Five years on from the Covid pandemic, flexible working is an intrinsic part of modern business. Yet for those at the very top of a company, that flexibility may not always apply - with senior employees more likely to do long and gruelling working weeks. But there's one firm shaking that up. PortfolioXD offers the services of C-suite employees - those in top- level leadership positions like chief executive officer, chief financial officer or chief operating officer - to companies on a flexible basis. It's a win-win relationship, according to chief executive and founder Stephen Halpin.
"It benefits the companies in terms of only having to pay for what they're using, while for the executives, we can bring new opportunities to them in terms of how they want to work. Maybe they don't want to do more than two or three days a week, or they want a bit of variety in terms what they're working on."
Yet although it may sound like traditional consultancy work, Stephen is keen to stress that PortfolioXD operates "completely differently."
"It's what we call fractional employment, which means that the executives are working inside the business. They might only be employed a day or two per week, but they are not sitting outside of the business, they're in with their sleeves up. They become part-time employees rather than external consultants."
Stephen built his career working across Scotland's entrepreneurial ecosystem. This experience proved to him that "ambitious SMES" wanted to grow but often couldn't afford the top- level leadership that would help them achieve that.
"The way the market is right now, the way the economy is right now, it's important to enable SMEs to grow at a much faster pace than they are currently. One of the ways that can happen is by getting better leaders into those businesses at a much earlier stage, that gives them the firepower to scale up."
It's certainly a concept that has proved popular. Despite only having been operating for a little over two years, PortfolioXD already has 1700 executives in their talent pool.
"We're currently knocking back around a third of people trying to come through, because all of a sudden, being a fractional C-Suite exec seems to be the flavour of the month."
Stephen is very strict about who he brings on board, ensuring that all the executives have operated at a C-suite level before. Some have founded and sold a business, he explains, made some money, and are now "looking for something interesting to work on". They are not, Stephen is keen to stress, those that "are biding their time to retirement". He carefully curates which executives he suggests to his clients. Once they have chosen who to bring on board, a start date can usually be agreed within a few weeks, with a three-way contract established between PortfolioXD, the client, and the executive.
"Now we've got the processes and systems in place to allow us to scale the business," Stephen explains. "Last year was about ensuring that we had that business model that worked, that there was an appetite for it in the market. We have proven that now and now we're starting to press the accelerator."
And when it comes to accelerating PortfolioXD, support from Entrepreneurial Scotland has proved invaluable. Stephen is part of their cohort of other business leaders, which he describes as a group of people "with a desire to succeed."
"I think the energy that comes from that is significant and quite special. Even though we are coming from very different sectors, and stages of where our businesses are, it's great to be able to bounce ideas off each other."