Robbie Whitfield MBE

Interim CEO | Chief Transformation Officer | Chief Restructuring Officer | Large Scale Transformation and Programme Delivery - Performance & Operational Improvement

United Kingdom

About

I am a board-level turnaround and transformation leader with 10+ years of experience driving sustainable performance improvement across Private Equity, FTSE 100 and other multinational organisations. I am a serial value creator, developing assets, enhancing financial credibility, and delivering sustainable improvements. With a proven track record of leading complex transformations and programmes in sectors including the service industry, chemicals, manufacturing, construction, healthcare, life sciences, and defence, I bring a pragmatic but decisive approach to leadership. Key achievements include: Restoring bank confidence and delivering +347% trading profit uplift in a £250M chemical business. Designing a €25M EBITDA productivity programme in a €2B PE portfolio company. Leading multi-year transformation in a FTSE 100 company. Delivering $100M+ recurrent value and enabling the launch of a $7.9B healthcare institution in the Middle East. I thrive in complex, pressured environments where rapid change is needed – whether that’s stabilising liquidity, rightsizing cost structures, driving operational excellence or steering cultural change.

Experience

  • Turnaround CEO at Global Chemical Manufacturing Company
    Nov 2024 - Oct 2025 · 1 yr

    Appointed to lead the turnaround of a loss making global chemical manufacturer that had lost bank support. Returned to financial stability with no external investment required. ► Improved top line performance – customer focus, pricing approach, sales volume increase ► Resized the cost base – reduction in workforce and overhead spend ► Implemented tight cash and capital spending controls ► Liquidated surplus assets - negating the need for additional investment / borrowing ► Simplificatied and consolidated support services (S&OP, Procurement, HR, IT, etc) ► Rationalised the global operating footprint ► Operations performance improvement – cost out, introduction of continuous improvement etc ► Leading cultural change in a resistant environment

  • Transformation Director at Private Equity Portfolio Company
    Jun 2023 - May 2025 · 2 yrs

    ► Partner with Managing Partners and portfolio company C Suite stakeholders to identify and design ways to deliver a step change in performance across a €2B portfolio company, as a cornerstone of value creation and exit plans. ► Design and implement best practice across global a commercial, operations and corporate services base. ► Collaborate across portfolio companies / teams. ► Develop metrics to track progress.

  • Transformation Director - Productivity Improvement, Restructure at DS Smith
    Dec 2018 - Oct 2023 · 4 yrs 11 mos

    Transformation consultancy and delivery at FTSE100 Group level. Included designing and delivering multiple global / international outcomes including : ► Strategy and multi-year planning ► Operating models and restructures ► Capability development ► Productivity improvement ► Digisitation for performance ► Oversight of multiple programmes

  • Transformation Consultant - Global Transformation Programme at WPP
    Sep 2019 - Mar 2020 · 7 mos

    Global finance transformation for a FTSE 100 organisation: ► Transformation design ► System implementation approach ► Readiness assessment ► Change management planning

  • Executive Director of Transformation - Turnaround and Mega Scale Enterprise Build at Sidra Medicine
    Jun 2016 - Aug 2018 · 2 yrs 3 mos

    Delivered a large scale up / turnaround / transformation to open a state of the art US$7.9B healthcare facility including: ► Delivery of multiple outcomes across construction, internal transformation, mass upscale, driving efficiencies etc. Accountable for multiple programmes. ► Hands on operational leadership of complex large scale activities ► Cultural change