Fractional Ops for growing agencies

Steve Squires— The Ops Guy

Building the foundations of successful agencies.

I work with founders of creative and experiential agencies who are winning the work but struggling to run the business behind it.

Book a discovery call See the work
Steve Squires, The Ops Guy

Clients

The problem

The growth challenge and how I help

01

Founder Bottleneck

Right people, right skills. Building trust, team structure, delegation, guidelines.

02

Growth Without Visibility

Aligned systems to remove silos, democratising access to data, executive-level reporting.

03

Resource Challenges

Better management of, and reporting on, resources.

04

Systems Sprawl

Audit existing systems. Replace, re-design, onboard and train, share data via API (as appropriate).

The work

What that's looked like in practice

Systems, Data and Business Intelligence

Engage Works was growing fast but running multiple systems that didn't talk to each other. As a result, the leadership team couldn't access joined-up data to make effective decisions — left instead with gut-feel or out-of-date spreadsheets.

I audited existing systems and data sources, ran a formal procurement tender across platforms including Screendragon, Workbook and Paprika, guided the leadership team to the right choice, then implemented it and onboarded the whole team.

The result was one unified system with real-time reporting — full visibility of project status, resourcing and profitability, enabling faster, more confident, data-backed decisions.

20%increase in resource utilization
5 → 1systems consolidated

Financial Management and Forecasting

Leo Burnett decided to merge three separate agencies — experiential, sports sponsorship and marketing — into one brand and one team. The challenge was bringing three cultures, three systems and three sets of numbers into one.

As part of the Leadership Team, I developed and launched the new brand and team identity, designed a new structure to break down the old agency silos, and consolidated three separate financial systems into a single forecasting and financial management model.

The result was one company, one system, one financial forecast, one team. Clients experienced a seamless, end-to-end offer instead of disconnected pitches from separate disciplines, improving the agency's go-to-market position.

5%increase in organic client revenue
3 → 1agencies merged

Procurement and Supplier Management

Every project team at Lime Experience was buying on an ad hoc basis. There was no strategic procurement across products and services, and margins were being hit as a result.

I built a procurement strategy from the ground up and negotiated formal partnership agreements with key suppliers, moving the business from one-off transactions to long-term supplier relationships.

Delivery quality became more consistent, project profitability increased by more than 5%, and we gained real negotiating leverage with suppliers.

5%+increase in profitability

Organisational Design and Team Structure

FutureBrand London made the strategic decision to split its team into account leadership and project leadership, but needed someone who could turn that high-level decision into a working day-to-day structure.

I partnered directly with the Head of Operations to define clear roles, responsibilities and boundaries between the two teams, designed a new end-to-end workflow, and worked closely with the global team to prepare for the new platform rollout.

The new workflow and responsibilities were successfully adopted across the business, freeing the account team to focus on relationships while the project team drove execution.

↑focus on organic client growth

Change Management and Leadership

The new CEO at Proximity Worldwide Germany inherited a business facing major post-Covid challenges, and needed support to drive the operational transformation required to stabilise it.

Over two years, I managed the operational merger between Proximity and BBDO Germany into a single agency, and when a major client gave notice, took a key role in the resulting restructure.

Despite a genuinely difficult period for the agency, we delivered the changes required and came through it financially resilient.

Stablethrough a period of significant change

Why me

I've spent 30 years working with creative agencies.

What I've noticed every time is that the challenge was never the projects themselves — it was the agency behind them, struggling to keep up with its own growth. So that's what I fix now.

I work with founders of creative and experiential agencies, typically 20 to 50 people, who are winning the work but struggling to spend time on the business. They may be constantly firefighting resources, overheads may be creeping up, and the founder is often still the bottleneck on every decision.

At Lime Experience, I built a procurement strategy that lifted project margins by more than 5%. At Engage Works, I replaced five disconnected systems with one, giving leadership real-time visibility for the first time. And at FutureBrand, I helped restructure the team to enable an increased focus on client relationships and quality of delivery.

“I come in, find what's not working, fix it, and leave the business in a better place than I found it.”
30 years in creative & experiential agencies
20–50 people — the agency size I work best with
5 agencies transformed, start to finish

What other people say

About working with me

Steve and I worked together 5 years ago and have stayed in contact ever since. Why? Because Steve is a classy operator. He drives priorities, builds processes, coaches others to execute; and has that rare gift of anticipating risks and issues.
Sam Hunt · Capgemini
I worked with Steve for over 2 years and during that time I learned a great deal from him. His knowledge and experience of the industry is second to none, and his calm and considered approach ensures that working with him is always a pleasure.
Simon McLoughlin · Lime Experience
Working with Steve was always a delight. Highly organized, methodical in his work, and a superb team leader!
Dinesh Bhatia · Action Impact Dubai
Steve is one of those highly professional people who you sometimes have the luck to work with. He is incredibly organised, in control, dependable, and never fails to deliver. He is a joy to work with :)
Florence Mason · Arc Worldwide
If only all clients were like Steve! Working with Steve generates a truly team-based relationship on his projects, which makes for ultimately a premium result.
Steve Blyth · Engage Works

The process

How I work

1

Discovery Call

Define the problem

30 mins · No charge

2

Diagnostics

Look under the bonnet

1–2 weeks · Fixed fee

3

Roadmap

Make a plan

Half day · Included in Diagnostics

4

Implement

The work of change

Typically 3–6 months · Day rate or retainer

5

Embed

Document & handover

Final month · Included in Implement

Get in touch

Let's find out if I can help.

Start with a free, no-obligation 30-minute discovery call — no pitch, just a conversation about where the friction is.

Email steve@theopsguys.net