CONSULTANCY OPERATIONS

You do the consulting.
We keep the business behind it moving.

As your consultancy grows, so does the work behind the work. Client delivery needs coordinating, actions need following through and the business needs someone keeping an eye on what’s next. When all of that still sits with you, it quickly eats into the time you have for clients and growth.

We provide ongoing operational support for independent consultants and small consultancies, taking ownership of the moving parts behind the client work, so you don’t have to manage everything yourself.

Illustrated panda reviewing a consultancy operations dashboard

We are not consultants describing this from the outside. We run three businesses of our own and do every one of these jobs in them, every week.

WYBBPlateSellerDrehwerks

You probably didn’t become a consultant to run an office.

You built a consultancy because you’re good at what you do.

But as the business grows, so does everything around the client work.

Proposals. POs. Invoices. Associates. Materials. Follow ups. CRM. Marketing. Suppliers. Travel. Accounts.

None of it is particularly difficult on its own.

The problem is that somebody still needs to see the whole picture, know what’s coming next and make sure it actually happens.

That’s where I come in.

I’ve helped run a consultancy myself, so I understand the work behind the scenes just as well as the work that happens in the room with the client.

Francesca at her desk with a colleague taking notes

WHAT I CAN TAKE OWNERSHIP OF

From getting a new client properly set up to keeping delivery organised and materials ready. I can look after individual areas or become the person who keeps the wider operation moving.

01 / CLIENT DELIVERY

CLIENT DELIVERY

  • Proposals and client documentation
  • Client onboarding and setup
  • Programme and workshop coordination
  • Materials, workbooks and resources
  • Client follow ups
  • CRM and client records
  • Associate briefing and coordination
  • Keeping delivery actions moving
02 / OPERATIONS

OPERATIONS

  • Forward planning and delivery calendars
  • Diary, meetings and travel
  • Supplier coordination
  • Business processes and templates
  • File and information organisation
  • Systems and ways of working
  • Tracking actions and deadlines
  • Spotting gaps before they become problems
03 / COMMERCIAL

COMMERCIAL

  • Raising and tracking invoices
  • PO administration and chasing
  • Expense administration
  • Pipeline visibility
  • Proposal and tender support
  • Basic management information
  • Liaising with accountants/bookkeepers
  • Keeping an eye on what’s been won, delivered and billed

Specialist accounting and bookkeeping remain with your regulated accountant or bookkeeper; I make sure the information and actions around them keep moving.

04 / MARKETING & GROWTH

MARKETING & GROWTH

  • Marketing planning and coordination
  • Website updates
  • Email and newsletter activity
  • CRM and mailing lists
  • LinkedIn and content coordination
  • Case studies and client stories
  • Business development follow up
  • Keeping marketing moving when delivery gets busy
PROTECT YOUR MOST VALUABLE TIME

Your consultancy shouldn’t need you for everything.

If every proposal, invoice, client query, workshop pack, follow up and business decision has to pass through you, you don’t really have support.

You just have a longer list of things to do.

The aim isn’t simply to take admin away.

It’s to create capacity for client work, business development, growth, or occasionally just getting your evening back.

As we work together, I’ll also look for the things that can be simplified, systemised or handled differently so the business becomes easier to run.

You can be a small consultancy with very big clients.

You don’t need a large internal team to work professionally with a major organisation. But somebody needs to understand both sides: the realities of running a small consultancy and the processes, deadlines and expectations that come with larger clients.

This is likely to work well if you’re:

An established independent consultant whose workload is growing
A consultant spending too much time running the business around the work
A trainer or facilitator delivering regular programmes
A consultancy using associates or external specialists
A founder who is still the point of contact for almost everything
Growing enough to need proper operational support, but not ready for a full internal team

Probably not right for you if…

You simply need a few occasional tasks completed each month.

There are excellent VA services designed for that.

This is for consultants who want somebody to understand how their business works, take responsibility for agreed areas and proactively keep them moving.

Whether it’s just you or a small team of associates, the aim is the same: give you the support and operational capability of a bigger consultancy without building a corporate office around you.

MEET FRANCESCA

I’ve helped run the business, not just advised from the sidelines.

I’m Francesca. I’ve spent more than 20 years in and around consultancy, not just advising clients, but helping run the business delivering the work.

For most of my career I was part of NewLeaf, an organisational development consultancy that grew into a multimillion pound business working with major organisations and household names.

My role at NewLeaf crossed the whole business: programme management, facilitation, proposals, marketing, rebrands, commercial activity, systems and the everyday operational work that keeps a consultancy running.

That experience taught me what large clients expect, and what it takes behind the scenes for a small consultancy to meet those expectations.

I know what a major client expects: the preparation, responsiveness, professionalism and follow through.

But I also know what it feels like behind the scenes when you’re a small team trying to deliver it.

Sometimes you need a better process. Sometimes you need somebody to coordinate three different people. Sometimes you just need the PO chased and the client materials finished.

I take the work seriously, but I’m easy to work with. No unnecessary process, no jargon and no turning a simple job into a project.

Just somebody who gets to know the business, sees what needs doing and follows things through.

Francesca smiling while holding her puppy

Think of me as part of your team, without building another department.

01

Understand

I get to know how your consultancy works, your clients, pipeline, delivery commitments, systems, associates and the things currently taking too much of your time.

We work out where support would make the biggest difference.

02

Take ownership

We agree the areas I’ll own, rather than creating another list of tasks for you to manage.

I put enough structure around them to make things reliable, while keeping the way we work straightforward.

03

Keep it moving

I manage the agreed areas, flag what genuinely needs your input and keep an eye on what’s coming next.

Where I see a process, system or way of working that could make the business easier to run, I’ll tell you.

ONGOING SUPPORT

Choose the level of support that fits your consultancy.

All three options are built around ownership, not hours. The more responsibility you want to hand over, the more involved I become in keeping the business moving.

01 / OFFICE

Office

£1,500/month

For independent consultants who need reliable operational support behind the scenes.

We keep the essentials moving.

Includes:

  • Invoicing and PO administration
  • Diary, travel and hotel bookings
  • Client administration
  • Workshop materials and documents
  • CRM management
  • Accountant/bookkeeper liaison
  • Light website updates
  • Monthly admin review
  • Proactive chasing of agreed actions

Best for: solo consultants who are busy enough to need support, but don’t yet need a wider operational function.

Talk to Francesca
02 / PRACTICE

Practice

£2,250/month

For established consultants who need someone to help run the business around the client work.

We take ownership of the operation.

Everything in Office, plus:

  • Proposal and tender support
  • Client onboarding and follow up
  • Pipeline management
  • Marketing coordination
  • Email/newsletter support
  • LinkedIn/content coordination
  • Associate and supplier coordination
  • Monthly management information
  • Regular operations call
  • Proactive identification of what needs doing next

Best for: busy consultants with multiple clients, repeat programmes or associates.

Talk to Francesca
03 / PARTNER

Partner

From £3,000/month

For small consultancies that need a fractional operations function without building an internal team.

We help run the consultancy.

Everything in Practice, plus:

  • Weekly operations meeting
  • Systems and process improvement
  • Capacity and delivery planning
  • Associate and supplier management
  • Pipeline and delivery forecasting
  • Project profitability visibility
  • Implementation of new systems
  • Quarterly business review
  • Coordination of wider external support where needed

Best for: small consultancies with growing complexity, multiple clients or a network of associates.

Talk to Francesca

Packages are indicative and tailored around your consultancy, workload and ways of working. Specialist bookkeeping, accounting, legal and regulated services remain with the relevant professional advisers.

Francesca smiling while sitting at a café
LET’S TALK

What would you stop doing if someone else could take care of it?

Tell me what’s currently taking up too much of your time, what tends to get dropped when client work gets busy, or where everything still seems to rely on you.

No polished brief needed. We can have a straightforward conversation about what I could take ownership of and whether it would make commercial sense.

Have a chat with Francesca