Fractional CTO and CIO

The organisation is growing, but technology decisions keep landing on the desk of someone not equipped to own them. An investor or oversight body is asking who is accountable for technology. Or the delivery teams are delivering, and no one is translating between what they are building and what the board needs to decide.

Closing these gaps takes someone accountable for technology at board level. It does not take a full-time appointment.

One to three days a week, in a regular monthly rhythm. A presence on the leadership team, not a contractor at the edge of it. Owning the decisions a CTO owns — architecture, vendors, risk posture, the shape and hiring of the technology team — and reporting to the board in language the board can act on.

A named senior leader accountable for technology. A technology strategy the executive team can own and communicate. Board reporting that says what is true, what it costs, and what is being decided. Decisions made and documented — not deferred until a permanent hire arrives. And when the time comes for that hire, a process run by someone who has held the role.

The board stops asking who owns technology. The chief executive stops translating. The cost is a fraction of a full-time executive, and what the organisation can show for it is specific: direction set, risks named, decisions made.

Neil Catton, GCG's Chief Technology Officer, holds these appointments. Thirty-eight years in technology across more than twenty sectors, from computer operator to Group CTO. Programme leadership to £1.5bn, and a former chief information security officer. He currently holds fractional and advisory appointments across PE-backed, scale-up and public sector organisations.