About
I'm Chris Barber — an interim transformation director and operating partner with over 20 years of experience delivering operational change in PE-backed and owner-managed businesses across the UK.
I work alongside investors and leadership teams to close the gap between strategy and operational reality. My approach is diagnostic first — I walk the operation before I design anything. Then I build a practical roadmap, deliver it alongside the management team, and stay until the change is genuinely embedded.
Selected Mandates
Energy solutions provider — PE-backed, ~£160m turnover
Delivered £15m annualised cost reduction through operational review, TOM redesign and full organisational restructure. Created a carve-out-ready structure with clean divisional accountabilities and investor-grade governance ahead of a planned transaction. Worked directly alongside the CEO and Chairman throughout.
Plant & Fleet division — PE-owned, £2.3bn group
Designed divisional TOM and org restructure to support a growth roadmap. Centralised operations, renegotiated a key lease, eliminated £345k of low-value IT spend, and built a five-year strategic roadmap with the senior leadership team.
Traffic management group — PE-backed, post-M&A integration
Integrated five independently managed businesses into a single operating platform. Delivered £5m annual savings and turned the worst-performing region from loss-making to 7.2% EBITDA in four months through operational fixes and performance management.
National fleet leasing & hire — £175m division
Multi-year mandate. Consolidated operations from 18 sites to 2, relocated core activity across regions, and delivered a 27% operating cost reduction. VOSA-regulated environment. Full cross-functional programme across facilities, people, systems, governance and service continuity.
Credentials
Member, Institute of Interim Management (IIM)
Full Member, Association for Project Management (APM)
ITIL AI Governance Unlocked — Axelos
AI Unlocked — Axelos
PRINCE2 Practitioner
PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner
Change Management Practitioner — APMG
BA (Hons) Business Studies, University of Brighton
Based in Birmingham. Operating UK-wide
I work with clients across the UK on interim, fractional and project engagements. If you'd like to discuss a situation, I'd welcome a conversation.