UK SMEs in the £2M–£15M revenue range face a CMO dilemma: they need senior marketing leadership, but a full-time CMO at £120,000+ feels premature. Here’s the real cost comparison.
The full-time CMO true cost
Base salary: £120,000 average for a senior UK B2B CMO in 2026. Add employer NI (15%): £18,000. Pension and benefits (8–10%): £10,000. Recruitment fee (20% of salary): £24,000 amortised over 2 years = £12,000/year. Onboarding ramp (typically 3–6 months before full contribution): conservative £30,000 of foregone output.
True annual cost: roughly £170,000 in year 1, £160,000 in year 2 if they stay.
The fractional alternative
A Fractional AI CMO at 2 days per week typically costs £36,000–£48,000 per year. No recruitment fee. No onboarding ramp. Senior expertise from day one. AI-native (which most full-time CMOs in the £120k bracket are still learning).
The cost gap is roughly £120,000 per year in favour of fractional, at comparable strategic quality.
When full-time wins
Above £15M revenue with a marketing team of 3+, the full-time hire is right. You need someone available every day, in every meeting, with full operational ownership.
Below £15M, the fractional model delivers equivalent strategic quality. The marketing function isn’t large enough to fully utilise a full-time senior leader anyway.
The PE-backed special case
PE-backed businesses in months 1–12 post-acquisition almost always benefit from fractional. The portfolio company needs strategic upgrade fast, but a permanent senior hire so early is rarely the right move. Fractional buys the optionality.
What “fractional” actually looks like
Two days per week, dedicated. Attendance at leadership meetings and board updates. Direct management of your internal marketing team. Strategic ownership of the marketing function. Hands-on for the AI stack work that internal teams typically lack expertise in.
It’s not a consultant who advises and disappears. It’s the CMO seat, just not full-time.