Restructuring a marketing function to support accelerated growth
How a private equity backed manufacturer introduced senior marketing leadership, strengthened day to day management and avoided committing prematurely to a full time CMO appointment.
The Situation
A private equity-backed manufacturing business asked me to assess whether its marketing function was capable of supporting an accelerated growth plan.
The board was considering recruiting a full-time Chief Marketing Officer to introduce greater strategic direction and improve performance. The proposed role carried a salary of £120,000 plus a 20 per cent bonus, creating a substantial annual employment commitment before recruitment fees, benefits, equipment and other costs were considered.
The marketing department had grown quickly and included three graphic designers, a web developer with SEO capability, four relatively inexperienced marketing executives and one Marketing Manager.
The Marketing Manager reported to the CFO. The CFO had a clear view of the commercial outcomes the business needed, but there was no senior marketing leader translating those objectives into a prioritised strategy, clear channel choices and meaningful performance measures.
The team was producing a considerable volume of work, but activity was not consistently connected to commercial priorities. People were busy, yet the business lacked the leadership structure needed to turn that effort into more controlled and measurable progress.
The Challenge
The Marketing Function Review identified two distinct leadership gaps.
The first was at board level. The business needed an accountable senior marketing leader who could set direction, challenge assumptions, prioritise investment and take responsibility for performance against the growth plan.
The second was within the day-to-day management of the department.
Creative and delivery capacity had increased, but management and mentoring capacity had not kept pace. Junior team members lacked consistent coaching, prioritisation and accountability. The existing Marketing Manager had become overloaded and increasingly tactical, spending much of their time managing requests and workload rather than developing people and improving performance.
Recruiting a full-time CMO could have addressed the senior leadership gap. It would not, on its own, have resolved the operational management problem.
The risk was that the business would make a significant executive appointment while the same delivery bottlenecks, unclear responsibilities and management pressures remained underneath it.
The business did not simply need more seniority. It needed the right structure between the board, the management team and the people completing the work.
The Marketing Function Review
I completed a structured four-week review of the marketing function and its ability to support the board’s growth plans.
The assessment covered:
- Commercial objectives and revenue expectations
- The existing leadership and reporting structure
- Team capability, experience and development needs
- Workflow, prioritisation and accountability
- Reporting, decision-making and performance governance
- The sequencing of future marketing investment
The review found that the fastest route to improved performance was not an immediate full-time executive appointment.
The business needed a clear leadership structure that connected board objectives with marketing execution, while also creating enough management capacity to support and develop the wider team.
The recommended leadership structure
I recommended two coordinated changes.
The first was the appointment of a Fractional CMO for one day each week. This gave the business accountable senior marketing leadership at board level without requiring an immediate permanent executive hire.
The Fractional CMO would take responsibility for strategic direction, leadership reporting, agency oversight, investment priorities and alignment between marketing and wider commercial objectives.
The second change was the appointment of an additional Marketing Manager on a salary of £42,000.
This role would strengthen day-to-day leadership, create more manageable reporting lines and provide the coaching, prioritisation and delivery discipline that the growing team required.
The two appointments addressed different parts of the problem.
Senior oversight without stronger operational management would have left the existing bottlenecks in place. Operational management without senior strategic leadership would have allowed the function to remain reactive and disconnected from the board.
The model worked because it strengthened both levels at the same time.
Cost comparison
Proposed full time CMO model
| Cost | Illustrative annual amount |
|---|---|
| Base salary | £120,000 |
| 20 per cent bonus | £24,000 |
| Employer National Insurance | £20,850 |
| Statutory minimum employer pension | £1,321 |
| Illustrative direct annual cost | £166,171 |
This excludes recruitment fees, enhanced benefits, equipment, travel, training and other employment costs.
Revised leadership model
| Cost | Illustrative annual amount |
|---|---|
| Fractional CMO, based on 48 days | £60,000 |
| Additional Marketing Manager salary | £42,000 |
| Employer National Insurance and minimum pension | £6,623 |
| Total revised annual cost | £108,623 |
This excludes recruitment fees, enhanced benefits, equipment, travel, training and other employment costs.
The revised model produced an illustrative annual cost difference of approximately £57,548.
The comparison was not used to argue that fractional leadership is always better. It allowed the board to consider whether it genuinely needed full time CMO capacity at that stage and whether the proposed appointment would address the whole problem.
What changed
The revised structure created a clearer connection between the board’s commercial objectives and the work taking place inside marketing.
The Fractional CMO translated growth expectations into priorities, plans and performance measures. The CFO retained financial oversight, while marketing decisions were led by somebody with appropriate functional experience.
The existing and additional Marketing Managers were each given defined areas of responsibility and more manageable teams to lead.
This gave executives and designers clearer reporting lines, more consistent guidance and better access to coaching and feedback.
Strategic direction could now flow from the board through the Fractional CMO, into the management team and then through to delivery.
Reporting and review cycles also became more consistent, giving the leadership team a clearer view of progress, responsibility and the contribution marketing was making.
The Outcome
The business avoided committing prematurely to a full-time CMO appointment before the wider marketing structure was ready to benefit from that level of investment.
Instead, it introduced a leadership model that combined senior strategic direction with stronger operational management.
The revised structure cost approximately £109,000 a year under the assumptions used in this case study, preserving nearly £58,000 for reinvestment elsewhere in the growth plan.
More importantly, the business addressed the actual organisational problem.
It created clearer accountability at board level, more sustainable management responsibilities, stronger development for junior team members and a better connection between commercial objectives and marketing delivery.
The decision was not driven by cost alone. It reflected a more disciplined assessment of the leadership, capacity and structure the business genuinely needed.