Hire an interim CEO
for the gap.
Hire an interim CEO — a full-time interim chief executive on a fixed-term assignment, usually 6–12 months — to lead through a departure, a turnaround or a sale while the board finds the permanent answer. Or browse live interim CEO jobs UK-wide below.
Book 15 minutes to hire an interim CEO
Tell us the situation and the start date. We come back with interim CEO candidates, their day rates and availability.
- 15 minutes, video or phone
- We scope the assignment and the start date
- Shortlist target: 48 hours after the call
- No retainer — 12% only if you sign
What is an interim CEO?
An interim CEO is the chief executive, full-time, for a fixed term, appointed by the board. Not an adviser and not a part-time fractional CEO: the person who runs the company until the job is done or the permanent CEO arrives.
Full-time
The CEO seat, five days a week.
An interim CEO takes full executive authority — the leadership team, the plan, the stakeholders and the board relationship.
Fixed-term
Starts quickly
Board-led
What an interim chief executive owns
The interim CEO carries executive accountability for the term; the leadership team keeps running its functions.
✓ OWNS
- Strategy and the operating plan
- The board and investor relationship
- Leadership team decisions and changes
- Cash, funding and lender confidence
- Key customer and partner relationships
- Turnaround or sale process
- Culture and communication through change
- Handover to the permanent CEO
× DELEGATES
- Functional delivery (finance, ops, sales)
- Day-to-day line management
- Routine reporting production
- Project-level execution
- Recruitment below the leadership team
- Operational process design
Interim CEO vs fractional, chair and permanent
The same seat, four ways of filling it.
Interim CEO day rates, UK 2026
Published figures only, each with its source. Complexity sets the rate: SME cover sits at the bottom of the band, listed, PE-backed and turnaround mandates at the top.
Bars are published bands; the tick marks each band’s midpoint (our arithmetic, not a published average).
| Engagement | Published figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Interim CEO (all mandates) | £1,000–£3,500 a day | Exec Capital Executive Salary Guide, 2026 |
| Interim CEO, SME and mid-market | £1,000–£1,800 a day | Exec Capital CEO salary guide |
| Interim CEO, complex listed or PE-backed | £1,800–£3,500 a day | Exec Capital CEO salary guide |
| Interim CEO, full-time | £1,200–£2,500 a day (£24,000–£50,000 a month) | FD Capital, 2026 |
| Fractional CEO (two days a week) | £5,000–£10,000 a month | Exec Capital CEO salary guide |
| Permanent CEO base | SME £120,000–£250,000; mid-market £200,000–£400,000 | Exec Capital CEO salary guide |
Six months at five days a week (about 130 working days) is roughly £130,000–£455,000 on the Exec Capital band before our fee — our arithmetic. Exec Capital also notes turnaround specialists above £3,500 a day.
What an interim CEO costs
Model a fixed-term interim CEO against a permanent Chief Executive Officer over the same period.
Is an interim CEO tax-deductible?
General position under UK rules, with the HMRC source for each point. Not tax advice — check your own case with your accountant.
The fees are a business expense
An interim CEO’s fees, like a salary, are deductible against profits when incurred wholly and exclusively for the trade (HMRC BIM37000). At the 25% main rate, each £1,000 of fees costs a profitable company £750 after relief.
Outside IR35, no 15% on top
A permanent CEO carries employer National Insurance at 15% (gov.uk). An interim engaged through their own company outside IR35 does not. Inside IR35, the fee-payer deducts tax and NI and pays employer NI.
IR35 status, by company size
Medium and large clients determine the interim’s status themselves; for a small private-sector client, the interim’s own company decides (HMRC off-payroll guidance).
When to hire an interim CEO
Four situations where boards hire an interim CEO — and where most interim CEO jobs come from.
A sudden departure
The CEO resigns, is removed or falls ill, and the board needs steady leadership while it runs a proper search.
A turnaround
Trading, cash or lender confidence has broken down and the business needs decisive leadership now.
A sale or investment
Preparing for exit, running a sale process or handling a new PE owner’s first months.
A founder transition
The founder is stepping back and the company needs a professional CEO for a period before the long-term choice.
Hiring an interim CEO: what to get right
Agree the mandate at board level first. An interim CEO needs a clear answer to one question: what must be true when they leave? Stabilised trading, a completed sale, a refinanced balance sheet, a permanent successor in post. Write it down with a date, and brief against it.
Decide between interim and fractional. If the company needs someone running it full-time, hire an interim CEO. If a founder is staying in the business and needs senior support a day or two a week, a fractional CEO is the better fit — Exec Capital puts two days a week at £5,000–£10,000 a month.
Budget from the published bands. Exec Capital’s 2026 guide puts interim CEO day rates at £1,000–£3,500: £1,000–£1,800 for SME and mid-market cover, £1,800–£3,500 for complex listed or PE-backed work, and more for turnaround specialists. FD Capital quotes £1,200–£2,500 a day, or £24,000–£50,000 a month, full-time. A permanent CEO in an SME is £120,000–£250,000 base before on-costs and a retained search fee of 25–35%.
Test the track record against your situation. An interim chief executive who has run three sale processes is a different hire from one who has taken a business through a restructuring. Take references from the chairs and investors of recent assignments; we take our own before anyone reaches a shortlist.
Plan the exit from day one: the permanent search, the handover and how the interim will be introduced to staff, customers and lenders. If you are looking for interim CEO jobs rather than hiring, the live board below lists current interim CEO roles, and fractional CEO jobs cover the part-time market.
IR35 for an interim CEO
Our contracts are drafted to sit outside IR35. Status still turns on how the assignment runs day to day, and a full-time interim needs more care here than a fractional role. Medium and large clients make the determination; for a small private-sector client the interim’s own company does. See the IR35 guide.
Substitution
The contract is with the interim’s limited company and carries a genuine right to send a qualified substitute.
Control
You set the outcomes for the assignment; the interim decides how the work gets done.
Mutuality
No obligation to offer or accept work beyond the agreed assignment and term.
How to hire an interim CEO with us
What we undertake on every brief. No retainer; you pay only if you sign.
Brief
A 30-minute call on the assignment, the start date and what the interim CEO must have delivered by the end of the term.
DAY 0Search
We search and screen against that brief: track record at your stage and in your situation, and references we take ourselves.
SCREENINGShortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out. We aim to send it within 48 hours.
48H TARGETStart
You interview and choose. Our fee is 12%, charged on signing, with flexible fee clawback agreed case by case.
12% ON SIGNINGInterim CEO FAQ
Hiring an interim Chief Executive Officer, or looking for interim CEO jobs.
Need an interim CEO this month?
Book 15 minutes. We aim to have a shortlist with you within 48 hours of the call.
Book a call →Related pages
Interim, fractional and cost guides for the same seat.
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Interim Recruitment Agencies
The UK firms that place interim executives, compared.
Fractional Recruitment Agency
How we run fractional and interim executive search.
Interim CEO jobs · last 3 months
