Proof, not promises

Real results from real trades businesses.

Every case study below is a real engagement. Real numbers. Real owner-operators who were stuck and decided to do something about it.

CraneCert Limited
Overhead Crane Engineering
CraneCert Limited  ·  UK
cranecert.co.uk →
Phase 1 — Commercial Diagnostic & Build
+60%
revenue increase in 5 months
5
months from engagement to result
↑
recurring contract revenue & pipeline visibility
CraneCert overhead crane installation in industrial workshop
CraneCert engineer on elevated platform
CraneCert branded hoist installed at client site

60% revenue growth in 5 months — without more hours, more headcount, or a new sales team.

CraneCert had strong technical capability, a good reputation, and a growing client base. What they didn't have was commercial structure. They weren't underperforming because of a lack of work — they were underperforming because of how that work was being priced, sold, and managed.

CraneCert was busy but not commercially structured. The business was reactive, pricing was inconsistent, and the directors were too deep in operations to drive the commercial changes the business needed.

  • Directors heavily involved in day-to-day ops and sales
  • Pricing inconsistent across different types of work
  • Limited visibility on job-level profitability
  • No standardised quoting process
  • No clear pipeline or forecasting
  • Service contracts not being leveraged
  • Reactive rather than commercially driven

Background

Strong technically. Understructured commercially.

CraneCert Limited is a UK-based engineering company specialising in overhead crane inspections, maintenance, repairs, modernisation and installation. The company had strong technical capability, a good reputation, and a growing client base — but the business was heavily reliant on the directors and senior engineers to drive sales, price work, manage clients, and make commercial decisions.

The business was busy. But like many engineering and trades companies, being busy did not always translate into strong cash flow, consistent margins, or structured growth.

The Problem

CraneCert didn't have a work problem. They had a commercial structure problem.

When CTA started working with CraneCert, the issues were familiar — not unique to this business, but deeply embedded and quietly costing money every month.

"Most trades businesses do not have a work problem. They have a commercial structure problem."

Commercial Trade Advisory

What CTA Did

Commercial Diagnostic & Build — five areas of focus.

CTA worked with CraneCert through the Phase 1 Commercial Diagnostic and Build programme, concentrating on commercial foundations rather than simply trying to increase sales activity.

CraneCert branded hoist installed at a client facility
01
Pricing & Margin Review
Reviewed pricing across inspections, servicing, callouts, repairs and project work. Minimum charge levels introduced, travel properly costed, and target margins set for each work type.
02
Service Contract Strategy
Restructured and actively sold planned preventative maintenance contracts, shifting part of the business from reactive work to recurring revenue and improving cash flow visibility.
03
Sales Pipeline & Forecasting
Introduced a structured pipeline with defined stages, probability weighting, and revenue forecasting — giving the business clear forward visibility for the first time.
04
Quoting & Proposal Process
Standardised the quotation process so that pricing, terms, upsell opportunities and service contracts were consistently included — increasing average order value and improving conversion.
05
Commercial Decision Support
Worked directly with the directors on larger quotes, pricing strategy, contract structure and negotiation — ensuring high-value opportunities were positioned and priced correctly.

The Result

Within five months, the numbers moved.

The results below were achieved without adding significant headcount, without increasing marketing spend, and without the directors working more hours. The growth came from structure — not effort.

+60%
revenue increase within 5 months
↑
recurring service contract revenue, improving cash flow stability
↑
average job value from better pricing and structured quotes
↑
sales pipeline with clear forward visibility

Most importantly, the business began to operate more like a business and less like a group of people responding to the next phone call.

Key Lesson

Structure creates growth. Not hours.

The core insight

CraneCert's growth did not come from working more hours or hiring a large sales team. It came from putting the right commercial structure in place — pricing work properly, building recurring revenue, and treating sales as a process rather than an event.

This is the core of what Commercial Trade Advisory does. Most trades businesses do not have a work problem. They have a commercial structure problem.

CTA helped CraneCert move from being busy to being commercially structured — and the result was measurable revenue growth in a short period of time.

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