Services
Fractional CTO
Senior technology leadership without a full-time salary.
For organisations at the point where technical decisions matter, but where a full-time CTO is not yet the right hire. You get a named person, defined deliverables, and a structured retainer, not a consultant who shows up when called.
What you get
Two retainer tiers: £5,500/month at 1 day/week, or £10,500/month at 2 days/week.
Every retainer is scoped to the organisation's stage and priorities. Typical monthly deliverables include:
- Board-level technology reports — Plain-language summary of technical health, risks, and decisions for non-technical leadership.
- Architecture decision records (ADRs) — Documented rationale for technical choices, so the reasoning survives personnel changes.
- Vendor and tool evaluations — Independent assessment of proposed technology purchases, with a written recommendation.
- Hiring support — Job specification review, technical interview design, candidate assessment.
- Security and compliance oversight — Ongoing review of posture, flagging material gaps before they become incidents.
- Supplier and contract review — Technical input on licensing terms, SLAs, and exit provisions.
The retainer is agreed upfront. If a month's deliverables change (because the organisation's priorities shift), that is renegotiated explicitly, not absorbed silently.
Process
- 1
Scoping call (30 minutes)
We establish what decisions are pending, where technical risk sits, and what a month of useful engagement looks like for you.
- 2
Retainer agreement
Fixed scope, fixed price, named deliverables. Signed before work begins.
- 3
Month one
Full audit of current technical state — stack, contracts, team, debt. Forms the baseline for everything that follows.
- 4
Ongoing months
Deliverables against the agreed scope, with a monthly catch-up to review and adjust.
When it is the right fit
You should book a scoping call if:
- Your organisation is making technology decisions that will be expensive to reverse (cloud contracts, platform choices, new hires) and you do not have a senior technical voice in the room.
- You have a CTO vacancy and need coverage while you hire, or you are not yet sure a full-time hire is justified.
- Your board or investors have raised questions about technical risk or security posture and you need credible, structured answers.
- You are running a compliance-sensitive process (GDPR audit, ISO 27001 readiness, NHS DSPT) that requires technical oversight alongside legal and operational input.
Sector relevance
Healthcare, legal, and financial services organisations face regulatory requirements that make unreviewed technical decisions expensive. A fractional CTO with experience across those sectors provides oversight without the cost or commitment of a permanent hire.
Book a scoping call
30 minutes. No obligation. We will tell you if it is not a fit.
Book a scoping call