Build it properly while it is still small.
Manchester founders often build something good on little money. The risk is that the finance, the first sales hire or the technical choices are made by whoever is free, and the bill arrives at the first serious funding conversation.
Why founders bring in senior help early
The same few problems appear before a first institutional round:
Founders with a technical or scientific background
Excellent products from university research or engineering, and no commercial or financial leader around them.
Grant and investor money, mixed together
Innovation funding, angel cash and revenue all landing in the same accounts, without the tracking each needs.
Reporting that regional funds will question
Monthly numbers that match neither the plan nor what the investor expected to see.
The first sales hire is a gamble
A salesperson hired before the pitch has been proven spends months finding out what the founder could have told them.
We pair you with a senior operator suited to your stage: a finance lead for the model and reporting, a commercial lead to test the sales approach, or a technical lead to fix the architecture. They work part time, so the cost suits a business that has not yet raised its next round.
Who this is for, and who it is not
Best for
- Founders wearing every hat with no senior cover where it matters most
- Pre-seed to pre-Series A companies that need structure before they can fund it
- Teams that need investor-grade finance, reporting or operations at speed
- Startups scaling headcount faster than their processes can hold
- Founders who want to protect the cap table while adding senior leadership
Not for
- An idea with no product or traction to build structure around yet
- A role a capable full-time hire is already ready to own
- Founders looking to outsource a function rather than lead it
- A single deliverable an agency or contractor could hand back
What a young company gets
Part-time senior leads are a familiar sight in early north west teams, from university spin-outs to digital start-ups. We match one to your stage and keep governance around the engagement.
Support while you change fastest
We check in on a set rhythm and adjust the brief when a grant or a round changes the plan.
Other disciplines on call
Product, pricing or the first sales hire: your lead can get a second view from operators across the collective.
A handover we run
If your lead leaves, we reopen the search with what we know of the company and run the changeover.
Matched to research-led founders
Founders from labs and engineering backgrounds need a commercial lead who respects the product and says plainly what the market wants.
From first call to embedded operator
We move at startup speed.
Tell us your stage
Where are you in the journey? What are the gaps? What does the next 90 days need to deliver?
We match the right operator
From our vetted collective, we introduce the fractional executive matched to your stage, sector, and culture.
Embedded within days
Your fractional embeds with your team, begins the scoped work, and operates with real accountability.
Scale the stack
As you grow, add further specialists from the collective. We coordinate them so they work as a coherent team.
Which leader for your stage
The gap that slows a startup changes as it grows. Here is where most founders feel it first, and who owns it.
The right fractional executive depends on your stage
Start with the widest gap today, then add roles as you scale.
Operators from the region's defining startups, and beyond
