NeedĀ cybersecurity leadership?
Fractional CISO Services for UK Scaling Businesses
Get senior CISO expertise on demand, without the cost of a full-time CISO salary.
For UK founders and CEOs losing deals to security questionnaires, chasing ISO 27001 or SOC 2, or carrying breach risk with no one senior to own it. You get a seasoned security leader who has done it before, working to your deadlines and your budget.
TALK TO A CISO
We are Boardman.
We place fractional CISOs with decades of experience into UK scaling businesses.
Our security leaders have built compliance programmes from scratch, steered companies through audits and incidents, and given boards the assurance they need to grow with confidence.
Sound familiar?
- Are security questionnaires stalling deals you should be winning?
- Are you chasing ISO 27001, SOC 2, or Cyber Essentials with no one senior to lead it?
- Is breach or compliance risk keeping you, or your board, awake at night?
- Do you need CISO-level judgement but not a CISO-level salary?
...we can help.
Grab a virtual coffee and tell us what you are trying to protect.
What is a fractional CISO?
A fractional CISO is an experienced Chief Information Security Officer who works with your company part-time, giving you senior leadership on security strategy, governance, risk, and compliance for a fraction of a full-time salary. You get the judgement of a proven CISO, scaled to what you actually need.
The work is hands-on and broad. Your fractional CISO sets the security strategy, builds the governance and policies that auditors and customers expect, manages risk, leads you towards certifications like ISO 27001 or SOC 2, and makes sure you are ready to respond if something goes wrong.
A fractional CISO is not a managed security provider. A managed provider runs tools and monitors threats. A fractional CISO is the senior leader who decides what your security posture should be, owns the strategy, and answers to your board and your customers. Many businesses need both, and your fractional CISO can help you choose and direct the right providers.
Engagements flex to fit. Some businesses want ongoing leadership a few days a month. Others want intensive support through a certification push, a security questionnaire backlog, or the aftermath of an incident. You scale the time up or down as your needs change.
And sometimes what you need is not ongoing leadership at all, but one piece of work done properly. Our cybersecurity assessment and strategy engagements are fixed-scope and fixed-price, from a five day review at Ā£7,500 to a full strategy with a costed 90-day plan at Ā£35,000.
If you want the longer read first, our fractional CISO guide covers the role, the UK regulatory landscape, and how the model compares to an MSSP or a compliance consultant."
Fractional CISO or virtual CISO (vCISO)?
You will see both terms used widely in security, often interchangeably. Here is how to think about the difference.
| Ā | Fractional CISO | Virtual CISO (vCISO) |
|---|---|---|
| Engagement | Ongoing, embedded leadership | Often advisory or remote |
| Seniority | Proven senior operator, board-ready | Varies widely by provider |
| Style | Hands-on, owns outcomes | Frequently lighter-touch guidance |
| Best for | Businesses needing real leadership and accountability | Businesses needing occasional expert advice |
In practice the labels overlap, and many providers use vCISO to mean exactly what we mean by fractional CISO.
The difference that matters is not the word. It is whether you get a proven leader who owns the outcome, or an advisor who hands you a report.
We place the former. Whether you call it a fractional CISO, a vCISO, virtual CISO services, outsourced CISO or CISO as a service, you get senior security leadership accountable for real results.
When should you hire a fractional CISO?
The right time is usually before a deadline or an incident forces your hand. A few common triggers:
You are losing or delaying deals because you cannot answer customer security questionnaires with confidence. Senior security leadership turns that around fast.
You are pursuing ISO 27001, SOC 2, or Cyber Essentials, and you need someone who has run the process before to lead it to the finish line.
You have just had a breach or a near miss, and you need an experienced hand to steady things and close the gaps. Where you need the honest picture inside a week, our five day Cybersecurity Review is the fastest route to it.
You are under regulatory pressure, and getting compliance wrong carries real legal and commercial risk.
You are scaling and have no senior security leadership in the room, just as the stakes are getting higher.
Your board or investors want assurance that security risk is owned and under control. Where they want that evidenced independently rather than asserted, a cyber security assessment gives them a ranked view of the risks at a fixed fee. Where it is being asked ahead of a raise or a sale, security is one of the areas an investor's technology due diligence examines hardest, and our CISOs lead that workstream too.
If any of these sound like you, a fractional CISO is the fastest way to get a grip on security and get back to growing.
How much does a fractional CISO cost?
A fractional CISO costs a fraction of a full-time CISO salary, which in the UK runs well into six figures once you add benefits. You pay for the days you use, and you scale the commitment to your stage and budget.
Cost depends on a few things: how many days a month you need, the seniority and track record you are hiring for, and how hands-on the engagement is. A business maintaining a mature programme will pay very differently from one racing to certification or recovering from an incident.
The point is you get CISO-level judgement at a fraction of the cost, with none of the long-term overhead. See our fractional CTO and CISO cost guide for day rates and benchmarks, or book a discovery call for a figure specific to your situation.
If you would rather buy a defined piece of work than ongoing days, our cybersecurity engagements are fixed-price and published.
How to hire a fractional CISO
- Book a short intro call and tell us where you are.
- We match you to the right CISO from our bench.
- You meet them and check the fit yourself.
- They run a deep dive into your security posture, risks, and goals. This is our cybersecurity assessment, available on its own at a fixed price if an assessment is all you need.
- You get a customised plan with clear milestones.
- They execute alongside your team, with ongoing support.
Don't wait for a breach.
Get ahead of it now.
You do not need to gamble six figures on a full-time hire to get senior security leadership. You can have a proven operator in the room next week, owning your security posture and clearing the path to growth, for a fraction of the cost.
We can help you with:
- Setting a security strategy your board and customers can trust
- Winning back deals stalled by security questionnaires and supplier risk
- Leading you to ISO 27001, SOC 2, or Cyber Essentials certification
- An independent assessment of where you are actually exposed, ranked and costed
- Managing risk and getting ready to respond to incidents
- Doing more with less, on time, every time
Book a no-pressure intro meet below
Hereā€™s what our collaboration could look like:
- Initial Call. A quick, no-pressure chat about where you are and what you need.
- Meet Your Fractional CISO. We introduce you to the right person from our bench.
- Company Deep Dive. They get under the skin of your security posture, risks, and goals.
- Customised Plan. You get a clear plan with milestones, built around your priorities.
- Execution. Your CISO gets to work alongside your team, driving real outcomes.
- Ongoing Support. We stay close to make sure it keeps delivering as you grow.
Book a no-pressure intro meet below.
Questions? Check out our FAQs.
Why should I hire a fractional CISO?
What exactly does a fractional CISO do?
What's the difference between a fractional CISO and a virtual CISO (vCISO)?
Is a fractional CISO the same as a managed security provider?
Can a fractional CISO help us achieve ISO 27001 or SOC 2?
How do we start working together?
How much does a fractional CISO cost?
TheĀ Boardman Newsletter
Actionable advice for mid-market leaders. Every Saturday.
Join 3,267 CEOs, CFOs and COOs.
By submitting, I agree to receive emails from Boardman and understand I can unsubscribe any time via the unsubscribe link at the bottom of all emails.