Paul Davies

At-a-Glance Overview

Who I work with

Founders
CEOs
Leadership Teams
Investors

Typical clients

Startups
Scaleups
SMEs
SaaS organisations
Professional Services

Core expertise

Business strategy
Sales process and organisation
Professional Services
IT and Tech transformation
Commercial strategies
Product and Services pricing
Operational excellence

A bit about me

35 years leadership in blue chip IT organisations: Oracle and Tribal Group
Global Executive roles in Professional Services
Managing Director of product divisions
Experienced advisor for Startups/Scaleups

How I Can Help

Business Advisor

Helping leadership teams make better strategic decisions through collaborative planning and execution.

Growth strategy
Go-to-market planning
Sales effectiveness
Organisational design
Business development programs

Growth Mentor

Supporting founders and senior leaders through critical growth stages, key business events or difficult situations in the business life-cycle

Founder mentoring
Leadership development
Decision-making support
Accountability
Scaling challenges

Fractional Executive

Working as part of your business with specific operational responsibilities - without the cost of being full-time.

Fractional COO
Fractional CRO
Fractional Professional Services Director
Transformation leadership
Turnaround support

Completed Assignments

Strategic advisor to the CEO

This successful IT services business was highly successful delivering SaaS testing and automation. However, it struggled to cope with growth. In a fractional role, I defined and implemented a new Sales model, team and process to enable a wider reach and allow the CEO to focus on expanding the organisation.

New Sales team hired, new processes established, coached the team through the changes

Modernised a global professional services business

Tribal Group's professional services business needed to deliver consistent profitability. As Global Head of Professional Services, led the separation of the operation from Support, hired new leadership team, established clear commercial frameworks and tackled poorly performing projects.

Profitability grew from -5% to 20%+

Transformed a struggling Microsoft Dynamics SaaS business

Following acquisition, this EdTech SaaS business struggled without a clear product and commercial strategy. As Managing Director, took control of product strategy, hired key leaders, defined and led an ambitious go-to-market program to refresh the presence in the market.

Pipeline grown 3x and 2 major Russell Group sales wins within 12 months

Defined a new, global pricing matrix for 5,500 consultants

Oracle professional services pricing matrix was too complex leading to huge internal complexity and loss of agility delivering projects. As Head of Innovation (Professional Services), drove a ground up change to the pricing matrix, challenged all internal policies and convention demonstrating the new model would be equally profitable and far simpler.

New pricing matrix implemented globally reducing the possible line items from over 1,000 to 10 with no loss of profitability

Why People Work With Me

My Approach

Strategic and commercial: My very broad knowledge helps to identify and solve problems rapidly. 35 years in the tech industry delivering IT programs for customers and running product and professional services departments
Hands-on: I like to get involved and make a difference by rolling my sleeves up. I'm not afraid to get stuck in either by engaging directly with customers or creating plans to transform the business
Engaging: I like to help get the best out of teams by understanding the issues, the people dynamics and helping them to solve them
Pragmatic: The best changes are ones that can be implemented and are lasting. My approach is to find the key strategies to achieve the outcomes without turning the business on its head
Commercial: With a background in Sales as well as running P&Ls, I know the dynamics that drive a business successfully

My Professional Background

2025-2026 Fraxinus Solutions: I formed my own company to support SaaS and Professional Services businesses achieve or cope with uncontrolled growth
2022-2025 Tribal Group PLC: Global Head of Professional Services and MD of Microsoft Dynamics product division for a market-leading EdTech SaaS provider
1994-2022 Oracle Corporation: EMEA Exec team of Oracle Consulting - Head of Innovation. Global professional services transformation and business development leadership
1991-1994 Price Waterhouse: Project Leader delivering IT technology consulting for blue chip clients

My Volunteer Roles

I provide pro bono advice to a number of clients and technology accelerators (including Tech South West, NatWest Accelerator). This includes as a board advisor to a leading DEI training organisation and several startups going through early-stage fund-raising and customer acquisition.

Testimonials

CEO

“From day one, Paul became a trusted sounding board for me and the leadership team – he rapidly became “one of us”. He brought a practical perspective, challenged our thinking when it mattered, and wasn't afraid to ask the difficult questions. His advice covered business strategy, organisational structure, operational processes and how we could scale without losing what made the business successful. The major priority was to reshape our sales organisation and identify the right roles. He also put in place processes and commercial governance to support this next stage of growth. What I valued most, though, was his ability to balance strategic thinking with practical advice that we could actually implement – and he was a really good sounding board. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Paul to any professional services or technology business looking for an experienced adviser to bring commercial insight, sound judgement and a genuinely hands-on approach to helping businesses grow.”

Nalin Parbhu (Infuse Consulting)

Founder and CEO

“I highly recommend Paul Davies as a Board Advisor. Paul is not only incredibly strategic but also consistently drives for results, always keeping a keen eye on the numbers. His wealth of invaluable experience is evident in every interaction, providing insightful guidance that is both encouraging and impactful. Paul's contributions have been instrumental in my business progress”

Jenny Garrett OBE (Jenny Garrett Global)

Tribal Executive

“The PS practice have come leaps and bounds under your leadership to being a thriving and well-established team and you have made material difference to people's careers and success and leave a legacy that you can be very proud of”

Tribal Group Executive (Tribal Group PLC)

HR Director, Board Advisor

“Paul's strong commercial background and experience is very relevant for businesses looking to scale at pace. He is able to readily identify the key levers to pull to achieve growth objectives and can achieve significant impact through constructive challenge. It has been a real pleasure, as well as educational, working alongside him in advising on business growth strategies and plans”

Melvina Metochi

Director, AWS

"Paul is a high calibre sales professional. He has an incredibly deep knowledge of project delivery from all aspects from on site BI delivery, through programme management, practice management, individual sales contributor and partner strategies. There are few individuals with such rounded experience combined with a natural gift for sharing these experiences and supporting members of the virtual team. To top it off, he is a really nice guy too!!"

Peter Trend

Next Steps

I can help in situations where you're looking for strategic advice, leadership mentoring or experienced executive support:

Growth has stalled or is not in control
Sales are inconsistent or hard to forecast
Professional services are under-performing
The leadership team needs additional experience
A major transformation is underway
The founder and/or CEO needs a trusted sounding-board

Please get in touch to have a confidential conversation

My contact details

Email: paul@cobre.co.uk - eMail Paul

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cpndavies/