The short answer: most UK businesses pay somewhere between £1,500 and £6,000 a month for a fractional CTO or IT director, depending on how many days they need and how senior the person is. That is usually a quarter to a third of what a permanent director costs once everything is added up.
The longer answer depends on what you're actually buying, so here's how the numbers break down.
Typical UK rates in 2026
| Model | Typical range | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Day rate, ad hoc | £800 to £1,500 a day | A single decision or a second opinion |
| Monthly retainer, 2 days | £1,500 to £3,000 a month | Steady-state oversight of an MSP and budget |
| Monthly retainer, 4 days | £3,000 to £6,000 a month | Active roadmap, projects and team leadership |
| Interim, full time | £800 to £1,300 a day | Cover while you recruit a permanent director |
These are typical market ranges rather than a price list. London and specialist work, such as security leadership in regulated sectors, sit towards the top. Retainers usually work out cheaper per day than ad hoc bookings because both sides can plan around them.
What a permanent IT director really costs
Comparing a retainer with a salary undersells the difference. For a permanent IT director on a £110,000 salary, the first-year cost looks more like this:
| Item | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| Salary | £110,000 |
| Employer National Insurance at 15% | £15,700 |
| Pension at 5% | £5,500 |
| Benefits, equipment and training | £5,000 to £10,000 |
| Recruitment fee at 20 to 25% of salary | £22,000 to £27,500 |
| First-year total | £158,000 to £169,000 |
A three-day-a-month retainer at £1,000 a day is £36,000 a year. Even at four days and the top of the range, a fractional director costs well under half of the permanent hire.
What should be included
A fair retainer should give you more than the days on the invoice. Expect:
- A named consultant who stays with you for the whole engagement.
- A standing slot in your leadership or board meeting.
- A direct line for decisions between visits, within reason.
- A written roadmap and a short monthly or quarterly report.
- A fixed fee, agreed up front, with a clear way to flex days up or down.
Be wary of retainers that bill every phone call by the quarter hour, or that come bundled with a reseller agreement. If the person advising you also earns margin on what you buy, the advice is harder to trust.
When fractional isn't the right answer
Fractional works when you need senior judgement regularly but not every day. It's the wrong model if technology is the product, if you have a large in-house team that needs daily leadership, or if you're in the middle of a major programme that needs someone full time. In those cases an interim director or a permanent hire is the better choice, and a good fractional CTO will tell you so.
Getting the most from the money
The businesses that get the best return set clear outcomes for the first 90 days, give the consultant access to the budget and supplier contracts from day one, and put them in the room where decisions are made. A fractional CTO who only hears about decisions after they've been taken is an expensive note-taker.