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. Board director of Operio Group from 2022 to 2026, and advisory board member at WIT in 2026; seeking further independent seats.
In 2026 he oversaw the divestiture of Operio Group's operating businesses and then the structured wind-down of the holding company. For an owner facing a covenant problem, a lender losing patience, or a business that has to be sold faster than anyone planned, he has done the work start to finish and will say early what he thinks is going to happen.
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.