Richard Sharp

Co-founder & Consulting and Delivery Director

Location: United Kingdom & Australia

What I do

I help organisations be creative, make commitments they can stand behind, and deliver on them.

My work sits at the intersection of delivery governance, operating model design, professional services transformation, and AI-enabled change. I work with senior leaders at the moments that matter most: before major decisions are made, during complex execution, and when delivery starts to drift.

I have spent over two decades designing and scaling delivery systems for professional services businesses, leading global transformation programmes, and helping organisations navigate the gap between strategic intent and operational reality. That includes building PMO and P3M frameworks from scratch, owning $40M+ delivery portfolios, leading pre-acquisition and post-integration programmes for PE-backed businesses, and sitting alongside CEOs and boards when the stakes were highest.

I co-founded Arqvera because I kept seeing the same pattern: great teams, strong intent, best-fit technology — and yet avoidable pain, avoidable cost, and avoidable regret. The problem was almost never effort. It was always decisions made too early, assumptions left untested, and governance that arrived too late.

Background and experience

Professional services transformation: Built and scaled professional services organisations from mid-tier to enterprise capability, including full GTM operating model design, PMO governance, portfolio management, and delivery excellence frameworks. Owned a $40M+ delivery portfolio across 100+ concurrent engagements, achieving 11% project contribution margin growth, 52% operating margin uplift, and sustained CSAT above 4.9/5.0.

PE-backed environments: Directly led delivery and transformation for PE-backed businesses at multiple stages of the investment lifecycle, from post-acquisition integration through operating model redesign to value creation execution. Contexts have spanned utilities software, environmental services, European consulting, and global manufacturing. Also provided M&A analysis and product capability identification for a PE investor, informing two UK acquisitions.

Enterprise transformation programmes: Engagement Director on complex, multi-workstream transformation programmes in aviation, manufacturing, utilities, financial services, hospitality, and social services. Delivered fixed-date, fixed-price programmes with zero critical incidents. Programmes ranged from £250k to £7M+ in scope.

AI-enabled change: Led one of the first commercial Salesforce AI/agentic end-to-end rollouts for a major European loyalty platform (€1.4M, €400M+ revenue client). Achieved CSAT 5.0 and Salesforce AI Promotion recognition. Restructure project, built governance, workflow redesign, and adoption frameworks now embedded in Arqvera's AI.ccelerate service.

Founder and operator: Founded and ran nMerge, a professional services consultancy operating across Australia and France for a decade. Key engagements included transformation advisory for Australia Post's $1B transformation programme, M&A analysis for a PE-backed global manufacturer, and strategic advisory to a managed services CEO growing P&L 30% year-on-year.

Where I work with clients

I operate across Arqvera's full service portfolio. My deepest experience aligns to:

Frameworks:

• Trust Arq
• AI.ccelerate
• Value Compass
• Change Studio
• Capability Mirror
• PS Growth Engine

Fractional leadership:

• Fractional Delivery Director
• Fractional Transformation Director
• Fractional CIO & Technology Assurance Partner
• Fractional CAIO & AI Value Realisation Partner
• Fractional COO & Operating Model Partner

Specialist context:

Private equity-backed businesses, portfolio company transformation, operating model change, value creation, and integration governance.

sector experience

Richard has worked across a broad range of sectors and including:

Retail • Logistics • Legal services • Technology • Financial services • Professional Services • TMT • Environmental Sciences • Manufacturing • Non-profit • Automotive · Consumer goods • Private Equity