Fractional executive, consultant, agency or part-time hire: which one?
Ask what each is accountable for. A fractional executive owns an outcome: the function and its number. A consultant owns a deliverable, then leaves. An agency sells execution capacity. A part-time hire works through a task list as an employee on reduced hours. Pick the one that matches the gap.
| Fractional executive | Consultant | Agency | Part-time hire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accountable for | An outcome: the function's number, its team and its decisions | A deliverable: the report, the plan, the recommendation | Execution capacity on a channel or a build | A task list inside a role somebody else leads |
| Commitment | 1 to 3 fixed days a week | The days the project needs | A retainer or a scope of work | Fixed contracted hours |
| Length | Ongoing, often a year or more | Weeks to a few months, then it ends | As long as the retainer runs | Permanent, with notice |
| Pricing | £600 to £1,500 a day across the UK seat bands in 2026; £4,600 to £11,500 a month at 2 days a week | A day rate or a fixed project fee, set by the firm | A monthly retainer or a fee per deliverable | Pro-rata salary plus employer costs: on a £56,000 pro-rata salary, about £8,971 a year in employer NI and pension |
| Employment status and IR35 | Contractor through their own company; IR35 decided by the facts of each engagement | Contractor or firm; IR35 still depends on the facts, and a defined project with its own deliverable is less often in question | A supplier of a service, so IR35 is not usually in question for the client | Employee on the payroll; IR35 does not apply |
| Who carries employer NI | Nobody on the client side, outside IR35 | Nobody on the client side, outside IR35 | The agency, for its own staff | The employer |
| Best for | A seat that needs an owner but not five days | A question with an answer, such as a pricing review | More output on a plan that already exists | A defined, ongoing job below leadership level |
Fractional figures are the published seat bands on the day-rates page. The part-time figure is the cost model’s employer arithmetic on the CFO salary assumption of £140,000, pro rata at 2 days a week. Consultancy and agency fees are not benchmarked here. IR35 status turns on the facts of each engagement: IR35 for fractional executives.
How to tell which one you need
- If the problem is that nobody owns the function, hire somebody to own it. That is a fractional executive until the work fills a week, then a full-time one.
- If there is a question with an answer, such as what to charge, whether to enter a market or how to restructure a team, a consultant answers it and the company acts on it.
- If the plan is right and there is not enough output, an agency adds the hands. Agencies work best with somebody inside deciding what they should be doing.
- If the job is defined and ongoing but below leadership level, a part-time employee does it, with the employer costs and protections that come with employing them.
The combination that works most often is one owner and outside capacity: a fractional executive directing an agency or a freelancer. The one that fails most often is outside capacity with no owner, where the agency is deciding its own brief.
And interim?
Interim is the same kind of senior person as fractional, full time for a fixed stretch. Fractional vs interim covers that comparison with the cost by seat, and what a fractional executive is has the full definition.
By seat
The same question, answered for one seat and one kind of outside help at a time.
- Fractional CMO or a marketing agency
- Fractional CTO or a development agency
- Fractional General Counsel or a law firm
- Fractional People Lead or an HR consultant
- Fractional Sales Director or an outsourced sales agency
- Fractional Data Lead or an analytics agency
- Fractional CMO or a marketing consultant
Common questions
Is a fractional executive the same as a consultant?
No. A consultant advises and leaves; the company still has to run the function. A fractional executive runs it: they own the number, manage the people in it, sit in the leadership meeting and are accountable for the outcome. The test is who the board asks when the function misses.
Is fractional the same as freelance?
No. A freelancer is hired for a deliverable and judged on it, then moves on. A fractional executive holds a seat and is judged on the function: the number, the team and the decisions. Both usually invoice through their own company, so the paperwork looks alike while the accountability does not.
Is a fractional executive a contractor?
Commercially, usually yes: they sign a contract for services through their own limited company and invoice by the day or the month. Whether an engagement falls inside IR35 is a separate question, decided by its facts, such as control, substitution and how integrated the person is, not by the word contractor or fractional.
Do fractional employees get benefits?
Usually there is no employee to give them to. A fractional executive invoices through their own company and receives no holiday pay, pension contribution or sick pay from the client, which is why a day rate is higher than the matching salary per day. A part-time employee on reduced days does get them, pro rata, and the employer pays National Insurance on top.
Every seat, with the rate on the profile
Start from the seat you need, read the bench, or brief Operator Search and the shortlist comes to you. The day rate is published before anybody talks.