who we help

Marketing Support for Private Equity-Backed Companies

Maximise growth. Protect margin. Build enterprise value with marketing leadership investors can trust.

your challenge

Investor Expectations Are High — But Marketing Isn’t Delivering

You’ve secured private equity backing. Growth targets are clear. Timelines are tight. But marketing often lags behind the ambition.

You might be seeing:

❌ No unified strategy connecting marketing to the investment thesis
❌Revenue growth targets unmet due to weak lead flow or inconsistent brand impact
❌Teams and agencies operate reactively, with no senior leadership
❌Marketing ROI is hard to prove at board level
❌Transformation plans stall because communication and positioning don’t keep up

risk of inaction

Without Marketing Maturity, Value Creation Slows — and Exit Potential Weakens

In a PE environment, underperforming marketing isn’t just inefficient — it’s a drag on enterprise value.

  • Revenue milestones slip because demand generation isn’t scalable
  • Commercial due diligence highlights gaps in positioning or team structure
  • Agencies, tools, and spend multiply without accountability
  • The board loses confidence when reporting lacks clarity or rigour
  • Competitors with sharper messaging capture share while you restructure

⚠️ With limited time to deliver transformation and value uplift, marketing must be aligned, accountable, and investor-ready.

our solution

Fractional Marketing Leadership That Builds Growth and Enterprise Value

We help PE-backed companies:

✅ Professionalise marketing to align with the investment thesis

✅ Drive revenue growth through scalable demand engines

✅ Reposition brand and messaging to support expansion and acquisitions

✅ Implement reporting frameworks that build board confidence

✅ Lead or restructure marketing teams for speed, efficiency, and accountability

✅ Support value creation ahead of exit with investor-focused narrative and metrics

We work beside the management team and investors — bringing clarity without complexity.

How We Help Private Equity-Backed Companies

For private equity-backed firms, we turn marketing into a lever for enterprise value — aligning with investment cases, scaling growth engines, strengthening brands, and delivering governance boards and investors trust.

Commercial Alignment & Value Creation

We align marketing directly with the investment case. Frameworks that prove impact on growth, EBITDA, and enterprise value — giving investors measurable returns on marketing spend.

Scalable Growth Engines

We design demand systems that compound over time. Pipelines that reduce CAC, increase conversion, and sustain portfolio growth beyond short-term tactics.

Credible Market Positioning

We reposition brands to match ambition. Investor, customer, and talent narratives that strengthen market credibility, support pricing power, and accelerate adoption at scale.

Operational Efficiency & Governance

We streamline teams, tools, and reporting. Lean ecosystems and governance-ready dashboards that eliminate waste, increase margin, and give boards confidence in marketing’s contribution to enterprise value.

cross-industry expertise

Sectors We Support

Our Fractional CMOs excel in 'VUCA' environments — bringing clarity and control to volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous situations. We help regulated businesses hit growth milestones with confidence, compliance, and commercial focus.

Marketing Services Tailored for PE-Backed Companies

Support for portfolio company marketing leaders stepping into investor-backed environments.

Fractional CMO

Embed senior oversight to align marketing with the investment case, drive growth, and deliver board confidence.

Marketing Advisory

Strategic counsel for CEOs, CFOs, and boards on marketing maturity, brand repositioning, and value optimisation.

Marketing Audit

Portfolio-ready audit of team structure, agency ecosystem, and martech investment.

Marketing Mentoring

Practical coaching for founders and early hires to build confidence, skills, and marketing leadership from day one.

Our project was to create a top-level marketing strategy which, once built, we could drive forward ourselves. And I can honestly say the work has been transformational for Yellowtail. After each workshop with VCMO, both Dennis Hall and I would be amazed at how much we'd achieved. We worked hard! But the results are worth it.

Sarah Steele
Operations Director, Yellowtail Financial Planning
Read the Case Study

Shout out to Paul Mills who bravely took on running a positioning workshop with us yesterday. Is there anything harder than doing the thing your client does for others for them?! Great work. Really thought provoking, and so important to have facilitated by someone with an external perspective!

Bryony Thomas
CEO, watertight business thinking

Paul is a professional strategic marketeer who is able to apply his expertise with marketing budgets large and small. The commercial impact of Shaw & Co's rebrand, which was initiated, designed and implemented by Paul, has been to differentiate us positively in a sector where few have succeeded. He delivers what he promises, on time and on/under budget, to a high quality. Paul made a positive impact on our business that will last.

Rod Leefe
chair, shaw & co

VCMO's audit brought clarity to a complex set of challenges. They cut through the noise and delivered a clear, prioritised roadmap that we could act on immediately. Their ability to engage across teams and translate insight into action was exactly what we needed.

Dr. Ross Burn
Co-founder, Catsci limited  
Read the Case Study

Lydia possesses a deep understanding of marketing strategies and has consistently delivered exceptional results. Her ability to analyse market trends, create engaging campaigns, and drive customer acquisition is truly impressive. Her dedication, attention to detail, and strong communication skills make her an invaluable asset to any organisation. I cannot recommend Lydia enough for her expertise, professionalism, and exceptional work ethic.

Alan Leckey
Business Consultant, CCO - the Collaboration Company  

Paul Mills wasn't just an outsourced marketing leader — he was a mentor. His support helped me enhance my technical marketing skills and shape a more strategic mindset, as well as build my  confidence with senior leadership and deliver higher-impact work. He is dependable and skillful, and his guidance has made me feel more capable and prepared for future challenges.

Caitlin Daniels
marketing manager, catsci limited
Read the Case Study

VCMO brings knowledge, insight and practical experience to the table, but also something else, which is quite rare, the unwavering commitment to finishing the job without compromising on the quality of the output. Their work for Yellowtail has been exemplary and we're seeing the results already.

Dennis Hall
founder, yellowtail financial planning

Ruth brought great experience and insight to my firm over many years. Her considered and thoughtful approach to problem solving are a real strength and her experience of marketing and business development in the legal sector was invaluable.

Gavin Tyler
Managing Partner, Cripps

VCMO helped us think beyond our capabilities and reframe how we communicate the true value of what we do. Paul's workshop unlocked fresh ideas resulting in a more strategic approach to our content plan and go-to-market materials. The quality of the output and power of the messaging is really impressive.

Peter Ridgway
Business Development Director, Reach Separations
Read the Case Study

VCMO has been instrumental in reshaping how we approach marketing at Lucent. Their strategic clarity, attention to detail, and ability to deliver at pace have been exceptional. Paul's embedded himself seamlessly into the team and quickly earned trust — not just from me, but from our wider staff and partners. The website and content strategy he led have already started delivering results, and I now feel far more confident in how we grow the business over the coming years.

Steven Rowe
Founder - Lucent Financial Planning
Read the Case Study

VCMO helped me find the words and structure to communicate what I do — and who I do it for — in a way that finally connects. I’ve had more inbound enquiries since the website relaunch than in the previous two years.

Lee Spencer
aka The rowing marine
Read the Case Study

Request a private consultation with a Chartered CMO.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Fractional Edge is our montly newsletter sharing expert opinion on the latest trends in fractional leadership, curated marketing content from leading sources, VCMO events, and much more. Subscribing is quick — just add your name and email.