In large assurance firms, sustainability engagements are often staffed by junior associates following standardised checklists with limited senior oversight. The professionals whose credentials supported the proposal are rarely involved beyond the pitch and final sign-off.

Boutique ESG specialists like Speeki operate differently. Senior practitioners with deep sustainability expertise are directly involved throughout the engagement.

You are not relying on junior staff learning on the job. You work with experienced professionals who have led hundreds of ESG assurance engagements and can identify issues that checklist-driven approaches often miss.

Large firms are optimised for efficiency and volume: complete the checklist, issue the opinion and move on to the next client. This production-line approach may achieve technical compliance but delivers limited strategic value.

Boutique specialists like Speeki take the time to understand your business model, sector-specific sustainability challenges, competitive position and long-term ESG strategy.

Our work goes beyond verification. We benchmark against peers, identify emerging sector risks, highlight gaps in materiality assessments and outline practical improvements to strengthen reporting and performance.

When sustainability is the sole focus of the firm, not one service line among many, you work with advisors committed to your ESG objectives, not auditors rushing to their next engagement.

Large firms operate through layers of approvals, standardised methodologies, global quality reviews and procedures designed for their largest clients.

Answers to technical questions can take days as queries move through multiple levels. Schedule changes require navigating complex resourcing systems. Custom approaches often need approval from several internal teams.

Boutique firms like Speeki operate differently. Senior practitioners make decisions directly, respond quickly and adapt methodologies to your specific circumstances without internal bureaucracy.

When regulatory requirements change or urgent guidance is needed on emerging disclosure expectations, boutique specialists can respond immediately, while larger firms are still coordinating internal discussions.

Large audit firms added sustainability to existing audit practices as client demand increased, often staffing engagements with auditors who have completed ESG training courses. Their core DNA remains financial and quality audit. Sustainability is an extension, not the foundation.

Boutique ESG firms like Speeki were built specifically for sustainability work. Our practitioners come from backgrounds in environmental science, corporate responsibility, sustainability consulting and ESG advisory, not traditional audit training programmes.

This distinction matters. Boutique firms understand sustainability as professionals who have worked in this field throughout their careers, not as generalists adapting existing audit models to a new service area.

In large firms, clients are often treated as entries in a global portfolio and assigned based on capacity within a practice. Account managers rotate frequently as staff are promoted or reassigned, and knowledge of your business is often lost during handovers.

Boutique firms like Speeki build long-term client relationships. The same senior practitioners work with you year after year, developing a deep understanding of your sustainability journey, organisational culture and specific challenges.

We retain context from previous engagements, track progress on prior improvement areas and understand how your stakeholder landscape and materiality priorities evolve over time. This continuity supports a partnership approach rather than transactional service delivery.

When your assurance provider knows your business and is invested beyond a single engagement, the quality of advice and long-term value of the relationship increases significantly.

Large firms operate leveraged business models that maximise profit by deploying junior staff billed at premium rates while limiting senior practitioner involvement.

This creates misaligned incentives. Efficiency and standardisation are rewarded, while deeper technical work and tailored analysis are discouraged because they consume senior time.

Boutique specialists like Speeki operate differently. Our value is based on expertise, not leverage.

We price engagements around senior practitioner involvement and technical complexity, not junior staff utilisation. This means our incentives are aligned with investing senior expertise in your engagement rather than minimising it.

You pay for quality and insight, and our business model rewards delivering both. In contrast, large firms often charge premium rates for junior-staffed, checklist-driven work that prioritises margin over outcomes.