Portfolio leadership on the sponsor’s clock.
The plan is signed off, but the operator who must deliver it has yet to join the business. The hold period is short. A quarter spent searching is expensive.
Where a hold period leaks time
Four points where the clock runs down:
The first months go on recruitment
A permanent search runs for a quarter or more while the plan is already running.
Reporting does not suit the deal team
Monthly packs built for management and not for the sponsor’s model.
Add-ons arrive faster than integration
A bolt-on acquisition with its own systems, contracts and employees who transfer under TUPE.
Founder and sponsor see two different businesses
Each side has a point, and with nobody in between the difference turns into friction.
Operators join portfolio companies within weeks, under a services agreement that follows the hold period instead of cutting across it. Sponsors bring us in to run a defined workstream, to cover until a permanent hire arrives, or to find out what the company needs before it commits to one.
Who this is for, and who it is not
Best for
- Deploying a senior operator inside a portfolio company
- Executing a 100-day plan the moment the deal closes
- Value creation through the hold, not another advisory report
- Building reporting, systems and management credibility before an exit
- Operational diligence and leadership-gap assessment before you buy
Not for
- A strategy deck or set of recommendations to hand back
- A business that wants an adviser, not an operator inside it
- Pure diligence with no operator deployed afterwards
- A mandate for oversight rather than hands-on execution
What sponsors get from the model
Operating partners and interim leaders are familiar tools in London private equity. We add a curated search and governance that runs for the whole engagement.
Governance the deal team can see
We agree the reporting rhythm with the sponsor and management at the start, and we raise drift against the value-creation plan early.
Depth behind one operator
A finance lead facing an integration question can call on an operator from the collective who has run one.
The brief survives a change of operator
Operators sometimes leave mid-hold. When that happens, we manage the handover and search again from the brief held for the asset.
Chosen to work between founder and sponsor
Plenty of portfolio problems are relationship problems. We match operators who can hold both sides of the table.
Across the PE investment lifecycle
From pre-deal to exit preparation.
Pre-deal: operational due diligence
Embed a Fractional COO or CFO to support your ODD. They identify gaps your model hasn't priced.
Post-acquisition: fill the leadership gaps
Start the search within days of instruction and have the right operator embedded within weeks. No recruitment pipeline, notice periods, or trial risk.
Value creation: operational improvement
Build financial infrastructure, operating cadences, commercial engines, and professional people structures.
Exit preparation: build credibility
A Fractional CFO producing clean board reporting and investor-grade financials is a meaningful credibility signal in any sale process.
The value-creation matrix
Each value-creation lever maps to the operator built to own it. Most plans pull two or three at once.
Portfolio company leadership options
Match the right fractional operator to the specific portfolio company need.
Our operating partners have worked at
