WHAT WE DO · PRESERVE
A founder, elder, family or institution holds knowledge that is scattered across people, records, devices and places—and some of it cannot be reconstructed later.
This becomes relevant when the preserve question affects more than one person, asset, adviser or future use.
A DIFFERENT STARTING POINT
A trusted source of truth that can support family continuity, publishing, reputation, cultural work, rights and responsible technology without repeatedly rebuilding the past.
The work is shaped around the consequence you are trying to prevent and the future state you need—not around selling a predetermined production format.
A SITUATION YOU MAY RECOGNISE
Imagine a founder entering a planned succession. The family requests a commemorative book. The most consequential material, however, is still in the founder's memory: why a partner was trusted, why a sale was refused and what earlier failures taught the enterprise. A book begun before those accounts are captured can look complete while leaving successors without the judgment behind the story.
Original context, version history and permission can disappear during transfer or digitisation. Sensitive material can reach a wider circle before access is agreed. A private AI assistant trained on unreliable or unconsented files then amplifies mistakes rather than creating a trusted memory.
The first conversation identifies what must be decided now, who is entitled to decide it and what may remain private. From there, a narrow review or a connected programme can be defined.
CONNECTED AREAS
Each area can stand alone, but consequential situations often require several to remain connected.
Preserve first-person memory, verified history and the context that gives a life, family or institution its meaning.
Turn scattered records and tacit knowledge into an organised, governed and usable source of truth.
THE DECISIONS BEHIND THE WORK
HOW WORK BEGINS
A first brief names the people to interview while they are available, the records to protect, the approval owner and the one immediate output worth developing.
We begin with an inventory and priority assessment. Custody, provenance, ownership, sensitivity, preservation standard, metadata, retrieval and access are designed before technology is selected. Digitisation, search and any AI layer can then be developed against those requirements, with human review and a clear account of what the system must never disclose or infer.
We then recommend a sequence, the relevant specialist roles, access boundaries and approval points. The outcome is a defensible decision about what should happen next; it is not a commitment to every possible output.
QUESTIONS BEFORE CONTACT
Preservation is not the same as collecting everything. It begins by deciding what is authoritative, what carries meaning, who may access it and how provenance will survive every future use. This is a decision discipline rather than a predetermined format or collection of deliverables.
Legacy Capture, Story & Heritage, Digital Legacy, Archives & Private Knowledge can each stand alone. They belong together only when the same evidence, people, rights or future consequence connects the decisions.
A trusted source of truth that can support family continuity, publishing, reputation, cultural work, rights and responsible technology without repeatedly rebuilding the past.
Start with the decision that cannot safely wait. Map the evidence, authority and dependencies around it, then add another preserve workstream only when it materially changes the outcome or prevents rework.
A founder, elder, family or institution holds knowledge that is scattered across people, records, devices and places—and some of it cannot be reconstructed later. Relevance is defined by consequence, timing and the cost of fragmented decisions—not by status or a fixed wealth threshold.
No. Begin with what changed, the decision you are facing and what you are trying to protect. A first conversation can distinguish a narrow specialist brief, a Private Review and a wider coordinated engagement.
Yes. A principal or trusted adviser can describe the fact pattern, timing and desired outcome without naming the family or sharing confidential records. Identity and documents should follow only after fit, authority, conflicts and confidentiality are clear.
Usually not. The role is to keep the wider objective, sequence and decision memory connected while legal, tax, investment, immigration, brokerage, valuation, security and other qualified specialists retain authority in their fields.
It should clarify the decision owner, relevant evidence, stakeholders, privacy boundaries, risks, specialist roles and the smallest defensible next step. It should remain useful even if the recommendation is to pause or continue with an existing adviser.
Yes. Family-only, adviser, board, restricted and public layers can be separated. A public book, film, profile, event or venture is never assumed simply because the underlying subject has public value.
A sensible first step
A private review can establish what is at stake, which evidence and people matter, and the smallest sensible scope of work.
Request a Private Review