Rapid value creation and exit-ready leadership for portfolio companies — deployed within days, not months.
Leadership Services works with PE-backed businesses as a rapid-deployment, outcome-accountable fractional leadership partner. We understand the specific context of PE ownership: the pressure of investment timelines, the reporting requirements of institutional investors, the commercial cadence of a business being actively managed for value creation, and the concentrated leadership demands of the exit process.For portfolio companies with leadership gaps identified at acquisition, we deploy fractional directors within five business days — filling functional vacancies while permanent recruitment proceeds, or providing the specialist expertise required for specific programme phases. For value creation plans that require coordinated leadership across multiple functions simultaneously, we deploy the Transformation Directorate model: two to four fractional directors operating as a single managed programme under one engagement, ensuring that commercial, operational, financial, and technology workstreams are all advancing in parallel.We have supported PE-backed businesses through the full investment lifecycle — from the immediate post-close leadership stabilisation period through to exit-ready EBITDA maximisation and the due diligence preparation that determines deal terms.
Challenge:
A PE-backed professional services business had acquired a smaller competitor at deal close but had no internal CFO capability to lead the financial integration. The acquiring business’s management accounts were already running three weeks late and the LP reporting was at risk.
Approach:
A fractional CFO was deployed within four days of the request. They led the financial integration workstream — consolidating the chart of accounts, standardising management reporting across the combined entity, and rebuilding the LP reporting template to the standard required by the investor. The CFO also identified £340,000 of duplicate overhead that could be eliminated through the integration.
Outcome:
LP reporting was delivered on time for the first post-acquisition quarter. Financial integration was completed in eleven weeks — six weeks ahead of the original plan. The duplicate overhead was eliminated, contributing directly to EBITDA improvement in year one.
Challenge:
A PE-backed logistics business had a value creation plan that required simultaneous commercial, operational, and technology transformation over 18 months — but no C-suite bandwidth to run all three workstreams in parallel.
Approach:
Leadership Services deployed a Transformation Directorate: a fractional Commercial Director, COO, and CTO operating as a coordinated programme under a single engagement. The three directors met weekly to align priorities, share client intelligence, and ensure no workstream was creating obstacles for the others.
Outcome:
Revenue grew 31% over 18 months. Operational cost per unit fell 14%. The technology programme — a TMS implementation — went live on time and on budget. The business achieved exit at 7.2x EBITDA — above the 6.5x target set at acquisition.
Challenge:
A PE-backed healthcare services business had 22 months until its planned exit window. The CFO had left suddenly and the management accounts, financial model, and investor materials were all inadequate for the due diligence process the business would face.
Approach:
A senior fractional CFO with PE and healthcare exit experience was deployed within five days. They rebuilt the management accounts from scratch, constructed a detailed LTM financial model, and began building the vendor due diligence pack fourteen months before the anticipated process start.
Outcome:
The business entered its sale process with institutional-grade financials, a fully prepared VDD pack, and a fractional CFO who could present to buyers with authority and commercial fluency. The deal completed at the top of the initial valuation range, with no financial due diligence retrades.
Most engagements begin within five business days of an initial consultation — and for urgent post-deal or crisis situations, we can often deploy a director within 48 hours. There is no recruitment process, no notice period, and no agency fee. We maintain a network of senior fractional directors with direct PE experience across all major functional specialisms, and we match each deployment to the director whose sector background, investment stage experience, and functional expertise is most relevant to the specific portfolio company context.
Yes — and in most cases this is the default model. Fractional directors from Leadership Services are experienced at working within existing management teams: providing the senior functional expertise and accountability that the team needs without displacing or undermining existing capability. They are not consultants who produce reports and leave. They are embedded, accountable leaders who sit at the leadership table, own functional outcomes, and operate as genuine colleagues of the existing management team throughout the engagement.
Yes. We have supported PE-backed businesses through every phase of the investment lifecycle: immediate post-close leadership stabilisation, value creation plan execution, operational and commercial transformation, exit preparation, and the specific leadership requirements of a live sale or fundraising process. Engagements can be scaled up or down as the investment thesis evolves — adding directors as transformation programmes accelerate and stepping back as permanent hires are made. The model is designed to be exactly as flexible as the PE investment requires.
We work with both. PE houses engage us directly to assess leadership gaps in potential acquisition targets (as part of pre-deal commercial due diligence), to plan the leadership resource requirements of their value creation plan before deal close, and to deploy fractional directors rapidly post-completion. Portfolio companies also engage us directly — particularly when the PE house is not in the day-to-day management of the portfolio and the CEO or MD needs to move quickly without waiting for investor approval of a permanent hire.
The Transformation Directorate deploys two to four fractional directors from our network as a single coordinated programme — with joint planning, shared client intelligence, and coordinated delivery across all functional workstreams. For PE-backed businesses running multi-function value creation plans, this is typically more effective than individual fractional director engagements, because it eliminates the coordination overhead and ensures that commercial, operational, and financial workstreams are advancing in parallel rather than sequentially. Pricing starts at £4,500 per month for a two-director programme.
If you are managing a PE portfolio company with a leadership gap, a value creation plan that needs executing, or an exit process approaching, talk to us. We will deploy the right director — or the right team of directors — within the week.
