportunity.

Illustrative portfolio interests and proposed strategic roles. Categories do not establish legal ownership, control or reporting relationships. Business descriptions are linked to the respective company websites.

05 / LEADERSHIP

Different mandates.
One direction.

Ownership, portfolio integration, corporate development and business execution each have a clear role.

01
OWNERSHIP

Ryan Howsam

Founder / Principal

Sets portfolio ambition, ownership strategy and capital direction. Retains reserved shareholder matters and the decisions that define the long-term destination.

Decision rights

Approves reserved capital and ownership decisions. CEO appointments and other shareholder matters remain with the Founder and relevant boards under agreed governance.

02
PORTFOLIO & VALUE CREATION

Daniel Blackmore

Group Managing Director
Portfolio & Performance

Translates shareholder ambition into one portfolio value creation plan. Leads the Howsam Business System and the proposed Value Creation function, sets portfolio-wide priorities and performance cadence, and holds business and capability leaders accountable for agreed outcomes.

Architects and orchestrates strategic programmes across the portfolio for value creation, with SKY and BLUEBIRD as examples. Through BLUEBIRD, advances the ambition for top-down operating model design using AI-native first principles. Brings leaders together to agree priorities, understand dependencies and sequence delivery within capacity. Sponsors the proposed software platform to make investment, expected value and actual delivery visible across the portfolio.

Mandate & decision rights

Leads portfolio strategy, organisational design and the value creation review cadence. Holds business and capability leaders to agreed OKRs and benefit commitments. Business leaders own day-to-day trading; the Group MD becomes involved only to intervene when commitments are missed and require recovery plans. Maintains transaction readiness with Corporate Development.

Recommends capital allocation and what to prioritise, stop or defer. Resolves cross-portfolio trade-offs with the relevant leaders within delegated authority; reserved capital and ownership decisions go to the Founder and relevant boards. Business leaders retain P&L, day-to-day trading and execution accountability; capability leaders retain their delivery commitments.

03
CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT

Charlie Blake-Thomas

CEO, Howsam Ltd
Corporate Development

Leads relationships, M&A, partnerships, deal origination and transaction execution. Connects Howsam to the opportunities that advance its portfolio strategy.

Decision rights

Develops and executes transactions through agreed approval gates. Works with the Group MD on strategic fit, operating readiness and value creation. The portfolio strategy and value creation mandate sits with the Group MD; business leaders own day-to-day trading.

04
BUSINESS EXECUTION

Business CEOs

Accountable entrepreneurial leaders

Own P&L, day-to-day trading, customers, operations, people, proposition and execution. Commit to business OKRs linked to portfolio priorities, own the benefits from their plans and make capacity and dependencies visible in collective delivery decisions.

Decision rights

Make business decisions within approved plans, capital limits and governance. Own the business outcomes of shared services they consume; capability leaders own the agreed service delivery. Product and commercial accountability remain within the business.

AUTHORITY FOLLOWS THE MANDATE

Group capabilities have their own OKRs, named delivery owners and service commitments linked to portfolio and business outcomes. The Group MD aligns the whole; each leader owns their contribution. Reporting lines, delegated authority and escalation routes would be formalised through the relevant governance.