Retained GaaS: Continuous Fractional CRO

Independent Leadership Support

Leadership is often a solitary role. The most significant risks to an organisation are rarely the ones already in the risk register. They are the assumptions the board has stopped examining and the emerging threats no internal function has been assigned to watch.

A Retained GaaS relationship provides a continuous, confidential, and independent governance function. Not a consultant called in for a project. A permanent challenge function inside your governance framework.

What the Engagement Includes

Monthly Governance Pulse A concise 5–10 page report covering regulatory environment changes, internal risk events, emerging governance issues, and forward-looking alerts. Built on pre-agreed KPIs and triggers specific to your sector and risk profile.

Quarterly Board Briefing A scheduled 1–2 hour session with your board or governance committee covering quarterly findings, sector changes, risk heatmap, and strategic recommendations. Principal-delivered.

Annual Red Team Review Once yearly: a structured adversarial challenge of risk framework design, governance effectiveness, and board decision-making processes. Outputs the key vulnerabilities and remediation options.

On-Call Advisory Immediate principal-level support for urgent governance, compliance, or risk questions as they arise between scheduled touchpoints. Response within 24–48 hours.

Why Retained GaaS Rather Than a Full-Time CRO?

A retained engagement delivers continuous CRO-level expertise with no fixed employment obligation: no pension liability, no severance risk, no recruitment cost.

Unlike a standard fractional CRO placement, Retained GaaS includes the adversarial methodology that makes governance work: assumptions are challenged, frameworks are stress-tested, and the board receives independent challenge, not additional consensus.

The Upgrade Path

Retained clients with identified transformation needs upgrade to Embedded GaaS (T3) for deeper governance ownership. PE portfolio companies approaching exit transition to Pre-Exit GaaS (T4), typically with continuity of engagement rather than a cold start.