A market intelligence and growth advisory firm is research-led by definition: the recommendation is built on primary evidence, not opinion or a borrowed framework. The read and the advice come from the same senior people, so the intelligence carries straight through to the decision instead of being handed from a data vendor to a separate strategy team.

A research vendor sells data and reports; a consultancy sells strategy, often on someone else's data; a market intelligence and growth advisory firm does both, from one bench. Vendors are strong on data but stop at findings. Consultancies move to strategy but may not own the evidence. The advisory firm traces every claim to its source and carries it to a decision.

The brief sets the price the way it sets the effort and the timeline; the cost follows the decision in front of you, scoped to what the work actually needs. Mid-market by design, because we built Dromley on the conviction that good research shouldn't cost what the Big 4 charges for it. You get the number upfront, before any work begins. Serious research, priced for people who still have to run the business after they've bought it.

Faster than the months a traditional firm quotes. A focused brief can land in weeks, and a sprint-style read on a single decision faster still. The timeline is set by your decision's deadline, not a standard project plan.

No, but it changes what people do. AI now handles production, drafting, synthesis, and processing, at a speed no human matches, while study design, interpretation, and the judgment that turns findings into a decision stay human. The strongest results come from human-led, AI-enhanced work, which is how we run.

If the decision carries real capital or risk, yes, and the research should size the opportunity before you commit, not justify a choice already made. The goal is not a report; it is a read clear enough to act on, or to walk away from.

Press them on five things: who actually does the work, whether claims trace to a source, whether their revenue is independent of what they recommend, whether they fit the mid-market or only enterprise, and whether the work ends in a decision or just findings. Most firms are strong on one or two; the best are strong on all five.