Our Case Studies 

The Challenge

Pole Star Global was a growing SaaS business in the maritime intelligence sector, working across the UK, Europe, US, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The fundamentals were strong—the product worked, customers were loyal, and the business was expanding internationally. But CEO Julian Longson knew that growth alone wouldn't be enough. The board was preparing for an eventual sale, and that meant sophisticated investors would scrutinise everything about how the company operated.

The challenges were clear, and they were growing. Standards of leadership were not consistent across the regions. The company needed stronger IP documentation and contractor governance. Throughout the organisation, there were a number of people-risk factors— an unresolved grievance, performance issues and weak processes—any of which could have an impact valuation. Most importantly, there was no systematic evidence base for due diligence, no clear way to demonstrate to investors what the business had built, how it operated, or why it could maintain sustainable growth.

Lindsay's was asked to grow and improve the entire people infrastructure, resolve underlying risks, and build the evidence base that would stand up to intense investor scrutiny. And she needed to do all of this whilst the headcount continued scaling internationally across four continents.

The Solution

Rather than making the company exit-ready as a separate project, Lindsay embedded it into building a scalable, resilient people infrastructure. She designed and implemented a complete people strategy—not just policies and handbooks, but the structural foundations that would allow the business to grow steadily.

She built pay and reward frameworks across all regions to improve consistency and market competitiveness. She created onboarding and talent development pathways that could work whether someone joined the team in London, Hong Kong, or Singapore. She redesigned the organisation structure and role architecture to clarify accountability, and introduced performance management and leadership development planning as systems that would reduce risk and give investors confidence in emerging leaders.

Perhaps the most delicate work was confronting complex employee relations issues—grievances, performance challenges and conflicted situations. She ensured every process was fair, documented and legally sound. The aim was to decrease the company's risk profile before issues escalated.

It was most critical to create a systematic HR evidence base: people data and dashboards, reward and salary modelling, headcount and turnover analysis, comprehensive policy and compliance documentation, organised employment contracts and governance frameworks, and prepared board reporting packs. This would become a pillar of the company's due-diligence pack used in the sale.

When Pole Star formally went to market, Lindsay prepared and organised all HR-related evidence for due diligence. She acted as a key support to the CEO, CFO, CRO and external advisers, providing clarity on culture, capability and future-state leadership. As Julian Longson reflects: "Her sound judgement, discretion, and operational rigour were critical during periods of rapid growth, organisational change, and ultimately the successful majority sale of the business to Private Equity."

The Outcome

The business was successfully acquired by Wavecrest Growth Partners & Abry Partners. Lindsay's work had contributed directly to a better valuation through lower people-risk and clearer governance. The due-diligence process was smoother than it might have been, buyer confidence in leadership and capability was higher, and the operational story the company could tell was cleaner and more attractive.

Saira Mirza, Group General Counsel, describes her: "Lindsay is an exceptional professional and able to deliver consistently with strategic insights, pragmatism, clarity, and integrity."

Advice for Other Businesses

Julian Longson's recommendation is clear: "If you're seeking a strategic HR / People Ops leader with global experience and the ability to operate as a true partner at executive level, I highly recommend Lindsay."