PE Portfolio, Chief of Staff and Operating Partner
The halfway point between a non-executive director and a full-time interim.
A senior operator who embeds in your portfolio company, owns the value creation plan, and creates leverage for the CEO from day one.
The problem
You have acquired a business, and the first 90 days decide the next three years. The value creation plan exists on paper, but nobody inside the company owns the cross-functional work that has no natural home. The CEO is stretched. The board wants confidence that delivery is on track, not a surprise two quarters later.
A non-executive director attends and challenges, but does not execute. A full-time interim is a heavy, expensive commitment before you know the shape of the gap. You need something in between, more active than a board observer, lighter than a permanent hire.
What we do
Milne & Co steps in as a fractional Chief of Staff, Chief Transformation Officer or Operating Partner, three related roles that sit between a non-executive director and a full-time interim.
- Chief of Staff. Creates leverage for the CEO. Owns value creation plan governance, manages the investor interface, and coordinates the cross-functional work.
- Chief Transformation Officer. Leads the transformation programme itself, accountable for the change, the pace and the outcomes across the business.
- Operating Partner. Works across the portfolio at fund level, deploying into specific companies as the investment thesis demands.
The engagement covers value creation plan execution and workstream tracking, investor interface and board pack preparation, ownership of the strategic projects above functional lines, and the decision-making cadence and accountability a fund requires.
Why it works
Operations is where the return now sits.
Value creation has moved from financial engineering to operational delivery, and revenue growth drives most of it. Milne & Co is built for that shift, board-level thinking and hands-on execution in the same people.
We embed, we do not sit on the shelf.
The engagement is delivery, not observation. We work alongside your management team, not above it.
Evidenced across PE-backed work.
Distressed acquisition diligence for Goldman Advisory, a Dubai private equity firm. Commercial recovery and Chairman reporting as Acting CEO of a UAE logistics group. Go-to-market and investor readiness for a scaling GCC distributor. A PE-backed QSR turnaround and sale preparation across 110 outlets.
A fraction of the cost.
Senior portfolio capability without a permanent hire, and where a situation needs both principals, a combined rate that stays a fraction of two full-time appointments.
The matching numbers
$75M revenue growth in 14 months
$6M saved in 90 days
78 outlets live in 45 days
How it works
A 30-minute conversation at no cost, to understand the asset and the thesis.
A clear proposal within five working days. Scope, cadence, rate and the value creation outcomes the engagement will own.
We embed, own the plan, and report against it.
Common questions
How is a Chief of Staff different from a non-executive director.
A non-executive director attends the board, provides governance and challenge, and holds the executive to account. A Chief of Staff is more actively involved in execution, owning value creation plan governance, managing the investor interface, and leading the cross-functional projects that have no natural internal owner.
Can you work across a portfolio.
Yes. As an Operating Partner, we deploy into specific portfolio companies as the investment thesis demands, at fund level.
How quickly can you start.
Usually within one to two weeks of agreeing terms, and we can begin a diagnostic within days.
Strategy is only as good as the people who execute it.
Tell us where the business is, and where you want it to be. We will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.
Start a conversation