What Merlin5 does

Merlin5 is a London-based B2B go-to-market advisory firm founded in 2013 that targets private equity investors and the leadership teams of their portfolio companies, alongside enterprise clients in technology, telecommunications, facilities management, and professional services. The firm helps clients diagnose commercial engine gaps, prioritize revenue-growth interventions, and build sustainable sales capabilities. Its core offerings include the Growth Assessor© — a diagnostic tool that benchmarks GTM capabilities against industry good practice using a Sales Velocity formula — the Accelerate Framework© — a prioritization and execution methodology for rapid sales-ecosystem change — and Growth Academy, a sales and leadership development program.

Following its October 2024 merger with Illustra, Merlin5 integrated an AI-powered virtual learning platform into Growth Academy, adding adaptive learning, immersive business simulations, and real-time data analysis to its service mix. The firm monetizes through direct enterprise field sales, quote-based multi-year consulting engagements, and capabilities assessments, with no standard pricing tiers publicly disclosed. Its client base spans large enterprises including Cognizant, Deloitte, T-Systems, Zendesk, Fujitsu, Telefonica Tech, Vodafone, Sony, Capgemini, HPE, DXC, CGI, Barclays, Atos, and EY. Merlin5 Limited is privately held and founder-led by Steve Short (CEO), with Martin Hess as Chairman; revenue is not publicly disclosed.

Name

Merlin5

Legal name

Merlin5 Limited

Website

https://merlin5.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Merlin5 is a London-based B2B go-to-market advisory firm serving private equity investors and enterprise clients with proprietary diagnostic tools (Growth Assessor), execution frameworks (Accelerate Framework), and AI-powered leadership development via its Growth Academy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Marylebone

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Go-to-Market Advisory Services: Professional consulting services providing expert guidance on revenue growth, sales performance optimization, and go-to-market strategy. Services include The Growth Assessor, data and insights, customer first approach, unique sales way methodology, talent and enablement, and go-to-market consulting.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Merlin5 is a B2B go-to-market advisory firm that helps private equity investors and portfolio leadership teams unlock revenue growth. Its core deliverables are diagnostic assessments (Growth Assessor©), execution frameworks (Accelerate Framework©), and capability-building programmes (Growth Academy, AI-enabled via the Illustra merger), delivered as bespoke consulting engagements on multi-year contracts.

Product overview

Merlin5 is a B2B go-to-market advisory firm that offers a portfolio of interconnected consulting services and proprietary tools. The core offerings include the Growth Assessor© diagnostic tool and Accelerate Framework© execution methodology, complemented by the AI-powered Growth Academy (enhanced by the acquired Illustra brand). The service modules—Data & Insights, Customer First, Go-to-Market, Unique 'Sales Way', and Talent & Enablement—work together as an integrated GTM transformation system, where the Growth Assessor baseline feeds into the Accelerate Framework for rapid implementation. Following the October 2024 merger with Illustra, the firm now also incorporates AI-driven virtual learning capabilities for sales and leadership development training.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Growth Assessor: A diagnostic tool that assesses go-to-market capabilities against industry good practices, providing actionable insights to optimize strategy, improve sales performance, and drive revenue growth.
• Accelerate Framework
• Growth Academy

Products and services

• Growth Assessor© Proprietary diagnostic tool that assesses an organisation's go-to-market capabilities against industry good practice. Delivers reports on GTM strategy alignment, customer-centric approach, channel effectiveness, sales process maturity, talent and capabilities, and data-driven insights, using the Sales Velocity formula to measure sales performance and identify revenue-growth opportunities. Sold as a standalone engagement to PE sponsors, portfolio companies and large enterprises.
• Accelerate Framework© Proprietary framework that prioritises, measures and executes rapid change across the sales ecosystem based on recommendations and interventions identified through the Growth Assessor. Sold as a structured execution engagement, typically following a Growth Assessor baseline.
• Growth Academy Sales and leadership development academy delivered through an AI-powered virtual learning platform that adapts to client needs and embeds sustainable change. Sold as a capability-building programme to PE-backed businesses and large enterprises.
• Illustra (Acquired Brand) Virtual AI-driven learning platform specialising in sales training and leadership development, now operated under Merlin5 following the October 2024 merger. Delivers immersive business simulations and real-time data analysis for global enterprise and PE clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• Scaled Vodafone's global B2B sales from €10M to €500M across seven countries
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• IllustracoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2024Merlin5 merged with Illustra, a leader in sales training and leadership development. The merger brings together Merlin5's strategic growth expertise with Illustra's cutting-edge AI-driven virtual learning platform. Steve Short, founder and CEO of Merlin5, stated that together the companies bring unique capabilities to help organisations build outstanding sales and leadership capabilities, combining top quality practitioners with market leading technology.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SalesGlobe: Sales and revenue consulting firm building custom sales models, compensation plans and go-to-market strategies for B2B enterprise clients; comparable to Merlin5's advisory + diagnostic offering.
• Winning by Design: B2B sales training and enablement firm combining frameworks, certifications and an online learning platform – highly comparable to Merlin5's post-Illustra practitioner + AI-learning model.
• Force Management: Sales transformation and revenue performance consultancy selling proprietary methodologies and enablement programs to enterprise and PE-backed companies; closest direct competitor to Merlin5's Growth Assessor/Accelerate Framework/Growth Academy stack.
• ITSMA: B2B services and technology marketing/sales advisory focused on complex go-to-market and account-based programs – overlaps Merlin5's Customer First and Find & Engage Customers modules.
• The Alexander Group: Revenue and sales consulting firm focused on go-to-market strategy, sales operations and customer experience for enterprise sales organizations – overlapping Merlin5's core service modules (Data & Insights, Unique Sales Way).
• Richardson Sales Performance: Global sales training and sales performance consultancy offering proprietary Sales Excellence Framework and customized programs; competes with the Talent & Enablement / Growth Academy pillar of Merlin5.
• SBI Growth: PE-focused revenue consulting firm specialising in commercial due diligence, value creation and growth strategy for portfolio companies – directly competes in Merlin5's primary PE/portfolio segment.

Emerging players

• Hinge: B2B professional services marketing and branding consultancy serving tech/services firms – adjacent to Merlin5's Customer First and revenue-growth mandate with a differentiated brand-led angle.

Broad incumbents

• Bain & Company (Sales & Customer Experience practice): Global strategy firm with dedicated PE value-creation and customer experience practices – competes with Merlin5 on large PE value-creation engagements and has the bench to absorb big mandates.
• McKinsey & Company (Sales & Marketing Practice): Global strategy consulting giant whose Sales & Marketing and PE-service practices target the same value-creation and commercial transformation mandates as Merlin5, but at much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/merlin5

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Merlin5