About
London-based Fractional CTO
with 26 years of experience
I'm a Fractional CTO based in London with 26 years of experience building digital products and leading technology teams - from global agencies to startups, and everything in between.
I've spent much of my career inside world-class creative agencies — including AKQA, Wunderman, Digitas, Critical Mass and AnalogFolk — building digital experiences for brands like Nike, HSBC, Citi, Microsoft, Xbox, BT and many others. That work includes a Webby Award win for the Nike Trainers Hub (Mobile Sites & Apps, Fitness & Recreation, 2017) — where I was credited as Chief Technology Officer — and led to my first global CTO role.
I left agency employment because the work I found most valuable — the strategic technical decisions, the architecture calls, the moments where the right advice at the right time saves a project — was getting buried under management overhead. Going fractional meant I could do that work directly, for more than one client, without the politics.
Today, I work with creative agencies and ambitious founders who need senior technical leadership without the full-time overhead. That might mean helping a studio build a product arm, designing architecture that scales, setting up AI workflows for a dev team, or giving a founder confidence that their technical decisions hold up under investor scrutiny.
I'm also deeply invested in what AI-assisted development means for how we build software. Using tools like Claude Code, I've compressed weeks of development into days — not by cutting corners, but by working smarter. I run the Shipyard workshop for teams who want to build that capability themselves.
Experience
Since the 80s, when my parents bought five boys a Commodore VIC-20 and I typed in my first program from a book (that didn't work), I was hooked. I built my first website in 1996, and that put me on a path I've never looked back from. I love tech — software, hardware, physical, digital, all of it.
Common questions
What does a fractional CTO actually do?
The same things a full-time CTO does — architecture decisions, engineering team oversight, vendor evaluation, roadmap planning, stakeholder communication — but on a part-time basis. Most clients run on 2–4 days per week. Enough to make the calls that matter without the full-time overhead.
What's the difference between a fractional CTO and a consultant?
A consultant delivers a report and leaves. A fractional CTO stays embedded: attends your standups, makes decisions with your team, and is accountable for outcomes over time — not just recommendations. The relationship looks more like a senior hire than a project engagement.
How much does a fractional CTO cost?
Significantly less than a full-time hire. A full-time CTO in London costs £150k+ before equity. A fractional retainer covers the same strategic function at a fraction of that cost — priced by days per week rather than salary.
Do you work with non-technical founders?
Yes — most of my clients are non-technical. The value is translating technical complexity into clear decisions, not adding more complexity. If you can describe the business problem, I can handle the technical layer.
How quickly can you get started?
Discovery call first, then typically a 2-week onboarding. The first engagement is usually a fixed-scope tech audit or architecture review — gives us both a clear picture before committing to an ongoing retainer.