Fractional CTO for established organisations that need to change how they run.
15 years as a CTO and executive board member in UK organisations of £15–120m turnover. I lead the operational and IT change that long-established organisations need: systems that have run for a decade or more, the processes built around them, and supplier contracts that renew without challenge. Most recently Product and IT Director at National Milk Records, through its £48m sale to AB Agri.
Services
Technology reviews
The usual place to start.
The Technology Return Review is a three-week, fixed-fee engagement for organisations without a CTO: what your technology spend returns, what to change first, and where AI would genuinely improve it. One page your board can read in 90 seconds. ERP rescue, programme reset and board reporting sit alongside it.
See the Return Review ›Fractional CTO leadership
Senior technology ownership, part-time.
Ongoing leadership of operational and IT change, for organisations that need the judgement without a full-time hire: replacing ageing systems, redesigning the processes around them, managing suppliers, and reporting progress to the board. Pragmatic AI adoption where it earns its place.
Read more ›Technology due diligence
When a transaction is on the table.
Buy-side technology and cyber diligence, and readiness work ahead of a sale. A clear read of the estate, the risks, and the cost to put things right, in language a board can act on.
Read more ›Experience
Change led from inside established organisations.
National Milk Records
Product & IT Director, 2021 to 2024.
The UK's leading dairy data and diagnostics business. On the executive team, responsible for product, technology operations and suppliers, through the £48m sale to AB Agri and the technology integration afterwards.
Wilmington Plc
CTO & executive board member, 2015 to 2018.
An LSE-listed risk and compliance group. Platform consolidation, supplier rationalisation, and the integration of acquired businesses, including the £19m carve-out of Health Service Journal from Ascential plc.
Oxford Royale Academy
Chief Technology & Digital Officer, 2019 to 2020.
An international education business. Built the technology and digital function, and introduced new systems across the company during a period of fast growth.
About Mike
Mike Fraser has spent 15 years in technology leadership across listed and mid-market UK businesses, from Reed Business Information at RELX to executive board roles at Wilmington Plc, Oxford Royale Academy, and National Milk Records. He started as a software engineer and worked his way up to the executive board: he knows the technology from the code up and the business from the top down. Eight completed transactions add integration and diligence experience to the change work.
Read more about Mike ›Insights
Practical writing on technology change, IT governance, and getting a return on technology spend.
18 September 2026
Your IT bill, read like the rest of the P&L
A free workbook and board template that sorts every technology cost and finds the waste.
30 July 2026
The manager as messenger
Most management work is moving information. That is the part the tools can now do.
23 July 2026
Wanted: analyst programmer
The most valuable technology person over the next five years does one job that now spans three or four titles.
Contact
Get in touch
Send a couple of lines on the systems, the change you're planning, or whatever you're weighing up. I'll reply within one working day and tell you whether it's something I can help with. If not, I'll point you in the right direction.
Based near the M4 corridor, working UK-wide on a remote-first basis with in-person time for key milestones.