Fractional CPO / Defence and regulated tech / Gloucestershire, UK
Fractional HR leadership for defence and regulated techBuilt for pressure.
Meliorem gives founders and leadership teams a senior people leader on a monthly retainer. Board-level judgement, direct access and no added headcount. It is built for businesses where one bad people decision can cost a contract.
We don’t do average. If you’re not ready to be challenged, we’re not the consultancy for you.
What Meliorem is
A fractional Chief People Officer for businesses that can’t yet justify a full-time hire.
Meliorem HR Consultancy is a fractional people leadership practice run by Kelly Smallcombe. It supplies board-level HR strategy to defence, GovTech and regulated technology businesses through a monthly retainer called the Executive Access Partnership. You get a senior decision-maker, not an account manager. You pay for the thinking you use, not a salary, a pension and a desk.
Most scaling businesses need two things: strategic people judgement and HR administration. One hire rarely delivers both well. Meliorem takes the strategy and the hard calls. The administration is delivered by someone else, and that split is why the model works.
Who it’s for
Founders and leadership teams in defence, GovTech and regulated technology, typically with 30 to 300 people.
What it costs
Executive Access Partnership retainers start at £650 per month. No lock-in. Pricing varies with scope.
Where we work
Based in Gloucestershire. Clients across Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, the West Midlands and the wider UK.
Services
Strategic HR where it matters most.
Specialist people strategy for defence, technology, aerospace, manufacturing and cyber security businesses. No generalists. No box-ticking.
Executive Access Partnership
Senior strategic HR insight when decisions matter. A monthly retainer from £650 with no lock-in, and direct access to the person doing the thinking.
Explore the partnershipStrategic HR Consultancy
Talent strategy, workforce planning, organisational design and the people infrastructure a scaling business needs to hold under pressure.
View HR consultancyDefence HR Consultancy
Specialist HR for UK defence primes, SMEs and supply chain organisations. Security-cleared environments, complex programmes and sensitive stakeholders.
Explore defence HRDefence people risk
In defence, people risk is contract risk.
Defence businesses carry people risks that generic HR support does not see coming. Clearance timelines, export control limits and restructures all land on programme delivery. We treat them as commercial risk, because that is what they are.
Clearance and onboarding
Security clearance lead times decide when a hire becomes productive. We plan workforce growth around them, not after them.
Export control and eligibility
Who can work on which programme is a legal question before it is a hiring question. We build recruitment and role design with those limits in view.
Restructure and consultation
Programme wins and losses change headcount fast. We plan redeployment, redundancy and collective consultation before the pressure arrives.
Over a decade of UK defence sector HR experience, applied to primes, SMEs and supply chain organisations.
Explore defence HR consultancySmart companies don’t buy more people. They buy better thinking. That’s what Meliorem provides.
Why Meliorem
HR without limits. Transformation without compromise.
- Strategic advisory, not transactional administration.
- Deep sector expertise in defence, technology and manufacturing.
- Direct access to senior expertise, with no account managers and no layers.
- Embedded transformation, not one-size-fits-all frameworks.
- Commercially driven people strategy with measurable outcomes. One client cut cost per hire by 80%.
Kelly Smallcombe
Founder and Fractional CPO
- 10+ years in UK defence HR
- Workforce transformation
- Organisational design
- High-consequence, security-sensitive environments
- Thinks more like a COO but with a People first mindset, not a traditional HR person
Founded on conviction
Meliorem HR isn’t for the faint-hearted.
Kelly Smallcombe founded Meliorem after more than a decade in defence HR, working across major prime contractors. She treats people strategy as commercial risk management, and she challenges outdated HR practice instead of maintaining it.
If you want strategic HR that goes beyond policy to protect contracts, growth and delivery, you’re in the right place. If you want someone to maintain the status quo, you’re not.
We don’t just advise. We challenge, we transform and we deliver, when the stakes are real.
Sectors served
Questions
Fractional HR leadership, answered.
What is a fractional Chief People Officer?
A fractional Chief People Officer is a senior people leader who works with a business part time, usually on a monthly retainer. They set people strategy, advise the board and handle the hard decisions on hiring, structure, performance and risk. You get board-level capability without paying for a full-time executive.
How much does fractional HR leadership cost?
Meliorem’s Executive Access Partnership starts at £650 per month with no lock-in. The price depends on scope and on whether you need a sector specialist or a generalist. A defence or technology specialist prices differently from a generalist in a sector such as hospitality.
Who is the Executive Access Partnership for?
It is built for founders and leadership teams in defence, GovTech and regulated technology businesses, typically with 30 to 300 people. It suits companies that need strategic people judgement now but cannot yet justify a full-time senior hire.
Does Meliorem handle HR administration?
No. Meliorem provides strategic people leadership, not payroll or day-to-day HR administration. Most businesses need both strategy and administration, and one hire rarely delivers both well. In the fractional model, the administration is delivered by someone else.
What makes defence HR different from general HR?
Defence businesses face people risks that generic HR does not plan for. Security clearance lead times affect when hires become productive, export controls limit who can work on which programme, and contract wins and losses force fast restructures. Defence HR treats these as commercial risks tied to delivery.
Where is Meliorem HR Consultancy based?
Meliorem is based in Gloucestershire. It works with clients across Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, the West Midlands and South West defence corridor and the wider UK.
Ready to be challenged?
Strengthen your decisions. Start the conversation.
Outline your priorities and we’ll arrange a call if the fit looks right. If it doesn’t, we’ll tell you. No hard sell. No wasted time.