Fractional Operations Director / COO - creating the people, performance and process foundations to drive profitable growth

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You've probably landed here because you're a business owner who needs help.

Are you a visionary, ambitious leader with a business that's gone from strength to strength faster than you imagined?

Do you feel overwhelmed with everything you now need to get in place to grow your company and the stress is keeping you up at night?

Maybe you know that you need an experienced, high calibre leader to manage your operations, but don't have the budget to hire someone full-time, or the workload to keep them busy long-term?

Or you recognise that you simply don't know...what you don't know.

Do you want to get back to doing just the things you love, and work on your business rather than just in it?

Do you desperately want to succeed at scaling the company you worked so hard to create?

If so I can help.

I love creating order from chaos, solving problems and improving processes.

I love helping people and businesses become everything they can possibly become.

If it's clarity, confidence and results you need, then you've come to the right place.

Maybe your vision isn’t clearly understood or communicated…and the teams on the ground don’t understand what contribution they make?

Or you’re struggling with figuring out your people strategy? Which roles do you need, in which order, and help with the recruitment process? You might have underperforming team members, low morale or high turnover and not know what to do about it?

Are you faced with an Operations function that can no longer keep pace with sales? A growing volume of customer complaints that you don’t know how to turn around?


Or maybe you don't have time for the nuts and bolts of building your business foundation - robust, reliable policies, procedures and all that 'essential but dull' stuff?

Is your span of control too broad? Do you feel the business is limited by your ability to touch everything and you can't possibly imagine a day when you can step away or even contemplate a future sale?

Do you want to free up time to work on what's important, whilst feeling more organised and less stressed?

From people to processes, performance to planning, I can help.

I am an experienced (20+ years) Operations Director, passionate about developing operational capability through implementing the right people, process and performance frameworks to enable business growth.

After many years working for one of the world's largest, most successful global companies, I've seen how the big guys do it...


and with time working across SMEs as well as running my own successful Fractional Operations and Coaching business, I know how to adapt those great ideas to work for you.

Whatever your starting point, and wherever the destination, I'll work with you to develop your operational capability and ultimately create the transformation you deserve.


Are you frustrated with feeling like this...?

I know I need an experienced Operations Director...but can't afford someone full-time

We don't have any reliable data so make operational decisions based on 'gut-feel'

I want to sell my business one day, but how can I when every decision is down to me?

 My Operations teams are slow and make mistakes, so customers are complaining

I seem to run around in circles doing bits of everything, but never finishing anything!

I need a 'doer' - not a ‘drive-by consultant’ who throws  a list of tasks at me and then leaves

We have no clear processes or procedures to get consistent results - it feels chaotic

I've never managed a team before and now I'm bogged down in people issues

I want to scale the business but know I don't have the skills to do it quickly and efficiently

If so, then you've come to the right place. 

My deep operational expertise will optimise your
performance capability across people and processes to
 drive efficiencies, minimise costs and maximise profit.

Here's what a Fractional Operations Director / COO will do...


Fast-track your ability to break through the ceilings and overcome the challenges and blockages holding you back for a fraction of what it costs to hire someone like that full-time.


Focus organisational resources on your strategic priorities with clear ownership for delivery.


Define and implement the organisation structure, skills, roles and responsibilities needed for a successful, scalable Operations function.


Recruit, onboard and train talented individuals with a balance of quality and organisational fit.


Develop and embed systems and processes that ensure people in the organisation perform their jobs more effectively than before.


Eliminate bottlenecks and inefficiencies to reduce costs and deliver a great customer experience.


Establish metrics, management systems and KPIs to embed change and drive performance.


Participate in leadership team meetings, bring an objective, independent viewpoint and drive accountability to achieve goals.


Maximise profit and productivity whilst minimising costs.


Restore sanity, reduce stress, finally free you from being shackled to your own business and allow you to regain the feelings of satisfaction and enjoyment from the company you founded.


Create the emotional maturity that enables you to scale and grow in a way you couldn't do alone.

Performance

income | costs | productivity


Process

processes | procedures | technology


People

skills | recruitment | HR strategy


Planning

strategy | priorities | actions


Protection

insurance | risk | compliance


Personal Coaching

confidence | skills | balance


"Quality combines people power and process power"

Subir Chowdhury

Why choose to work with me?


Did I already mention that almost my entire career has been centred in Operations leadership roles?


It's what I know, what I love and where I perform at my best.


And I'm passionate about sharing my knowledge to improve and scale your organisation.

  • 20+ years' broad, full-time, employed Operations leadership experience
  • 8 years as an independent Fractional Operations Director / COO and Coach
  • All the experience and skills of a top-notch executive leader for the cost of an admin
  • Skilled in applying big corporate logic and best practice to your organisation
  • Blend of HR, recruitment, leadership, organisation and process skills
  • Expert in navigating obstacles and identifying shortcuts to accelerate your success
  • Able to use past experience and knowledge to ramp up in days...not months
  • Straight-talking, easy to work with and above all I get stuff done!

Don't just take my word for it...

Diligent, reliable, easy to work with...


As a new business that is scaling incredibly fast, we had a need to recruit 32 roles within a month, with no dedicated HR support yet within the company. We reached out to Holly and were delighted with the support she gave us. She took time to understand the business and its core values and what we were looking for in our team, advertised a number of roles, screened hundreds of CVs, carried out bespoke screening interviews and arranged the final interview stage. The candidates we saw at final interview stage exceeded our expectations, both in terms of quality and fit for the company, and are now employed with us and working hard to scale the business.

I would thoroughly recommend Holly as someone who is diligent, reliable, easy to work with and takes time to provide a bespoke service.


Andy Mellor

Chief Finance Officer

Holly really is amazing, she knows what we need...


If we didn’t employ someone there would be no business…Holly really is amazing, she knows what we need . . .She just came and just did loads of sessions where she took everything out of my brain and I just felt so free, and then she put it in order. I've never known anything like it.


Entrepreneurial Leader, 

Nov 2020 (Eve Bell, Baba+Boo)

If you're ready to build a rock-solid operational foundation, with the people, processes and performance excellence to scale your business...then let's talk

Check out my case studies...

Baba+Boo:
Business Transformation


Baba+Boo lacked operational rigour in the face of rapid business growth. As Operations Director, established robust operational strategy. Identified key skill requirements; recruited talented team; created capacity planning tools to improve peak trading resource management; introduced risk management frameworks; designed full suite of policies to ensure business compliance; and identified process bottlenecks to reduce cost and improve customer experience. Led Operations during intense growth period where revenues doubled vs prior year.

Vivify Venues:
Recruitment Drive


Vivify Venues was scaling fast and needed to quickly fill a number of critical operational roles, with no dedicated HR support. Engaged as Consultant to identify skills and hire talented, committed individuals. Understood business values and skills requirements; advertised roles; designed tailored screening process; reviewed hundreds of CVs, and conducted bespoke screening interviews. Succeeded in recruiting 32 roles within a month, receiving feedback that final stage candidates exceeded company expectations in terms of both quality and fit.

GE Capital Fleet Services:
Operations Restructure


GE Capital Fleet Services struggled with poor customer service delivery and rising costs. Hired as Operations Director to drive large-scale operational transformation. Identified optimum structure; defined and hired for new roles; implemented meaningful performance metrics; led redundancy consultation exercise with 100+ employees; and implemented productivity initiatives. Achieved 10% headcount savings with no impact on performance, 100% client retention and 20% efficiency cost savings vs budget, exceeding all departmental targets.

Your questions answered...

How do I know you have the skills and experience to help scale my business?

What exactly is a Fractional Operations Director / COO?

What is the difference between an Operations Director and a COO?

What businesses do you work with and where are they located?

Don't just take my word for it...

Holly completely steadied the ship that was close to sinking...


I honestly don’t know how I would still have a business if it wasn’t for Holly. She has only been with us five months, but I am astounded daily by what she brings to the team and my life…Holly is our captain and completely steadied the ship that was close to sinking. Not only that, she is sailing us into really exciting waters and making sure that we are always striving to achieve our goals.


CEO

Online Retail Business

The value Holly brings to our business is second to none...


Working with Holly in securing talented candidates was an absolute pleasure. She grasped the requirements of the roles, qualities of candidates and our needs as a business very quickly. I was kept informed at every stage of the recruitment process and Holly fully managed from start to finish.

I would highly recommend any employer to approach and take advantage of Holly’s knowledge and expertise. The value she brings to our business is second to none.


Glenn Carroll

Operations Manager

Vivify Venues

If not now, when?

Let's talk about how I can help you build the
operational capability to scale your business...