Fractional CTO
Senior technical leadership - without the full-time hire.
Not every business needs a full-time CTO. But every business making significant technology decisions needs someone who's been there before. Our Fractional CTO service gives you experienced technical leadership at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire - on the days and terms that make sense for your business.
Who it's for
The situations where a Fractional CTO delivers the most value.
Post-investment businesses
You've raised funding and need technical leadership to deploy it well - without a 6-month executive search for a full-time CTO at £150k+.
Founder-led SMEs
You're a non-technical founder who's been making technology decisions by intuition for years. You know you need someone technical in the room - just not full-time.
Businesses between CTOs
Your previous CTO has left. You need continuity, oversight, and leadership while you find the right permanent replacement - without the operation stalling.
Companies evaluating a platform rebuild
You're facing a significant technology decision - rebuild, replace, or extend? You need a credible technical voice who can challenge vendors and give you an honest assessment.
What's included
Hands-on, strategic, and technical - depending on what you need most.
Technology Strategy & Roadmap
A clear, prioritised view of your technology investments for the next 12–24 months - what to build, what to buy, what to replace, and in what order. With justification the board can understand and act on.
Vendor & Platform Selection
Independent guidance on which off-the-shelf tools to use, which to avoid, and where custom-built is the better long-term investment. Recommendations are never influenced by vendor relationships.
Architecture & Technical Design
System architecture decisions made correctly at the start - database design, API structures, security models, and infrastructure choices that won't need to be unpicked six months in because they were rushed.
Engineering Team Leadership
Hands-on support for your internal or outsourced development team - code reviews, sprint planning, engineering process, and quality standards. The kind of oversight that prevents expensive mistakes.
Procurement & Agency Management
If you're working with an external development agency or freelancers, we can manage the relationship, own the brief, review the output, and protect your interests. A badly specified brief costs far more than our time will.
Board-Level Technology Reporting
Translating the technical into the commercial - so your board and investors can make informed decisions about technology investment, risk, and capability without needing to understand the underlying detail.
How we work
Engaged, available, and honest - not a retainer-holder who turns up once a month.
We typically engage on a day-per-week or two-days-per-week basis, with specific deliverables agreed at the outset. We're available by phone and message between sessions for the issues that can't wait until the next scheduled day.
We'll tell you when you genuinely need a full-time hire. We'll also tell you when a vendor is overselling, when a project is underestimated, or when the technology strategy you've been presented with is solving the wrong problem. That honesty is the point.
Engagements typically run for a minimum of three months. Many clients continue indefinitely - because ongoing technical leadership is part of how they stay ahead, not a stopgap.
Have an initial conversation1–2
Days per week - flexible to what your business needs
£150k+
Saved vs. a full-time CTO hire at the equivalent seniority
3 months
Minimum engagement - enough time to make a real difference
100%
Independent - no vendor relationships influencing our advice
Making a significant technology decision? Let's talk first.
Book a free 45-minute conversation. No obligation - just an honest assessment of your situation and whether a Fractional CTO engagement would give you what you actually need.
Book a conversation