FAQ

A Fractional COO (sometimes called a part-time or interim COO) is a senior operations leader who works inside your business to fix what's holding back growth, without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire. Not an advisor. Not a consultant who writes a report and leaves. Someone who gets embedded in your team and takes ownership of making things work. How a typical engagement runs: Diagnose (weeks 1–4):  I start by rolling up sleeves, getting into the weeds, understanding how the business actually operates, not how the org chart says it should. I map the real bottlenecks, agree priorities, and set baseline KPIs. This phase is usually the most intensive, three or four days a week. Implement (months 1–3):  We build what's needed. That might be an operating model, SOPs, CRM/ERP, automation, reporting, whatever moves the needle most. I'm hands-on through this, but your team is involved from day one. This isn't something being done to them. Embed (months 3–6):  This is where the shift happens. I'm upskilling your permanent team, the people who'll run this long after I'm gone. Locking in the routines, the scorecards, the accountability cadence. My time starts reducing as their confidence and capability grows. Step back (ongoing):  Eventually I move into a coaching and advisory role. One or two days a month, sometimes quarterly. Attending board meetings, keeping the leadership team honest and focused on longer-term objectives, and making sure nobody quietly drifts back into firefighting / BAU mode. What this gives you: A business with clear ownership, reliable data, and repeatable processes. A team that runs the day-to-day without needing you in every decision. And a structure that scales, or exits cleanly. The whole point is capability transfer, not dependency. Strong systems, stronger people, and an operating rhythm that holds. For PE-backed businesses: This model is particularly valuable because I'm not part of the permanent cost base. My engagement is time-bound and transformation-focused, which means fees can typically be structured as a non-recurring cost and treated as an EBITDA add-back (subject to your CFO and auditor's sign-off, as with any add-back). The compounding effect is worth spelling out: better systems and processes drive efficiency and profit growth, which lifts EBITDA. The business becomes genuinely exit-ready and process-led, which supports a stronger multiple. And because my costs come off the run-rate, that EBITDA figure gets an additional boost. It's value creation from several angles at once.

A management consultant typically diagnoses problems, writes a set of recommendations, and hands you a report. What happens next is your problem. A Fractional COO, (at least the way I work), diagnoses and delivers. The practical difference: • I implement the ERP/CRM/Systems, not recommend one • I write the SOPs and coach the team to follow them, not hand over a framework • I own outcomes alongside you, not deliverables on a slide deck • I stay through implementation and transition, not just the scoping phase Done with you, not done to you. If you’ve been burned in the past by consultants who produced impressive documents that gathered dust, this is a very different model that creates measurable value.

It depends on where you are and what’s getting in the way. For most founders I work with, the pattern is similar: the business has grown but the operations haven’t kept pace. You’re still the bottleneck for too many decisions, the systems are held together with tape, and you’re spending more time firefighting than leading. The practical help typically covers: • Building an operating model so the business doesn’t need you in every room. • Implementing CRM/ERP systems that give you reliable data and a single source of truth for accurate management reporting. • Automating the repetitive work that’s eating your team’s time. • Putting in leadership routines, scorecards, and governance so you can delegate with confidence. Some founders want help preparing for an exit. Others just want to enjoy running their business again. Either way, the starting point is usually a short diagnostic to work out where the biggest pains and gains are, followed by a hands-on sprint to get them resolved. I’m not here to write a strategy document and leave, I assist until the changes stick.

Two types, broadly: • Founder-led scale-ups; usually £2m–£30m revenue, 10–150 staff. • PE-backed portfolio companies; typically 35–200 employees, lower-mid-market. The common thread is that growth has outpaced the operations holding it together. Systems are creaking, data’s unreliable, and too much depends on too few people. If that sounds familiar, you’re likely the right fit regardless of exactly where you sit in those ranges.

Manufacturing, tech and SaaS, e-commerce, and professional services. I’ve led operational change across all of these; from factory floors to software platforms. The operating principles (clear ownership, reliable data, repeatable processes, systems that scale) are universal. The context and detail is what changes between sectors, and that’s where 20+ years of cross-sector experience pays off. I’ve seen what works in one industry and applied it in another where nobody had thought to try it.

Both. I’m based in Essex and work with clients across the UK, Europe & the US. Early in an engagement I’m typically on-site more; you can’t understand how a business really works from a video call. As we move into implementation and then coaching, the balance shifts. Most ongoing advisory work happens remotely with periodic on-site days for workshops, board meetings, or when something needs hands-on attention. The mix depends entirely on what the business needs at each stage.

They might. Some resistance is natural and can be healthy; it usually means people care about how things work. The problems start when change is imposed without context or involvement. How I approach it: • Involve people early. If the team helps shape the solution, they’re far more likely to own it. • Show quick wins first. When people see a change that makes their day easier, the next change gets less pushback. • Coach through the transition, don’t impose it. I’m building capability, not creating dependency. • Be honest about what’s changing and why. People can handle hard truths. They can’t handle being kept in the dark. By the end of a sprint, most team members wonder why things weren’t done this way sooner. The resistance usually isn’t about the change itself; it’s about fear of how the change will affect them. Address that honestly and most of it melts away.

For the businesses I work with, a properly scoped CRM or ERP implementation usually takes 8–16 weeks to reach a working first phase. The key word is “properly scoped.” Most implementations fail because they try to do everything at once. The scope bloats, the team gets overwhelmed, and six months in you’ve spent a fortune and nobody’s using it properly. My approach: • Phase 1: Get the core right; the critical workflows, the data that matters, the reports / MI people actually need. • Phase 2: Prove the value; let the team use it, build confidence, iron out the rough edges. • Phase 3: Expand; add integrations, automation, and advanced reporting once the foundation is solid and user adoption is company wide. At a PE-backed professional services company, I built MS Dynamics from CRM into a full end-to-end ERP covering lead capture through to delivery. It achieved 60% labour efficiency savings. But we didn’t try to do that in week one. We built it in phases, proving value at each stage.

I’m transparent about pricing from the first conversation. No hidden costs, no scope creep surprises. How it’s typically structured: • Ops Diagnostic: Fixed fee. • Transformation Sprint: Monthly retainer or milestone-linked. • Ongoing advisory: Retainer or Day-rate based, reducing over time as your team takes on more. For PE-backed businesses, engagements can be structured as ring-fenced transformation cost for EBITDA add-back treatment (subject to auditor sign-off). This means the cost doesn’t dilute your run-rate EBITDA, only the operational improvement flows through to the exit multiple. The specifics are always worth discussing with your CFO or Accountant early on.