Contract Risk Solutions
Empower your business with clear, accurate risk assessments that drive smarter decisions.
John Holden-Ross MA(Oxon) Solicitor
Founder jholdenross@gmail.com
Services
Pricing on request
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Keysteer - SMEs
SMEs don’t struggle with signing contracts. They struggle with understanding what really matters once the ink is dry.
KeysteerIContractSafe provides clear, structured contract risk reports designed specifically for SMEs.
The focus is not legal drafting detail, but commercial and financial exposure, operational dependency, and governance risk.
Our SME Contract Risk Reports help you:
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see where the real risk sits,
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understand how bad it could be for your business, and
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make informed Go / Go with Conditions / No-Go decisions.
Each report looks at:
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Financial & liability exposure (caps, indemnities, termination costs)
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Operational risk (dependency, suspension, lock-in, continuity)
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Data protection & regulatory risk
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Commercial balance & governance
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Reputational impact
A key feature of our Risk Report is its Ability to Pay assessment, asking not just what could happen, but whether the business could realistically absorb the impact if it did.
Ability to Pay focuses on whether your business could realistically absorb the impact of a serious contract problem, not just whether the contract terms look “standard”. For SMEs, this matters because a single significant loss, dispute or termination event can have a disproportionate effect on cashflow, assets and management focus.
In broad terms, A Keysteer Risk Report quantifies contract risk by identifying the most material exposures in the agreement such as liability caps, indemnities, termination costs, operational dependency and regulatory risk. It assesses how severe and how controllable those risks would be in practice. That risk view is then considered alongside the business’s own financial position, using high-level indicators such as scale of the contract, available cash, asset base, insurance cover and overall contract commitments.
The result is not a technical score for its own sake, but a practical insight into whether a particular risk would be uncomfortable, painful or potentially destabilising for the business. This helps owners and directors make more grounded decisions before committing.
The result is a plain-English, prioritised risk view that directors can actually use.
How It Works Confidentiality first A mutual NDA (Confidentiality Agreement) is put in place before any contract is shared. You send the contract PDF or Word, plus a small amount of high-level business context (estimates are fine). Expert-led analysis The contract is analysed using a structured, AI-assisted risk framework. Independent professional review Every report is personally reviewed and sense-checked by a solicitor registered with the SRA, acting independently and applying professional judgement. Clear written report You receive a structured risk report with a clear recommendation. Discussion if helpful We talk through the findings and what they mean for your decision (optional)
Why Keysteer Risk Reports Can Be Trusted Keysteer is not a black-box or self-serve tool. AI is used to assist analysis and structure risk, but outputs are reviewed and validated by a practising solicitor, registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority and carrying appropriate professional indemnity insurance. This human-in-the-loop approach is deliberate, ensuring a consistent underlying risk framework and experienced professional judgement to ensure reports are coherent, explainable and commercially meaningful for SMEs.
Confidentiality & Data Protection All information shared with John Holden-Ross is treated as strictly confidential. A mutual NDA is used for all engagements. Contracts and background information are used solely for the purpose of producing your report. Information is not shared, reused, or disclosed to third parties. Confidentiality and discretion are central to how we operate.
Professional Status & Scope Keysteer service packages are led by John Holden-Ross, registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (No. 136819), acting in an independent professional capacity.
About John Holden-Ross John is a solicitor, a senior legal and commercial practitioner with extensive cross-specialism experience across: complex commercial, banking, and project finance contracts, public and private sector projects, governance, risk and board-level decision-making. He has been a partner at 2 national/city firms. He has also worked at senior levels in both legal and commercial capacities in industry and has worked extensively across public and private sectors. He has been accredited by the Government Commercial College as a Skilled & Advanced Practitioner relating to the Procurement Act 2023.