Negotiation & commercial advisory for founder-led brands
Structuring and negotiating trading terms, retailer agreements and high-stakes commercial deals with clarity, balance and commercial discipline.
Negotiation & Deal Structuring
Supporting founders to create sustainable, long-term commercial value, while fostering and maintaining lasting business relationships via well-structured, commercially disciplined negotiations that secure best possible outcomes. This includes:
Negotiating retailer launches, trading terms, joint business and investment plans, and partnerships
Structuring supplier, agency, and distribution agreements
Modelling scenarios; defining target outcomes; and mapping break points, incremental moves, and concession trades
Quantifying bottom-line impact to protect and enhance long-term profitability
Engagements range from one-off advisory and coaching sessions through to defined negotiation support, delivered behind the scenes and / or through direct negotiation involvement.
Services
Brand Collaborations
Providing independent commercial support to founder-led businesses in the identification, origination, structuring, and brokering of brand collaborations (collabs) to drive incremental sales, brand visibility, and reach. This includes:
Identifying and securing strong-fit partners and balancing asymmetry between brands by identifying each brand’s strengths and determining how to leverage for mutual benefit
Defining scope and commercial mechanics: margins, contributions, forecasts, agreed-upon minimum thresholds, exclusivity, IP protection, territories, and timelines
Agreeing success metrics and supporting project execution
Structuring clear, executable agreements that are commercially sound for both parties
Depending on objectives, The Deal Room Consulting can act as a neutral broker between parties to achieve the best joint outcome, with a collective fee based on the realisation of success-based elements, or can work on behalf of one party.
Commercial Advisory
Enabling founders to benefit from flexible senior commercial leadership input to strengthen strategic planning, commercial decision-making, revenue and margin optimisation, and partner and supplier negotiations, with a focus on long-term value creation.
As relevant, support can extend to business preparation for early investment and investor introductions.
“Emma brought much needed clarity and structure to a complex, high-stakes negotiation, helping me to understand the deal dynamics and preparing and supporting me throughout, ultimately securing a favourable outcome”, Founder, Beauty Sector
“Emma helped us to boost brand awareness and generate a real buzz in a very competitive market by working with the business to identify and secure a good-fit brand collab opportunity that has enabled us to tap into and leverage a new customer base” Founder, Consumer Brand
Initial conversations are confidential and designed to confirm scope and next steps.
About
Recognising the benefits to founder-led growth-stage businesses of flexible, practical, and expert hands-on support, timed when this is needed most, The Deal Room Consulting has been established to provide just that.
Founded by Emma Resouly, The Deal Room Consulting focuses on strengthening commercial outcomes, with Emma partnering and supporting founders as they manage crucial negotiations and navigate growth.
Emma brings 20+ years of management success within consumer businesses to consulting engagements, with particular expertise in beauty, wellness, and adjacent categories. She has senior leadership experience across both large corporate and rapid-growth founder-led start-up environments. She has planned and led on business-critical negotiations with retailers, partners, and suppliers across the UK, EU, and the USA, including complex logistics, distribution, and PR partnerships.
As UK Managing Director for New Flag, with a portfolio of innovative beauty brands, Emma assumed full strategic and P&L accountability, negotiating annual trading terms agreements and omni channel retailer launch plans and advising founders on structuring to drive growth.
Informing and underpinning this professional experience is a current and comprehensive portfolio of continuing professional development. Notably, this includes negotiation accreditations from the internationally renowned GAP Partnership, a 2025 awarded MBA Essentials qualification from the LSE focused on the core pillars of business management and leadership, and a 2:1 Business Economics Degree from The University of Exeter.
Emma brings clear thinking, structure, and an independent commercial perspective as a trusted advisor and neutral broker in the exploration, preparation, structuring, negotiation, and execution of high-stakes commercial deals. She ensures discipline, commercial soundness, and strategic alignment, while translating and simplifying the multiple complexities that can often overwhelm.
With input aligned to suit specific business needs and budgets, engagements can be discrete and deal-specific or longer-term via an ongoing retainer arrangement.
Contributing month-to-month as an extension of the leadership team, Emma removes the need for, and expense of, a permanent executive hire. With a focus on long-term value creation, she provides ongoing commercial oversight, critical scrutiny, advisory support, and an expert sounding board for decision-making.
When helpful, The Deal Room Consulting can introduce and lead the expert input of trusted partners, such as product development, operations, logistics, brand and PR specialists.
Contact
To discuss a potential engagement, please complete the form below or email directly at hello@thedealroomconsulting.com
All enquiries begin with a confidential 20-minute call to understand your objectives, commercial context, and the type of support required. This call is designed to confirm next steps, including scope and fee structure, rather than to provide detailed deal advice.