Fractional COO
Senior strategic and operational leadership, without the full-time hire. Governance, team structure, decision-making, and the systems a scaling business needs to run well.
Values-led consultancy
Align what you
stand for with how
you operate.
I work with LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent-led organisations, their founders, leadership, and the teams around them, building something that genuinely leads with values. The work is honest, direct, and built to leave you more capable than when we first met.
Button & Fig The Work
Strong on vision. Ready to build the foundations to match.
When the vision has outpaced the structure underneath it, the fix is rarely the visible stuff. It’s clearer decisions, cleaner ownership, and ways of working that fit the people actually doing them: the foundations that let everything else hold.
Bio
About Me
I’m Miles, the founder of Button & Fig. I work as a fractional COO with queer and community-oriented businesses, drawing on more than a decade of senior operations experience, including as COO and interim CEO of a queer-founded, multi-region direct-to-consumer brand. B&F exists to make that depth of operational leadership accessible without the full-time hire.
The structures I build come from necessity as much as training: clear decisions, clean ownership, low friction. Designed for how people genuinely think and work, not how an org chart assumes they do. That tends to make the whole organisation healthier, not just one person.
I’m also a practising photographer and printmaker. Creative coaching came from that: the discipline of sustaining a practice alongside everything else, and knowing how much it helps to have someone hold you to it.
Services
What I do
Where to start
Foundations Review
A focused look at where your business actually is, what's working, what isn't, and the three or four changes that would help most.
With organisations
Strategic advisory
Light-touch, ongoing support. Strategy, governance, and commercial thinking for founders who need a collaborative partner rather than an embedded operator.
With individuals
Founder coaching
One-to-one coaching for founders moving from doing everything themselves to leading a sustainable organisation. Role clarity, decision-making, and what it actually takes to build something that reflects who you are.
Creative coaching
Structured accountability for visual artists and creative practitioners. Fortnightly check-ins with someone who has their own active practice, and understands from the inside why momentum is hard to sustain alone.
Approach
How I work
Alignment over performance
Helping organisations live their values, not just display them.
Honest over comfortable
Saying what needs to be said rather than what’s easy to hear.
Sustainable over heroic
Building systems that work without requiring extraordinary effort from founders.
Foundations over surface fixes
Most problems that look operational come down to how decisions get made and who owns what. Sort that underneath, and the visible symptoms tend to settle on their own.
FAQs
Common questions
What does a Fractional COO actually do?
Senior strategic and operational leadership: governance, team structure, decision-making, and the systems a scaling business needs, without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire. It's the same calibre of thinking a COO brings, sized to what the organisation actually needs right now.
How is this different from a business coach?
Coaching works on you; a Fractional COO works on the business alongside you: inside governance, structure, and delivery, not just in conversation. Button & Fig offers both: hands-on operational leadership for organisations, and separate 1:1 coaching for founders and creative practitioners who want a thinking partner rather than an embedded operator.
Who do you typically work with?
LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent-led organisations, and founder-led, values-driven SMEs more broadly. Businesses where the vision is strong but the operational foundations haven't caught up yet.
Do you work with organisations outside the UK?
Yes. Based in Liverpool, UK, and working worldwide, in person and remotely, depending on what a project needs.
What's a Foundations Review, and is it a good place to start?
A focused look at where a business actually is, what's working, what isn't, and the three or four changes that would help most. It's usually the right first step before any larger engagement, and stands alone if that's all that's needed.
How much does this work cost?
It depends on scope: a Foundations Review, ongoing Fractional COO work, and 1:1 coaching are priced differently. The most useful next step is a short conversation about what's actually needed.
Contact
Let’s talk it through
Tell me a little about what you’re working on. Direct, honest, and practical. That starts with the first conversation.