If you've started looking into getting senior help with the back end of your business, you'll have noticed two things pretty quickly. Everyone calls it something different, and hardly anyone tells you what it costs. So here's the straight answer, including what I charge and why.
The short answer
In the UK, most fractional COOs charge somewhere between £900 and £1,500 a day, and the most common way to work with one is a monthly retainer. Published pricing guides from UK providers in 2026 put one day a week at roughly £3,500 to £5,500 a month, and two days a week at £6,500 to £10,000. Lighter, advice-only support can start from around £1,000 a month.
That's a big range, and the reason for it matters more than the numbers, so stick with me.
What a fractional COO actually is
A fractional COO is a senior operations person who works in your business part-time rather than full-time. COO stands for chief operating officer, which sounds very corporate, but in a smaller business it simply means the person who looks after how the business runs. The quotes, the follow-ups, who owns what, the team, the numbers, the hiring and all the bits that currently land on you.
You'll also hear part-time operations director, operations partner or fractional ops. It's broadly the same thing. What actually matters is whether they advise you or do the work, and that's where the price differences come from.
Why the prices vary so much
Advice or doing. This is the big one. Some fractional COOs give you a couple of calls a month and a list of recommendations, and you go away and do it yourself. Others get into the business and run it with you, leading the projects, making decisions and changing how things are done. The first is cheaper, and it's fine if you've got the time and the team to carry it out. Most owners I speak to don't, which is the whole reason they're looking.
How much time they spend in your business. Half a day a month and two days a week are very different jobs, so check what you're actually getting for the monthly fee.
The size of the business. A lot of fractional COOs work with businesses turning over a million pounds or more, with a leadership team already in place. Their pricing reflects that. If you're a smaller, founder-led business, look for someone who works with businesses like yours, because the problems are different.
Whether there's a minimum term. Most will ask for three to six months, because changing how a business runs doesn't happen in a fortnight.
What I charge, and why
I work with founder-led businesses where the work comes in but everything still runs through the owner, so I've set my prices up in three steps, and you don't have to start at the bottom.
The Sit-Down, £400. Ninety minutes on a video call, built around what's going on in your business. We look at how work flows through it, what's happening with the money and whether you could cope with more. Within 48 hours you get the three things I'd fix first, in writing, with a rough £ value on each, and we talk again a week later. A lot of people start here because it costs very little to find out what's really going on.
The Fix, from £4,200. A project we agree up front, usually around six weeks, working on the things that will make the biggest difference to your business, built around your goals. I build it with you and your team so the business doesn't need you 24/7.
The Partnership, from £3,500 a month, four-month minimum. This is the fractional COO part. I lead the back end of your business week in, week out, so you can stay front and centre growing it. I lead the projects, take the decisions that don't need you, keep the team accountable, put the numbers in front of you every month and keep improving your processes as the business grows.
The reason the Partnership sits where it does is that I do the work. I'm not handing you a list and checking in once a month. I run it, I update it and I keep it from drifting back, and that's what most owners actually need.
How it compares with hiring someone
The obvious alternative is hiring an operations manager. Sometimes that's absolutely the right move, but it comes with a salary, National Insurance, pension, recruitment fees and the months it takes someone to find their feet. There's also the risk that you hire into the chaos as it is, and end up with a second person asking you where everything is.
A fractional COO gives you senior experience from the first month, with no recruitment and no notice periods. A good one will also help you work out exactly who to hire, and when, so that when you do bring someone in, there's a proper role for them to step into.
Is it worth it for a business your size?
Here's the honest test. Add up the hours a week you spend on things that shouldn't need you, the enquiries and quotes that slip through the gaps, and the time your team loses waiting on you. If that comes to more than the monthly fee, and for most busy owners it does, it pays for itself. If it doesn't yet, you probably need a one-off project rather than ongoing support.
If you want to put your own numbers to it, the calculator on my home page does exactly that.
Questions to ask before you sign up with anyone
- Will you be advising me, or doing the work?
- How much of your time do I actually get each month?
- Is there a minimum term, and what happens at the end of it?
- Who will own the processes once they're in place, me or you?
- Have you worked with businesses my size, with the same kind of problems?
- Have you ever run a business yourself?
That last one matters to me. I built my last business from nothing to a team of twelve in eighteen months, and every core part of it needed me. When I restructured how it ran, my husband went from six days a week to two, the team ran it without us and we went from £12k weeks to £20k weeks. That's the bit I do for other people now.
Where to start
If you know something isn't right behind the scenes but you can't quite put your finger on what, the Sit-Down is the easiest place to start. If you already know you need someone leading the back end, have a look at the Partnership, or tell me what's going on and I'll come back to you myself.