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Absolute Collagen
For ambitious Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brands, the transition from a celebrated startup into a private equity-backed market leader is the ultimate test of operational maturity. In late 2020, as Absolute Collagen underwent a proposed PE investment, a "light touch" technical due diligence report identified several "amber risks," concluding the tech platform was adequate for now but needed significant development to support its planned growth.
By May 2021, the business was making tactical progress but still grappling with strategic gaps. This is the story of how Hanabi, led by Neil Bradley, provided the essential C-level leadership to move beyond reactive fixes, implementing a robust technology strategy that built investor confidence and steered the brand's hyper-growth from £20M to over £30M in revenue.
Key Results
Played a pivotal role in driving Absolute Collagen's growth through Technology Consulting and taking on the Head of Technology senior leadership role, overseeing all aspects of the company’s technology strategy and infrastructure, and contributing to £10M+ revenue growth through strategic technology initiatives.
The Challenge: Transforming a "Piecemeal" Tech Stack for Post-Investment Scale
By the time Hanabi’s engagement began, Absolute Collagen was already a PE-backed company, but its technology infrastructure reflected its startup origins.
IT systems had evolved tactically rather than strategically, resulting in a "piecemeal infrastructure" with "bolted on" systems. Processes hadn't evolved to keep pace with business growth.
Tactical fixes for technology were underway, while strategic gaps remained. The business was patching immediate holes but lacked the overarching strategy needed to build a truly scalable and secure technology function fit for a PE-backed company on an aggressive growth trajectory.
The Solution: From Tactical Fixes to Strategic Transformation
Hanabi's engagement began in August 2021, perfectly timed to provide the C-level leadership needed to address these post-investment growing pains. The mission was to transform the IT function from a reactive state to a proactive, strategic powerhouse, capable of enabling the business to meet its ambitious commercial goals and satisfy investor expectations for operational discipline.
Phase 1: Fractional CTO & Architect of the Future State
Initially appointed through an Ongoing Success retainer, Neil Bradley acted as a true extension of the Absolute Collagen team. His role as a Technology Consultant quickly evolved into foundational strategic leadership. To address an IT infrastructure that had evolved "tactically rather than strategically," Neil worked directly with the Absolute Collagen founders, CEO, and C-suite, collaborating with PwC to develop a comprehensive IT Strategy.
This engagement created a three-year technology and data roadmap to transform IT from a simple "utility provider" into a strategic "value creator" that enables business agility and growth.
Ready to move beyond short-term fixes and build a long-term technology vision?
Phase 2: Embedded Leadership as Head of Technology & Engineering Manager
The success of the consulting relationship and the co-creation of the IT strategy led to Neil Bradley joining Absolute Collagen in-house, where he could execute the long-term vision he helped create.
Executing the Strategic Roadmap
Neil was now perfectly positioned to implement the strategy he helped build. He presented a technology roadmap to the board and PE investors, that had been developed with cross-functional teams across Systems & Architecture, Customer Retention, Brand, Insights, Ecommerce and Digital Marketing - providing the operational discipline and strategic clarity essential in a PE-backed company.
Architecting the Move to a Composable Future
A key initiative in the IT strategy was "Website v3," a plan to move to a composable architecture using a custom frontend with Shopify as a "headless" backend. This modern approach decouples the customer-facing website (the 'head') from the backend ecommerce engine (Shopify), allowing for unparalleled flexibility and brand-differentiating experiences.
As the strategic leader, Neil translated this vision into an actionable plan by identifying and vetting the market's top-tier development partners. His leadership was pivotal in architecting the 'Website v3' strategy and de-risking its long-term execution. He spearheaded the rigorous agency selection process, and his strategic recommendation was ultimately chosen by the leadership team.
This act of defining the vision and securing the right execution partner is a core function of a Fractional CTO: it ensures a transformative project is built on a strong foundation and empowers the business to deliver it with confidence.
Driving Subscription Growth & Retention
Neil successfully led two transformative projects for Customer Retention: the launch and scaling of the "Absolute Rewards" loyalty program to over 65,000 subscribers, and the development of an innovative online cancellation solution to improve retention.
Building a High-Performing, Full-Spectrum Team
Neil recruited and built a strong, cross-functional team of six, encompassing Data Engineering, Backend Engineering, Frontend Development, and IT Support. This team was structured to own the full spectrum of technology operations and governance, including Data Security (GDPR, PCI-DSS) and Business Continuity Planning.
Praised by the CEO for his "mentorship and team-building capabilities," Neil also embedded Agile methodologies to significantly improve team efficiency.
Is your brand reacting to tech issues instead of building a strategic foundation? .
Testimonials
Neil Bradley was with Absolute Collagen for several years and I highly recommend him as he is technically strong and has a strong commercial approach.
Hanabi provides true expertise with highly specialised strategic counsel. The knowledge and insight provided is invaluable to our business going forwards as we continue to expand and scale. We’re very excited about the journey ahead!
I had the pleasure of working with Neil whilst at Absolute Collagen and we were both on the leadership team. Neil came with extensive experience which the Absolute Collagen brand and those who Neil collaborated with benefited from significantly.
Not only is Neil hugely experienced and skilled, with an eye for detail, a problem solution focus and a passion for delivering excellence on all projects he works on, Neil has the ability to build strong relationships cross-functionally, bringing an holistic approach, thinking customer and brand first which was so refreshing.
Working with Neil was not only a huge learning experience of how to bring brand and tech together for leading class results but also his warmth, openness and integrity is something I would say all who work with Neil benefit from and is rare to find.
A Blueprint for Your Brand's Growth
Engaging a Fractional CTO from Hanabi provides the C-level expertise needed to address due diligence findings, present clear roadmaps that inspire investor confidence, and build the high-performing teams and technology foundations needed to own your growth long-term.