I’ve spent many years watching talented SME bakery owners hit the same ceiling; they know they need strategic leadership. They can’t justify £120K+ for a full-time Operations Director or Managing Director in some circumstances. So they push forward without that critical expertise, and growth stalls.
There’s a better way. And at Stuart Lee & Associates, we’re pioneering it for the food manufacturing sector.
The Fractional Leadership Advantage
Here’s what’s transforming our clients’ operations:
Access World-Class Expertise Without the Overhead. Our fractional Leadership Associates have led operations at major industrial bakeries as well as food manufacturing organisations. They’ve navigated BRCGS audits, scaled production significantly to match consumer demand, and turned around underperforming facilities. Now they’re available to SMEs at 30-40% of full-time employment costs.
Strategic Impact From Day One: No 6-12 month learning curve. Our leaders understand your production challenges, ingredient supply complexities, and margin pressures because they’ve solved them dozens of times before.
Flexibility That Matches Your Business Reality: Launching a new product line? Optimising current operations? Interim coverage during transition? We scale with you.
Objective Insights That Internal Teams Frequently Miss: Fresh perspective on bottlenecks, quality issues, and efficiency opportunities. No organisational politics. Just clear-eyed strategy.
Why Stuart Lee & Associates Is Different?
We’re not generalist consultants or advisors dabbling in food manufacturing. We ARE food manufacturing specialists who pioneered fractional leadership for this sector because:
✓ We know HACCP, BRCGS, and BRC standards inside out
✓ We’ve managed multi-million pound bakery operations
✓ We understand the cost pressures unique to food manufacturing
✓ We’ve built our entire model around SME bakery growth
Real Example: One client was losing £40K monthly on inefficient production scheduling. Our fractional Operations Director restructured their workflow. They’re now profitable and scaling to a second facility.
The Question Every SME Owner Should Ask
“Am I letting growth opportunities pass because I lack strategic operational leadership?”
What’s Your Next Move?
You can email us at;
office@stuartleeassociates.com
Let’s have a no-obligation conversation on how fractional leadership could accelerate your strategic growth.
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