Proven leadership for mid-market businesses without the cost, delay, or commitment of a permanent hire — part-time on retainer, full-time for a defined period, or in the boardroom. Available now. Plus selective consulting and speaking across AI deployment, M&A, manufacturing, and marketing.
Part-time chief executive leadership on an ongoing retainer — typically one to two days a week. Not advice from the sidelines: ownership of the operating cadence, the leadership team, and the numbers, alongside a founder who keeps doing what only they can do. Suited to founder-led businesses scaling past what one person can run, and to investor-backed companies between phases.
The seat itself, full-time, for a defined period — a departure, a transition, a turnaround, or the run-up to a sale. Stabilize the business, run it properly, and hand over to a permanent successor. He has run this play from the other side: in 2025 he recruited his own successor as CEO of Operio Group and managed the transition.
Independent board service for owner-operated and investor-backed companies: governance with an operator's eye, M&A judgment from nine completed transactions, and the willingness to say the uncomfortable thing early. Currently a board director of Operio Group and advisory board member at WIT; seeking further independent seats.
Practical adoption of AI inside operating businesses, including the design and rollout of private, in-house large language models. Engagements typically focus on identifying high-value use cases across operations, sales, and support, and translating them into measurable cost savings and efficiency gains.
A practitioner's view on translating ambitious, multi-year objectives — an acquisition programme, a new market entry, an operational turnaround — into structured workstreams, milestones, and accountability. Project execution without the project-management theatre.
Nine completed transactions — four acquisitions, four divestitures, and one sale-leaseback — providing perspective on origination, diligence, SPA and APA negotiation, and the post-close integration work that ultimately determines return. Sessions are tailored to operators, investors, or advisors, and to the stage of the deal in question.
Scaling a founder-led business into a credible mid-market platform: where to invest ahead of the curve, where to hold, and the operating decisions that compound over a decade. Drawn from building a manufacturing group from the ground up to nine-figure revenue.
Group architecture for owner-operated and acquisitive businesses: where value should sit, how to structure for cross-border operations and tax efficiency, and the unglamorous decisions that make subsequent integration and exit straightforward.
Modern B2B, B2C and B2BC™ marketing in an AI-first search landscape. How to make a brand, its products, and its expertise genuinely discoverable and citable inside the major AI platforms (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity), and what that means for the structure and priorities of an in-house marketing function.
On family as a unifying entity, the long arc from London market stalls to Operio, and the unglamorous work of integrating acquisitions while protecting culture.
The logic behind Operio — why unifying machinery and ingredients under one roof ends the finger-pointing — and a candid walkthrough of the "digestion phase" after three acquisitions in a year.
A longer-form conversation on entrepreneurship, adversity, and building through the unfinished middle.
A deeper conversation on the operator's life — ventures, family, and what carries through.
A fractional CEO leads part-time on an ongoing retainer — typically one to two days a week over many months — alongside a founder or leadership team that stays in place. An interim CEO takes the seat full-time for a defined period, usually to cover a sudden vacancy, a transition, or a turnaround, and hands over to a permanent successor at the end.
A monthly retainer scaled to the days committed — a fraction of the salary, bonus, equity, and recruitment fees a full-time chief executive of the same experience would command, with no long-term employment obligation. Exact terms depend on scope and are agreed before an engagement starts.
Days to weeks, not months. A permanent CEO search typically takes six to twelve months; a fractional or interim engagement is often the bridge that makes a proper search possible.
Founder-led and investor-backed mid-market businesses — companies large enough to need real leadership infrastructure and small enough that one experienced operator changes the trajectory. Sector-agnostic, with the deepest first-hand experience in manufacturing, industrial, distribution, and B2B businesses operating internationally.
With succession, by design. Every engagement is structured to leave a permanent team standing — he has run this play on himself, recruiting his own successor as CEO of Operio Group in 2025 and managing the handover.
Limited bandwidth, high commitment when I take something on. Typical remits: M&A strategy and deal support; post-merger integration; marketing and brand for industrial businesses; in-house AI and LLM work.
Universities, executive groups, and industry events — entrepreneurship, M&A, and practical AI adoption, told from the operator's side of the table rather than the podium's.
Rates on request. Please enquire and I'll come back quickly.