The leadership vacuum that threatens your bottom line

When your Commercial Director leaves unexpectedly, it creates an immediate risk to your financial performance. Projects lose commercial direction, applications for payment slow down, and variations go uncaptured. I've seen contractors lose up to 4% of margin in just 60 days during these transitions.

The recruitment process for a permanent Commercial Director typically takes 3-6 months—that's half a financial year with your commercial function operating without strategic leadership. Can your projects afford this uncertainty?

I step in rapidly to provide immediate commercial stability, protecting your margins and cash flow while your permanent recruitment process completes. This isn't about maintaining the status quo—it's about strengthening your commercial position during a critical transition.

Growth shouldn't come at the expense of commercial control

Business growth is exciting, but it creates enormous commercial pressure. Your existing team becomes stretched across more projects, commercial governance gets patchy, and the systems that worked at a smaller scale begin to break down.

I've worked with numerous contractors who won exciting new work only to see margins erode because their commercial infrastructure couldn't scale with their ambitions. The warning signs are clear: delayed applications for payment, increasing client queries and commercial teams constantly firefighting rather than managing.

As your Interim Commercial Director, I provide the strategic oversight needed during rapid growth phases. I implement scalable commercial systems, develop your team's capabilities and ensure that expansion strengthens rather than weakens your financial position.

When one project threatens your entire business

We've all been there—that one project that keeps you awake at night. Perhaps it's significantly larger than your typical work, involves unfamiliar contract terms or has already shown signs of commercial distress.

High-risk projects demand dedicated commercial leadership with the experience to navigate complex challenges. Without it, problems compound rapidly: cash flow stalls, variations go unresolved and team morale deteriorates as the situation worsens.

I provide focused commercial leadership for your most challenging projects, implementing structured governance, variation recovery strategies and cash acceleration measures. This targeted approach protects your wider business from the contagion effect of a troubled project while transforming its commercial trajectory.

Transformation without disruption

Commercial transformation is essential for long-term success, but it creates significant short-term risks. Changing systems, processes and behaviours inevitably disrupts established patterns, potentially creating temporary performance dips at exactly the wrong moment.

I've led commercial transformation programmes across multiple contractors, navigating the delicate balance between implementing necessary changes and maintaining day-to-day performance. The key is structured implementation that prioritises financial stability alongside improvement.

As your Interim Commercial Director during transformation, I ensure that new commercial approaches enhance rather than disrupt your business. I develop transition plans that maintain cash flow and margin performance while building the foundations for sustainable improvement.

Setting your next Commercial Director up for success

When commercial performance has been suboptimal, bringing in a permanent Commercial Director without first addressing fundamental issues is setting them up to fail. The underlying problems—weak governance, inadequate reporting, team capability gaps—will undermine even the most talented leader.

I've seen this scenario repeatedly: a new Commercial Director joins, faces entrenched problems they didn't create, and leaves within 12 months, creating a damaging cycle of leadership churn.

As your Interim Commercial Director, I establish the commercial foundations that enable permanent leadership to succeed. I implement robust governance, develop team capabilities and create the reporting frameworks that allow your next Commercial Director to hit the ground running rather than fighting fires from day one.