Reg Advantage LtdSyndicatedFractional
Production Lead and Fractional CTOFractional consultancy · senior leaders by the day, every discipline
Fractional Consultancy · a senior leader who stays, not a report that leaves
Fractional consultancy puts a senior leader into your business for a set number of days a week — a fractional CFO, CMO, CTO, HR director or general counsel — to own the problem rather than advise on it. Fractional Quest is a recruitment agency, not a consulting firm: we do not employ consultants or sell a team. We find the fractional, interim or permanent leader for your brief, and they contract with you directly.
Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 23 October 2026 · 4 sources linked below
- 13 disciplinesdisciplines
- 3–5our shortlist
Fractional seats our founder has held
Climatise
One Up Productions
CK Delta
In the press
- Financial TimesThe executives going ‘fractional’, not freelance
- International FinanceRenting the C-suite, and why the fractional executive era has arrived
The agency
What fractional consultancy is
Choose a discipline below for its own page: what an engagement covers, how it runs and, where a published band exists, what the market charges. Every brief gets a shortlist of 3–5.
A fractional consultant is a senior leader on a standing weekly commitment, usually alongside a small number of other clients. Unlike a project consultancy, they hold the seat and stay accountable; unlike an interim, they are not full-time.
Fractional Quest is a recruitment agency, not a consulting firm: we do not employ consultants or sell a team. We find the fractional, interim or permanent leader for your brief, and they contract with you directly.
The people behind it: fractional consultants. The same seats as services: executive services; as a recruitment agency: fractional recruitment agency.
On the board · last 90 days
Fractional executive roles on the board
From our jobs feed. Where a posting states no rate, “est” is our estimate from the seat’s published band; ◆ marks days a week the posting states.
9 of 9 roles
Function
Engagement
- CivSec GroupSyndicatedFractionalAcquisition CFO / Finance Director (Fractional)
- Algorithmiq OySyndicatedFractionalFractional Chief Operating Officer (COO)
- Flat IronSyndicatedFractionalFractional IT Director – Technology & AI (FTC)
- Flat IronSyndicatedFractionalFractional IT Director – Technology & AI
- Green Orbit LtdSyndicatedFractionalFractional CTO Wanted | Green Orbit | Initially Equity Only | UK-Based
- fin-houseSyndicatedFractionalFractional CFO
- KeelCFOSyndicatedFractionalFractional CFO
- genesis labels & packagingSyndicatedFractionalFractional COO / Operations Director
Every fractional role in the UK is on the fractional jobs board.
Three seats
What does a fractional seat look like in practice?
Three fractional seats our founder has held. Real companies, named with their permission; we state only what the seat covered.
Fractional seats our founder has held
ClimatiseFractional · go-to-marketA carbon-reporting software company that needed go-to-market leadership before a full-time hire.
- Seat
- Fractional go-to-market lead
- Days
- Two days a week
- Scope
- Go-to-market
One Up ProductionsFractional · go-to-marketA production company that needed both the go-to-market strategy and its execution.
- Seat
- Fractional go-to-market: strategy and execution
- Days
- Two days a week
- Scope
- Go-to-market
CK DeltaFractional · technologyTechnology work: tech stack implementation.
- Seat
- Fractional technology lead
These are seats our founder has held, not placements.
The scope
Fractional consultancy by discipline
HR. HR Consultancy — a fractional HR director or chief people officer. The people: HR consultants.
Marketing. Marketing Consultancy — a fractional CMO or marketing director. The people: marketing consultants.
Sales. Sales Consultancy — a fractional sales director or chief revenue officer. The people: sales consultants.
Finance. Finance Consultancy — a fractional CFO or finance director. The people: CFO consultants.
Technology. Fractional Technology Consultancy — a fractional CTO or CIO. The people: CTO consultants.
Operations. Operations Consultancy — a fractional COO or operations director. The people: COO consultants.
Leadership. Leadership Consultancy — an interim or fractional executive. The people: interim management consultants.
Data. Data Consultancy — a fractional chief data officer or head of data. The people: data consultants.
AI. AI Consultancy — a fractional chief AI officer or head of AI. The people: fractional AI consultants.
Cyber security. Cyber Security Consultancy — a fractional or interim CISO. The people: CISO consultants.
Product. Product Consultancy — a fractional chief product officer or product director. The people: CPO consultants.
Compliance. Compliance Consultancy — a fractional head of compliance, MLRO or data protection officer. The people: compliance consultants.
Legal. Legal Consultancy — a fractional general counsel or head of legal. The people: legal consultants.
The process
How does a brief become a shortlist?
Six steps, one accountable person at each. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date; the weeks below are what a well-scoped brief usually takes.
- Day 001The 15-minute callThe seat, the engagement shape, the days or hours, the start date and the budget. No account needed; a call or a written brief.You and us
- Week 102Scope agreed in writingThe outcome the seat exists for, which days, and how the engagement will run for IR35. A brief that describes a person rather than a job, we rewrite with you.Us
- Weeks 1–203Search and approachWe approach people who aren’t looking and verify prior tenure in the seat at your scale and stage.Us
- Weeks 2–304References, taken by usFrom recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.Us
- Week 305Shortlist of three to fiveEach with day rate or salary, availability and IR35 position set out. You interview and decide.You
- Week 406Kick-offScope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.You, them and us
Against the alternatives
Four ways to buy senior expertise fractional, project, interim or permanent
The same senior problem can be bought four ways. The difference is who does the work, for how long, and who is accountable afterwards.
| Fractional senior leader | Project consultancy firm | Interim executive | Permanent hire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you buy | A senior leader, days a week | A defined deliverable | A leader full-time for a fixed term | A full-time leader for years |
| Who does the work | One named senior person | A team, often with a partner who sold it | One named senior person | Your employee |
| Accountable after | Yes — they stay | No — the project ends | Until the hand-over | Yes |
| Best when | You need senior judgement every week, not every day | The work is a one-off with a clear output | You need full-time cover or a change led now | The seat is full-time work for years |
| Usual contract | Contract for services, often via the leader’s company | Statement of work | Day-rate contract for the mandate | Employment contract |
The decision
When fractional consultancy is the right call
Three situations where a fractional leader beats a project.
- JudgementSenior judgement, not senior hoursYou need someone senior to own decisions every week, but the work does not fill five days.
- After the reportThe last consultancy report is on a shelfYou have the recommendations; nobody inside owns them. A fractional leader turns them into decisions.
- Before full-timeA seat that will growA fractional leader builds the function and, when it becomes full-time work, recruits or becomes the permanent hire.
Vetting
How do we vet a fractional consultant?
Five stages before anyone reaches a shortlist of three to five.
- Pedigree screenTenureWe verify prior tenure in the seat, at the scale and stage you need. No consultant presenting as an executive.
- Mandate fitFitFit to your stage, sector and the problem the seat exists to solve, not a CV keyword.
- Reference deep-diveVerifyWe take references ourselves, from recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.
- ShortlistShortlistThree to five candidates, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
- Kick-offStartScope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.
The full process is on how we vet.
how it runs
How our fractional consultancy works from brief to the first week
Brief. The problem, the discipline, the days each week, the start date and what success looks like in ninety days.
Shortlist. 3–5 fractional leaders against the brief, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, assessed through our five-stage vetting.
Contract. The fractional consultant contracts with you directly. Agree how the engagement will run in practice; HMRC’s guidance for clients sets out who makes the IR35 status determination.
firm or leader
A fractional consultant or a consultancy firm? who stays accountable
A consultancy firm sells a project and a team; when the project ends, so does its accountability. A fractional consultant is one named person who holds the brief for as long as you need them.
The Institute of Consulting, part of the Chartered Management Institute, is the professional body for individual consultants: see the Institute of Consulting.
The right route
Agency, recruiter, interim or permanent?
Three taps. Say how much senior work there is, for how long, and whether it is one leader or a run of hires; the tool names the route.
The route · Fractional recruiter
An embedded fractional recruiter.
A hiring plan to work through below the leadership team is a talent-acquisition job: a recruiter inside your business for part of the week, paid for their time. We don’t supply them; the page below explains the role.
The route · Non-executive director
A non-executive director.
Independent oversight and constructive challenge, not executive direction. We recruit NEDs through the same brief process.
The route · Advisor
An advisor, not yet a seat.
Less than a day a week of senior input is advisory. Buy it as a scoped engagement; when it grows into a day or more, brief us for a fractional executive.
The route · Interim
An interim executive.
Four or five days for a fixed period is interim: cover for a departure, a turnaround or a transaction. The IIM puts the UK average at £907 a day and ten months.
The route · Permanent
A permanent search.
Four or five days of work, ongoing, is a full-time seat. We recruit permanent executives through the same brief process.
The route · Fractional executive
Brief a fractional recruitment agency.
Senior judgement for part of the week: a fractional CFO, CTO, CMO or COO on one to three days. We come back with a shortlist of three to five, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
We recruit executives. We don’t supply embedded fractional recruiters; where that is the right route, the tool says so.
Clients
What do companies say about our fractional work?
From a company where our founder has held a fractional seat. Name and logo given with the client’s permission.
“Excellent fractional support for building both our go-to-market strategy and our execution.”
Charlie AndersonDirector, One Up ProductionsWhere we are
Where is Fractional Quest?
Where we are
71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ
Fractional Quest Ltd, registered in England and Wales, no. 17322105. This is our registered office; meetings are by appointment, and most briefs start on a 15-minute call.
Questions
Fractional Consultancy questions, answered
A senior leader working in your business a set number of days a week, owning a problem rather than delivering a one-off report. Through Fractional Quest that leader is recruited for your brief and contracts with you directly.
Fractional Quest is a recruitment agency, not a consulting firm: we do not employ consultants or sell a team. We find the fractional, interim or permanent leader for your brief, and they contract with you directly.
HR, marketing, sales, finance, technology, operations, leadership, data, AI, cyber security, product, compliance, legal — each with its own page above.
It depends on the seat and the days. Our discipline pages show the market’s published bands where a source we can verify publishes one. Fractional Quest publishes no fees; each candidate on a shortlist states their own rate.
It depends on how the engagement runs in practice — control, substitution and whether the fractional consultant is part and parcel of your organisation, not on the label "consultant". For medium and large private-sector clients the client makes the status determination. Every candidate on our shortlist states their IR35 position.
An interim works full-time for a fixed term, usually to cover a gap or lead a change. A fractional consultant works a standing number of days each week, often for several clients, for as long as the business needs it.
Sources
Where does every figure on this page come from?
The primary publisher for each number, linked. Where a figure is our own arithmetic, the page says so where it appears.
- HMRC
- legislation.gov.uk
- 1Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRCStatus depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
- 2Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 HMRCEmployer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year.
- 3
- 4Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.ukThe law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.
