The Partnership.
Principal-in-Residence.
The more senior you get, the fewer people are in a position to tell you you've got it wrong. Not because they're scared to, but because nobody around the table has the seniority, the delivery experience and the time. That's just how it works.
Fractional advisory partner · A senior operator beside you · No agenda
When you're carrying
the decisions alone.
Carrying it alone
You're making the calls on data, systems and operations. Nobody around the table is in a position to push back at your level. You end up checking your own thinking against yourself.
Too much input
Vendor pitches, integrator advice, internal requests, board opinions. There's no clean way to sort signal from noise, and you're spending more time processing it than deciding.
Stretched outside your patch
You're strong in your own field, but now you're making calls on migration, integration, reporting, operations and governance all at once. You want a peer, not another supplier.
Scaling load
The business is growing. The decisions are getting bigger and more frequent. There are only so many hours in a week.
Everyone has an agenda
The people advising you, vendors, integrators, implementers, all have something to sell. The advice is never quite neutral.
Wrong pace
Quarterly steering meetings aren't often enough. A full procurement is too slow. You want someone you can reach when the decision actually lands on your desk.
What I do
Regular sessions at a cadence we agree. I test your decisions, flag the risks before they turn into problems, and turn a pile of input into a short list of priorities. I'm available between sessions for the calls that can't wait.
What it produces
More confidence in the calls you're making. You move faster because the thinking's happening at your level, with someone who's done the work you're deciding about.
What it isn't
Not coaching. Not a non-exec seat. No long procurement, no fixed monthly call to fill, no agenda of my own.
Rolling monthly · Cadence set by you · Integrated, not episodic
A peer who has
owned the call.
Over a decade leading data, systems and operations programmes across sectors: migrations, new systems, reporting builds, and the operating models around them. I run Stratford Ellis as Lead Data Consultant.
So when you bring a stuck decision into a session, you're not getting a generalist's view. You're getting someone who's made the same kind of call, on the same kind of programme, and had to live with how it played out.
If this is
your situation.
Tell me which decisions you're carrying on your own. I'll tell you whether the Partnership is the right fit.
What people
ask first.
- What is a fractional advisory partner?
- An experienced operator on retainer, working alongside you. I sit in on the decisions that matter, work with your team, and weigh in on real calls as they happen. Advisory built into your delivery, not the occasional report.
- How is this different from a consultant?
- A consultant turns up with a brief and produces deliverables. By month two of the Partnership I already know your context and your constraints, so you skip the discovery dance every time and get a useful answer on the first call.
- How is it different from hiring Stratford Ellis directly?
- Stratford Ellis is the firm that delivers the work: migrations, new systems, reporting builds, operating model design, with a team behind it. The Partnership is me, personally, as your thinking partner on the decisions around that work. A lot of clients use both: the Partnership to decide, the firm to deliver.
- What does ongoing advisory look like in practice?
- Regular working sessions at the pace that suits you, plus availability in between. We work on the real problems: a system choice that's stuck, a migration plan that doesn't add up, a reporting or operations story that isn't landing with the board. The scope flexes as your needs change.
- How long does the retainer last?
- Month to month, no fixed end date. It runs as long as it's useful. When the problem's solved, or you've built the capability internally, I step out cleanly.
- How much does it cost?
- A cash retainer, set by scope and time. No equity, no board seat, no conflicts of interest. I'll scope it with you on the first call.
Words from the room.
A handful of notes from leaders, founders and chairs I've worked alongside.
Barbs walked into a programme that had been stuck for nine months and had us all reading off the same page inside a fortnight. The plan we left with was the one we actually ran.
She tells you what she thinks. No fluff, no vendor agenda. Our board got a read on our data we could finally act on, and a short list of fixes we could start on Monday.
Having Barbs in the room changed how we made the call. She knew the context from month two and saved us from at least one expensive mistake on the systems side.