Founder of Opsli / Fractional Head of Operations
Freelance
My operations journey started as a Junior Manager for a discount retailer in 2011 at the ripe old age of 19. I was fortunate enough to climb the ranks, take on multiple stores of my own, and eventually become the Regional Lead for new store openings. Early 2024, I moved into Logistics and Warehousing. I describe that shift as “accidentally fractional” — mainly because I had no idea what fractional work even was at the time. I just stepped in to help a local last-mile delivery company. One depot and a handful of drivers turned into three depots and a growing roster of warehouse colleagues and owner-drivers. I still work with that client today, though the role is far less chaotic now — which has opened the door for me to take on additional clients. So here we are in 2026 and I’m actively prospecting.
Is “controlled growth with a plan and SOP at hand” a cop out? 😅 No. That’s the dream. But I’m a workhorse. I like getting into the weeds with businesses - full strip back if needed, or one problem, one sprint. I like the work.
Regional operational turnaround of new store openings. It was cross-functional, needed restructuring, recruiting and to stop haemorrhaging cash at the first whiff of a stock take. In year one, I was able to fix all of the above; year two was about stability and training my next-in-line to take over.
It might be a little more human than “💥 superpower 💥” 😅 But I’ve worked through double-digit growth in £multi-M environments, restructures, change initiatives and been the person rolling out “the plan”. I don’t flinch, I get to work.
Proud member of the 5:00 AM Club. 🫡 Tools, systems, processes can all be changed - different levels of scale, growth, urgency all require different tools. What doesn’t change? My time to plan - undisturbed. Means the battle’s won before the day starts. Otherwise? Love Google Workspace.
When everything’s on fire, I go back to basic principles. Input -> output. No matter how complex something looks, it’s still a system. Strip it back. Remove unnecessary fuel. Stop feeding oxygen.
Operations has touch points with every department by design. Good operations leadership is able to bring those different departments together cohesively. Remove silos, improve handoffs and optimise efficiency. Or simply? Everyone knows the plan and their part in it.
You don’t get to lead Operations from a fancy dashboard. If you’re not spending time in the weeds, you’re “optimising” thoughts and assumptions.
The barrier to entering Ops has never been lower. Tools are better. Knowledge is shared. Collaboration is normal. That means better operations leaders can create impact faster. I also think Fractional Ops is only just getting started. Businesses understand fractional Finance and HR, Ops is next. And I’m excited to be part of that shift.
Do the work. Understand the work. Get a bit messy with it.