Nicholas Wood Fractional CEO, Managing Director

EXECUTIVE POSITIONING

I work with founder-led, PE-backed and scaling beauty, wellness, personal care, FMCG and consumer brands (typically £10m–£100m turnover) to stabilise organisations, rebuild commercial and operational discipline, and accelerate profitable growth. I specialise in leading businesses through founder transition, cultural reset, commercial turnaround and international expansion.25+ years building, scaling and transforming brand-led, product-led and commercially-driven organisations across the UK, Europe, US, Middle East and Asia.

Specialist in:

  • Commercial turnaround & margin rebuild

  • Brand creation, repositioning & product innovation

  • International expansion across 60+ markets

  • Operational excellence, S&OP, supply chain optimisation

  • Founder & PE partnership, governance & investor reporting

  • Organisational stabilisation, culture reset & leadership development

  • Omnichannel growth: retail, ecommerce, distributor, wholesale and professional

  • End‑to‑end go‑to‑market strategy & execution

SELECTED IMPACT

  • Built and scaled organisations to £100m+ environments across beauty, wellness, personal care and FMCG

  • Delivered 3× category growth at Kao, moving from 5th to 3rd in the UK and increasing profit from 4% to 18%

  • Launched a new wellness product to £500k revenue in 8 months

  • Reshored manufacturing from Asia to the UK, improving margin by 10%, reducing packaging 30%, and cutting lead time by 3 weeks

  • Delivered a £10m eco‑resort project in 18 months, resolving deep cultural conflicts, achieving 100% occupancy within 5 days and rated 9.8 on Expedia

  • Raised £4.9m investment and launched a new beauty brand into 12 countries in 18 months

  • Rescued a failing PPE project, securing government funding and delivering 8m masks during global supply disruption

  • Reduced sales staff turnover from 70%+ to single digits, rebuilding culture and capability

  • Grew UK Lacoste Footwear from £15m to £22m, increased margin from 11% to 20%

  • Delivered consistent double-digit growth across L’Oréal prestige and professional channels

CURRENT & RECENT ENGAGEMENTS

  • Consultancy (Beauty, Wellness & Consumer) — CEO Advisor Supporting founders, boards and investors through commercial transformation, brand relaunch, organisational reset and operational stabilisation.

  • Pantheon Group (Beauty Division) — Managing Director - Built a new beauty and wellness division from scratch; launched new propositions; established manufacturing, supply chain and commercial infrastructure.

  • Medex / One Eden Group — Managing Director - Led transformation across beauty,  and hospitality; delivered major operational and commercial turnaround projects.

  • Perachem Holdings (PE-backed) — CEO Founded and scaled a manufacturing-led cosmetics business; raised capital; built global infrastructure; launched internationally.

  • Kao Corporation (Salon Division) — President Led £25m P&L; delivered market-leading growth; strengthened governance, culture and operational discipline.

  • Earlier Leadership Roles L’Oréal · Lacoste · Molton Brown (Kao Group)

WHAT I DO FOR FOUNDERS

Revenue Acceleration

  • Create clarity and focus

  • Rebuild commercial engines to deliver predictable Net Sales and Profit growth

  • Strengthen pricing, forecasting, S&OP and commercial governance

  • Align brand, product, education, digital activation and advocacy

  • Expand routes to market across retail, ecommerce, distributor and professional channels

  • Introduce performance discipline and execution standards to commercial teams

Cost & Margin Expansion

  • Restructure cost-to-serve, supply chain and manufacturing models

  • Improve margin through sourcing optimisation, packaging reduction and operational redesign

  • Remove non-performing layers, duplication and inefficiency

  • Implement on-shoring, near-shoring or outsourced models where appropriate

  • Introduce operational KPIs, governance and accountability cadence

Exit / Scale Preparation

  • Stabilise organisations after founder or leadership exits

  • Build governance, reporting and investor confidence

  • Strengthen leadership capability, succession and organisational design

  • Prepare brands for PE investment, international expansion or strategic exit

  • Professionalise board packs, forecasting accuracy and operational maturity

BOARD & GOVERNANCE / CREDENTIALS

  • Non-Executive Director, Cleartrack Performance

  • Executive leadership programmes (Kao, L’Oréal, Pentland)

  • Extensive founder, board and investor partnership experience

  • Mentor to professional rugby players transitioning careers

Available for:

  • Fractional CEO / Managing Director mandates

  • Commercial & EBITDA transformation projects

  • Brand creation, repositioning & international expansion

  • NED / advisory roles across beauty, wellness, personal care, FMCG and consumer sectors

Work With Us