Consulting

Consulting has been integral to Christopher Deliso’s professional portfolio of services since 2004. Relevant firms with specific needs should feel free to reach out.

Working in a freelance and contract capacity for boutique and mid-sized UK and EU consultancies, as well as international development projects, he has handled projects including corporate due diligence, corporate political risk analysis, M&A deals across numerous industries with professionalism and discretion.

Although standard industry practices require confidentiality in terms of clients and projects in the vast majority of cases, the below (very general) description of some examples of these projects.

Example 1: A Tentative Acquisition in the East of Europe

-An international firm, which had been considering the acquisition of a large metals company in an Eastern European country, hires a boutique consulting firm to perform Due Diligence on two major businessmen involved in the target company. Sub-contracted to look into the matter, Christopher Deliso not only resolved the reputational issues in play, but also investigated additional questions that emerged from one of the individuals (previously unknown to the client) influence in the national strategic transport network. The cumulative information sufficed to help the prospective investors make their decision.

Example 2: Highlighting the Work of a UN Agency for a Marginalized Balkan Community

-A UN aide agency hired Christopher Deliso to help conduct interviews and take photographs for internal agency publications, with the goal of highlighting their efforts on a national level towards assisting to the marginalized Roma community of Macedonia. This effort, which involved visiting different settlements around the country and speaking with community members, successfully highlighted the steps that the UN agency had was taking with its national program, while also spreading awareness about the hardships faced by the community at the time. The project thus elicited a favorable result for both the UN agency’s best-practices and fundraising pursuits, while also raising awareness about a generally under-reported human-rights issue,

Example 3: The Industry-Environment Connection

-A significant EU consulting firm hired Christopher Deliso to explore the possible connections between environmental protests over Eastern European mining operations, with an eye to both network mapping and strategic analysis of different scenarios of interest to the investor. These included investigating the potential for surreptitious interference from commercial rivals, local political/business rivals, and even the state interests of international powers. The successful completion of the project gave the client an enhanced understanding, bas of the local realities affecting its investment risk and the likelihood of future scenarios.

Example 4: Explicating a National Security Architecture

-A major UK security specialist consultancy tasked Christopher Deliso with conducting detailed research, based on open sources and expert interviews, to compile a private report on the national security council of a major European NATO power. Along with the history and description of the NSC over time and its various structures, particular attention was requested to be given to the leadership executives of the relevant NSC and their relationship to the national leadership. In this successful consulting project, Christopher Deliso was able to deliver on short notice a highly unique, detailed and otherwise not available report on a very important, but little-known security structure, delivering the report on a short timeline as well.

Examples 5 and 6: Banking on Exclusive Information

-In the first example, a major global financial firm wishing to acquire an Eastern European bank approached an established British consulting firm, to conduct due diligence concerning alleged corrupt practices, unclear foreign influence, and key officers. In the second, similar example, another UK consultancy is approached to look into specific leadership issues at a regional bank chain. In both cases, Christopher Deliso provided exclusive insights through forensic investigation, records checks and interviews with experts in the international and regional financial sector. His tailored reports were able to help the relevant clients in both cases to make more informed investment decisions and mitigate risk.

Example 7: Geopolitical Risk Assessment

-A boutique EU consultancy approached Christopher Deliso to investigate political risk factors and general security scenarios for a soecific Western Balkan country. In the investigation, which was carried out using a combination of open-sources research, interviews with informed officials and diplomats, and the consultant’s own contextual knowledge, a variety of requested risk scenarios were analyzed; these included potential Russian and Chinese influence in the target country, the potential for inter-ethnic violence, nigration pressures, organized crime and corruption risks, and diplomatic outcomes. The comprehensive report allowed the client to acquire a more nuanced view of the national security situation and likely future political and diplomatic outcomes.

Example 8: Putting a Country on the Digital Map

-Working at the request of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Christopher Deliso provided editorial and creative consulting services to complementing the efforts of a team of digital contractors, with the common purpose of creating the very first national tourism portal of Republic of Macedonia (ExploringMacedonia.com). In this effort, Christopher Deliso was responsible for creating the initial structure of content, researching and writing informative texts about the history, culture and touristic destinations of the country, all in a manner that would make a relatively unknown Balkan state recovering from a recent war seem appealing and desirable for foreign travelers- all at a time of immense change in the early Internet. The result of the project was an enduring website that remains today under administration of a local IT leader in cooperation with the relevant promotional authorities.

These examples are just a few notable hghlights from Christopher Deliso’s consulting experience. Companies requiring the input of an independent and experienced consultant, with contextual knowledge of the historic and current factors at play in the region, should reach out for more information on availability and rates.

–

f