When value creation for brands & businesses is increasingly difficult - Grow by design® - not chance.
You're competing in a market where strategies, returns and pedigrees all sound the same. The same industry terms appear in every pitch. LPs conduct digital due diligence before every meeting. Candidates research your employer brand before considering your offers. Portfolio companies need stronger positioning to command premium valuations at exit.
The pressure is mounting: fundraising cycles are lengthening, talent wars are intensifying, regulatory transparency requirements are expanding, and economic conditions are making value creation more difficult. Yet most PE firms have chronically underinvested in brand and communications — leaving real commercial value on the table. Transformative communications with distinctive design that creates an uplift in brand equity becomes your only viable differentiator.
What’s at stake?
Valuation mismatches are the biggest barrier to exits. Firms holding assets longer need stronger narratives, clearer differentiation, and brands that command premium valuations when the market is ready.
Firms with stronger ESG disclosures and brand consistency fundraise ~20% faster. Digital presence, thought leadership and communications quality are now core due diligence criteria for sophisticated LPs.
Strong employer branding reduces recruitment costs by up to 50%. With ~35% of PE firms expanding head count, a credible employer brand isn't a nice-to-have — it's a competitive necessity.
Your strategic operating partner for value creation.
We're not a traditional agency. We're a powerful resource that makes your PE firm more than just investors — an extension of your team and a trusted operating partner who understands how to increase and improve value creation, stakeholder confidence and market positioning.
We question everything to understand your portfolio, clear the blockers holding back growth, and are proven in delivering outcomes beyond expectations - with PE firms and their brands coming back to us time and again. Across multiple portfolio companies, we can support with repeatable solutions to common challenges. Our thorough and adaptive process means we anticipate problems, provide clarity, and ensure no surprises — because we understand that deadlines and earnings cycles can't flex (so we make sure we can).
Understand
We immerse ourselves in your organisation, objectives and constraints.
Clarify
We define the problem clearly and align on priorities.
Create
We design with purpose, developing and refining ideas to support real-world use.
Deliver
We deliver with care and consistency, supporting rollout and long-term adoption.
We work at the earliest possible stage.
The most impactful brand work happens before critical moments — not after. We often work with strategic advisors to support PE firms and portfolio companies at the stages where strategic positioning creates maximum value.
Pre-acquisition
Brand due diligence that identifies positioning opportunities and risks before the deal closes.
Pre-merger
Brand due diligence that identifies positioning opportunities and risks before the deal closes.
Pre-exit
Brand due diligence that identifies positioning opportunities and risks before the deal closes.
Pre-pitch
Brand due diligence that identifies positioning opportunities and risks before the deal closes.
Strategic support designed for PE value creation.
Built for Mid-market & Growth Focussed PE Firms.
We work primarily with mid-market PE firms (£500M–£5B AUM) and lower mid-market firms (£100M–£500M) — organisations that are large enough to take brand seriously but often lack dedicated internal marketing teams.
We find these firms often compete harder for deals, back founder-led businesses, care deeply about reputation, and value brand activity that supports growth and drives stronger exits. Many are purpose-first with ESG connections, and they understand that to grow by design means differentiating through transformative brand work when strategies and returns all look the same. This aligns with our own purpose and values.
We're the strategic partner who understands your portfolio challenges, speaks your language, and delivers real commercial outcomes. We also support larger PE firms and large-cap platforms on specific portfolio company projects, brand refreshes, and ESG communications initiatives.
We build global brands with impact.
Proven work with leading PE firms across the UK and Globally, supporting value creation through brand strategy, communications, and digital transformation. Think of us as the equivalent of an in-house brand, marketing, and digital team — but available as your specialist, flexible operating partner.
Our work spans pre-acquisition positioning, post-deal integration, growth acceleration, and exit preparation — delivering real results that impact fundraising, talent acquisition, and portfolio valuations. We make your PE firm more than just investors and challenge the perception that cost-cutting is the only approach.
Apax
SIGNAL
Why Finance & PE firms choose Motel.
Value creation, stakeholder confidence, market positioning — not 'brand refresh' or 'creative services.' We understand the commercial realities you're navigating and the pressures your portfolio faces.
We question everything and start with structured insight — not creative concepts. Our digital brand audits provide clear, objective views of where brand supports growth before any work begins.
We get that deadlines and earnings cycles can't flex. Our thorough and adaptive process means we anticipate problems, provide clarity and ensure no surprises.
We provide genuine differentiation in a sea of corporate sameness — embracing new thinking and technologies to cut through dusty comms with design sophistication that drives commercial outcomes.
Private Equity FAQs
Motel works across the full PE market — from lower mid-market firms (£100M–£500M AUM) buildingbrand infrastructure for the first time, to some of the largest and most established private equity firmsin the world. Motel's client base includes one of the world's oldest and largest international PE firms,ranked among the top 15 globally. The studio's primary focus is mid-market and lower mid-marketfirms, but its large-cap credentials mean it brings sophistication and commercial rigour to everyengagement regardless of scale.
Yes. Motel helps PE firms develop ESG communications that meet regulatory requirements —including TCFD, FCA Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and SFDR — while building genuinestakeholder confidence. The studio treats ESG communications as both a compliance requirement and a brand opportunity, working alongside specialist ESG advisors to handle the communicationsand design dimension of reporting.
The 'power of pre' refers to Motel's approach of engaging at the earliest possible stage — pre-acquisition, pre-merger, pre-exit and pre-pitch. Brand work done before critical moments drives betteroutcomes than reactive repositioning. Pre-exit brand transformation creates stronger equity stories.Pre-pitch positioning builds LP confidence before fundraising conversations begin. Working earlycreates commercial edge ahead of time.
Strong brand positioning helps PE firms differentiate when competing for LP capital in markets wherestrategies, returns and credentials look identical. Clear, consistent digital presence, thoughtleadership and investor communications build LP confidence before pitch meetings. Researchindicates firms with stronger brand presence and ESG communications raise capital approximately20% faster. Motel helps PE firms build this brand infrastructure.
Yes. Motel works at both PE firm level and across portfolio companies — bringing consistent brandthinking to multiple holdings, providing scalable frameworks for buy-and-build strategies, anddelivering pre-exit brand transformation that supports premium valuations. The studio works acrossthe full investment lifecycle from pre-acquisition positioning to exit preparation.
Motel's PE services include firm-level branding and positioning, fund-level brand identity, portfoliocompany brand strategy, buy-and-build brand playbooks, pre-merger and post-acquisitionrepositioning, equity stories and exit preparation, ESG communications and reporting, and structureddigital brand audits for PE firms and their portfolio companies.
Motel takes a diagnostic-first approach — auditing current positioning, competitive landscape andstakeholder perception before building a differentiated brand strategy. For PE firms, this meansmoving beyond generic 'value creation' language to develop specific, evidence-based positioning thatbuilds LP confidence, attracts better deal flow and commands premium valuations at exit. Brandbecomes the commercial differentiator when strategies and returns look identical.
Motel is a strategic design studio working with PE firms at both firm level and portfolio level. At firmlevel, Motel helps with fundraising positioning, employer brand, digital presence and LPcommunications. At portfolio level, Motel supports brand strategy, growth acceleration, pre-exit brandtransformation and equity story development. The studio positions itself as a strategic operatingpartner for value creation — not a traditional creative agency.
Start with a Digital Brand Audit
If you’re looking for a design partner who understands your sector, your pressures and your ambition to grow, we’d welcome a conversation.