Non-executive director and board advisor
Non-executive director services from someone who owns businesses himself.
A seat on your board, or beside it, for an owner-managed business: the numbers reviewed every month, the senior team challenged and held to account, and the next stage planned, from someone who owns and invests in businesses and sits on boards as an owner, not a visitor.
5.0· 15 Google reviewsBook a virtual coffeeFor owner-managed businesses, usually £1m–£20m turnover. Scope and fee agreed in writing.
What I bring to the board
What does a non-executive director do? The questions an owner and investor asks.
An owner’s eyes on your numbers
Cash, margin, debtor days, wage bill, what the business pays its owner. The questions an investor asks, every month, from someone who asks them of his own businesses.
Challenge in the room
A board where the CEO is challenged, decisions are written down, and the senior team is held to what they said last month.
Structure for the next stage
Management structure, a managing director or general manager, succession, bringing in investment, or preparing to sell.
A CEO mentor between meetings
The call you can make when something’s gone wrong and you can’t say it to your team. I own businesses; I know that call.
How it works
Scope, fee, where and conflicts
- Scope. A board or advisory seat for an owner-managed business, usually £1m–£20m turnover. Monthly board meeting, the numbers reviewed before it, and a set amount of time between meetings. All agreed in writing before we start.
- Fee. Agreed in writing with the scope. No equity required. Not published, because every board is different; ask on a virtual coffee.
- Where. In person across the UK for board meetings; on Zoom in between.
- Conflicts. I own and invest in businesses in medical technology, manufacturing, care and supported living, marketing and sales, and accounting and finance. I won’t sit on a board that competes with one of them, and I’ll tell you if that’s the case before we start.
I trade and invest through Apex Scientific Ltd, and I own a manufacturing business in the West Midlands, alongside my other holdings. That’s the seat I bring to your board: an owner’s, with his own wage bill and cash flow.
If what you need is working on the business with you, month by month, start with mentoring. For you and your leadership team together, see executive and CEO coaching.
Questions
What does a non-executive director do in a small business?
A non-executive director sits on the board without running the day-to-day. In an owner-managed business the job is practical: review the numbers before each meeting, challenge the owner and the senior team, make sure decisions are made and followed through, and bring experience of the next stage, whether that’s a management team, investment or a sale.
What is the difference between a non-executive director and a board advisor?
A non-executive director is formally appointed to the board, with a director’s legal duties. A board advisor attends and advises without the appointment. I do either; most owner-managed businesses start with an advisor seat and formalise it when they bring in investment or prepare to sell.
Is this the same as mentoring?
No. Mentoring works on you and the business between us. A board seat works on the business through the board: governance, the numbers, the senior team, the long-term decisions. Many owners have both; some start with mentoring and add the board seat later.
Do you invest as well?
Sometimes, through my own holding company, where the fit is right. That’s a separate conversation from a board seat and never a condition of one.
“His approach balances accountability with support, which makes a real difference for business leaders who want measurable progress.”
Next step
Ready for a business that pays off for you, and runs without you?
Bring your biggest question about scaling the business to a 30-minute virtual coffee, and leave with a straight answer.
Book a virtual coffee