Adam Noble
Interim MD | Fractional Commercial Director | Turnaround & Exit-Readiness
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About
I fix commercial problems in B2B distribution businesses — as an interim leader, fractional commercial director or advisor. In thirty-plus years in the office products, print and facilities supplies sectors I have built a business from £250k to £18m and sold it, led the commercial recovery of a 17-branch group, and managed a structured wind-down with stakeholders' trust intact. I have seen the full lifecycle of an SME — growth, acquisition, turnaround, exit and closure — from the chair where the decisions get made.
That is the experience owners and investors hire when the situation is too important for theory.
Experience
Business Coach & Mentor at Independent / Help to Grow (Government-backed) (2023 – Present)
Ongoing advisory: growth strategy, commercial structure and go-to-market execution for SME leaders. ILM Level 5 qualified coach.
Interim Executive Chairman at Nectere Limited (Paragon Group) (2023-08 – 2024-01)
Mandate: assess viability of a structurally challenged business and act decisively. Reset expectations, managed a structured closure, and led stakeholder communications throughout — the outcome nobody wants, delivered the right way.
Integration Advisor at EVO Group (post-CBS acquisition) (2023-01 – 2023-04)
Mandate: stabilise. Re-established operational continuity and provided senior leadership stability through the post-administration transition into EVO.
Group MD / Chief Commercial Officer at Complete Business Solutions (2019 – 2022)
Mandate: commercial recovery across 17 regional locations, 3 regional MDs, 65 salespeople. Restructured the sales organisation, introduced a new management framework and a group-wide go-to-market training programme — reversing sustained revenue decline and holding team engagement and customer retention through a complex ownership transition.
Founder | CEO at The Irongate Group Limited (1989 – 2019)
The proof behind everything above. Built a £250k single-site stationery business into an £18m, 93-person, five-division group — office supplies, print, workwear & PPE, facilities supplies, office furniture — pioneering UK web-to-print in the early 2000s. Planned trade sale in 2018 at £1.2m EBITDA.
Education
MBA – University of Derby
