Sheldon.uk

An experienced head in the room when the business is under pressure.

Independent adviser and non-executive. Twenty years as a police officer, a company founder and one of fewer than fifty officers appointed by the Lord Chancellor to enforce the judgments of the High Court. I take on work with boards and business owners on risk, strategy and governance, a small number at a time, in the room.

The record

20+years of policing, enforcement and running my own companies, with two police commendations along the way

100K+readers a month across fifteen public reference sites I built and ran, with no advertising

11Mlegal data entities in that platform, cited by ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot

Under 50Authorised High Court Enforcement Officers in England and Wales. I have been one of them since 2021

Twenty years of policing, enforcement and running companies

Policing
Six years with Hampshire Constabulary, 2005 to 2011. Acting Sergeant, tutor constable, CID national investigators exam, two years on the Priority Crime Team. Commended twice, once for bravery and once for the investigation of a serious arson.
Building companies
Left the police to start my first company. Over the next decade founded, grew and sold several small businesses in debt collection, property services and retail premises, and served as Training and Compliance Manager for a national enforcement group along the way.
Regulated services
Appointed by the Lord Chancellor in 2021 as an Authorised High Court Enforcement Officer, one of fewer than fifty in England and Wales. Answerable for conduct, complaints and staff to the Senior Master of the High Court. The role continues beside the work on this page.
Publishing and data
Built and ran the Justice Index, fifteen reference sites on enforcement, courts, sentencing, prisons and policing, with eleven million legal data entities checked against the statute. It reached more than a hundred thousand readers a month and was cited by ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot.
Technology
Since 2024 I have designed, written and run production AI systems: research agents that read filings and statute, on-chain monitors that read token contracts directly, and verification pipelines that check published figures against their source.
Digital assets
Gave evidence to the Crypto and Digital Assets APPG in 2022 and spoke at NFT London the same year on global crypto regulation. In the sector since 2018. I built a register of what holders of tokenised stocks actually own, read from the issuing documents.
Advisory
Board and advisory seats, standing retainers and single commissioned questions, on risk, strategy and governance.
Credentials
Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership, 2026. Level 7 Diploma in Risk Management, 2026. ICA Certificate in Anti Money Laundering, Distinction, 2025. Henley Business School, Executive Hedge Fund Programme, 2025. Oxford Saïd Business School, Artificial Intelligence Programme, 2025. Level 6 Paralegal Practice in Debt Recovery, Paralegal of the Year 2020. MBA in progress at Wrexham University.
Memberships
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management. Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Member of the London Institute of Banking and Finance. CILEX Paralegal. Member of the High Court Enforcement Officers Association.

Three ways to work with me

A seat on the board, or beside it

ForFounders and chairs of owner-managed or growth businesses who want an independent director or adviser who has run companies.
What you getBoard meetings attended and prepared for, a challenge on risk and strategy, and an answer between meetings when one is needed.
ShapeAnnual appointment, reviewed each year. Two or three at a time.

A written report each quarter

ForLeadership teams in regulated, credit or asset-heavy sectors who want an outside view on risk and direction.
What you getA written quarterly report on risk and direction for your business, a handful of meetings a year to work it through, and the research behind it.
ShapeAnnual retainer. A handful of meetings a year and a written view each quarter.

A report on a single decision

ForA board facing a single decision. A new market, a structure under stress, a deal, a regulator's letter.
What you getA written report that says what I would do and why, with the evidence.
ShapeFixed fee agreed up front, delivered in weeks.

Most problems are visible months before anyone acts on them

Most of what goes wrong in a business is visible months ahead and ignored until it is weeks away. I have watched that in debtors in their final fortnight, in investors holding a token they thought was a share, and in boards reading a regulator's letter for the third time. I wrote the pattern up at Consequence Horizon. The point of having me in the room is to bring that moment forward.

The nearer a consequence gets, the more it weighs. The curve is hyperbolic discounting, the shape Ainslie measured in 1975.

Tell me about the business and the question

I am not building a practice. A few boards and leadership teams at a time, in person where it matters. A few lines on the business and what is keeping you up is enough. I read everything and reply to real questions.