Revenue leadership for UK managed service providers

Predictable growth for your managed services business, without the full-time CRO bet.

I help UK MSPs build a sales engine that forecasts accurately, grows recurring revenue from existing clients, and delivers the plan your board or investors signed off.

25+ years
leading sales in IT services and managed services
£1m → £25m
revenue growth as MD of the world's largest Dynamics partner
9 acquisitions
bought and integrated, plus an exit
Sound familiar?

The business has outgrown how it sells.

Most MSPs hit the same wall. Delivery and recurring revenue scale; the sales engine that feeds them doesn't.

If you're the CEO or founder

  • You're still closing the big deals yourself.
  • MRR is growing, but some of it costs more to deliver than it earns.
  • The pipeline looks full, yet the quarter still gets missed.
  • New practices — security, data, AI, business apps — aren't being sold to the clients you already have.
  • A full-time CRO is a six-figure hire and a year before you know if it worked.

If you're the investor or group leadership

  • The value-creation plan assumes growth the sales team isn't producing.
  • CRM data nobody trusts, so the forecast is a conversation, not a number.
  • No early-warning indicators — you find out at quarter end.
  • Acquired businesses are still selling different things in different ways.
  • There's a sales leadership gap, and nobody is ready to step up yet.
The approach

Sales DnA: find what's really limiting growth, then fix it.

A root-and-branch review of how you go to market, how the team is built and how deals are run — followed by the controls that keep it on track. Targeted change, not a disruptive overhaul.

01

Strategy & GTM

Your "shop window": positioning, target segments, and a plan for selling new services into the base as well as winning new logos.

02

Structure

Fit, Form, Process analysis — the right roles, coverage and accountability for the growth you're targeting.

03

Method & process

Only the parts of MEDDIC, Sandler and Challenger your team will actually use. Simple enough to stick.

04

3-year plan

Revenue projections, investment and milestones your board can hold the business to.

Then keep it running

  • Governance & CRMPipeline and renewals data you can forecast from.
  • Early-indicator KPIsConversion, cycle time, deal size, prospecting — spotted before quarter end.
  • Performance reviewsClear standards, coaching plans and recognition for top sellers.
  • Deal originationA balanced pipeline from the base, partners, marketing and outbound.
Ways to work together

Senior leadership, sized to what you need.

I take on one major programme at a time, so you work directly with me. My next availability is Q2 2027 — conversations now shape what starts then.

Flagship

Revenue Stabilisation Programme

Six months, three phases: diagnose and stabilise the pipeline; embed weekly inspection and evidence-based forecasting; then develop an internal leader to run it without me.

6 months · fixed monthly fee
Ongoing

Fractional CRO

Senior commercial leadership on a set number of days per month — owning forecast, pipeline and team performance alongside your leadership team.

Days per month · fixed fee
Start here

Sales DnA review

A fixed-scope diagnostic of proposition, structure, process and pipeline — ending in a prioritised plan and a realistic view of the opportunity you're not yet capturing.

Fixed scope · fixed fee
Results

What changes when the sales engine works.

A track record of building MSP and partner businesses, and current client work (described anonymously unless the client has approved otherwise).

m-hance · Microsoft Dynamics partner & managed services · Managing Director, 1999–2015
From £1m to £25m — organically and through nine acquisitions — and on to an exit.
The challenge

Scale a 15-person Dynamics business into a leader in its market, without losing service quality or control of the numbers.

What I did

Led sales, services, support, renewals and full P&L. Acquired and integrated nine businesses, expanded into the USA and India, and added managed services and hosting to the portfolio.

The outcome

200+ people and 2,000+ clients. The world's largest Dynamics partner. Sunday Times Tech Track 100 (40th, 2013/14), and one exit.

Current engagement · UK managed service provider
Stabilising revenue through a leadership transition — and building the engine to grow from existing clients.
The situation

A practice that needed predictable revenue while its sales leadership changed, with a proposition that wasn't yet landing with the firm's own enterprise clients.

What changed

A weekly MEDDIC-led pipeline and forecast rhythm. Problem-led sales plays into the installed base. Clear ownership of every renewal. An internal successor coached to lead.

The outcome

Results will be published here with the client's permission when the programme completes.

Insights

How I think about MSP growth.

Short, practical pieces for MSP leaders and investors.

Andrew Hayward
About

Andrew Hayward

I'm brought in when revenue needs to become predictable and leadership needs clarity. 25+ years running IT services and managed services businesses — from MD with full P&L to Chief Sales Officer, CCO and CRO — including multiple transitions into private equity ownership.

  • Managing Director, m-hance (1999–2015): grew the world's largest Dynamics partner from £1m to £25m and 15 to 200+ people; nine acquisitions and an exit.
  • Chief Sales Officer, QUANTIQ (2016–22) and Head of Business Applications Sales UK&I, Avanade (2022).
  • CCO and CRO roles (2022–26) in PE-backed UK IT services groups, resetting commercial structure, leadership and forecast discipline.
  • Recognition: Sunday Times Tech Track 100; named among the most influential people in Microsoft Dynamics (16th, 2013).
  • Finance-trained: started in accountancy (ACA and CIMA part-qualified); Cranfield Business Directors Programme. I read a P&L the way your investors do.

Planning for 2027? Start the conversation now.

I'm committed to a client programme into 2027 and taking conversations for Q2 starts. Tell me where the sales engine is stuck. If I can help, I'll say how. If I can't, I'll say that too.

Email andy@apexsalesconsulting.co.uk
Or call 07967 314619 · Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire