PE firms & operating partners
Portfolio marketing that performs between acquisition and exit. I embed at board level, lead M&A due diligence, and stay accountable for commercial outcomes.
Fractional CMO
Most businesses don't need more marketing. They just need marketing that performs.
Fractional CMO with 25 years of board-level experience across PE-backed environments, high-growth businesses, and scaling SMEs. I lead your marketing, build the engine, and stay accountable for what it delivers.
Who I work with
Whether PE-backed, investor-backed, or scaling under your own steam
Most have marketing activity. What is missing is the strategic leadership, clear accountability, and revenue-focused engine to make it perform.
Portfolio company CEOs
Board-level marketing leadership without the full-time hire, so marketing delivers while you focus on the business.
Investor-backed scaleups
You have investment, a product that works, and a growth target. I build the repeatable, revenue-focused engine that gets you there.
High-growth SMEs
You have outgrown what got you here. I help you build the marketing function your next stage of growth demands.
Every marketing decision I make is tied to a reportable outcome
After years operating inside PE-backed businesses, I think differently about marketing. Not campaigns. Not content calendars. Not vanity metrics. Every channel, every pound of budget, every piece of activity is rationalised by what it delivers commercially.
Most marketers report on activity. I report on outcomes.
Proof
Outcomes a board can read
- Peregrine Risk Management
- urfuture
- Synextra
- BWP Inspire
- NetHub
- Citation Group
800%+
ROAS on paid performance campaigns
1,000%+
ROAS via third-party lead generation platforms
£400k+
annual savings through marketing centralisation
20+
acquisitions integrated
11
regional teams consolidated into one centre of excellence
BeCertified
SaaS brand built from concept to commercial launch
How it works
A method built around your commercial objectives
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Immerse
Before strategy, before execution, I get under the skin of your business: the culture, the people, the commercials, the targets, the gaps. I learn your business first.
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Build
Strategy, structure, and a marketing engine built around your specific commercial objectives. A roadmap your team can execute and your board can track.
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Deliver
Embedded marketing leadership with clear accountability for outcomes. I work alongside your team, oversee execution, and report in language your board understands.
About
I'm Kristian Johnson
25+ years of board-level marketing leadership across PE-backed environments, global teams, and high-growth businesses spanning the UK, ANZ and North America. From M&A due diligence and post-acquisition integration to GTM strategy, performance marketing and exit readiness, I have done it at scale. Based in the North West. Working UK-wide.
Ready to make your marketing perform?
If you are a PE firm, portfolio company, or growth business that needs marketing leadership with real accountability, let us talk.