Why Scale-Ups Are Turning to Interim Managers in 2025
In 2025, one of the smartest plays for scaling founders is embracing interim talent — experienced professionals who can slot into your business at the right time, with the right impact, for exactly as long as you need them.
Here’s why if you’re scaling in 2025, your smartest hire might not be a hire at all.
IR35 Has Shifted — And That Changes the Game
From April 2025, changes to IR35 mean around 14,000 companies currently considered medium-sized will now be reclassified as small. This is important because all of these companies will gain the “small company” exemption alongside those that already get it. As a result, startups and scale-ups will no longer be responsible for determining the IR35 status of contractors – shifting that responsibility and all the associated risks it entails back to the contractor.
In essence, it’s a return to the way things worked for years — a more familiar, lower-risk setup for small businesses engaging contractors.
For early-stage businesses, this means:
- Less compliance burden
- Easier access to top interim talent
- Greater flexibility in how you build your team
What interims bring to the table
Interims aren’t advisers sitting on the sidelines — they embed within your team and deliver results fast.
Startups are using interims to:
- Shape commercial and product strategy
- Build scalable operations and systems
- Prepare for funding or exit
- Navigate regulation, compliance and risk
- Fill leadership gaps (CFOs, COOs, CTOs, HRDs)
They bring hard-won experience, strategic thinking, and the ability to get things done — without the long lead times or permanent overheads.
Take renewable energy startups, for example. Many of these companies are scaling fast but competition for talent is so fierce that some businesses are locking in people they may not immediately need. This means other companies are struggling to access seasoned talent when they need it, across multiple areas, including regulatory affairs, infrastructure roll-out and commercial scale-up. An Interim can support several different companies in this space through successive assignments.
The same applies across other high-growth sectors like healthtech, AI, fintech, and advanced manufacturing — where the ambition is huge but internal leadership capacity is often stretched thin.
To give a recent example of our own, we placed an interim commercial lead into a health data startup. Their legal background and commercial nous helped the business build strategic partnerships, sharpen their corporate positioning and accelerate investor readiness — all within months, not years.
Why it works in 2025
Four trends are making interim support a smarter strategy than ever for startups:
- Fewer barriers – IR35 reform makes engaging interims simpler for small firms
- Greater flexibility – Tap into top-tier talent without long-term commitments
- More supply – Experienced professionals are embracing portfolio careers
- Higher investor expectations – Maturity matters, even in early-stage firms
When Should You Consider an Interim?
Startups typically bring in interim managers when:
- A critical leadership role is vacant
- You’re scaling but hitting operational limits
- A product launch or funding round is looming
- You need specialist skills — fast
Interims don’t replace your team. They strengthen it — and leave behind lasting impact.
The Takeaway
Hiring in a scale-up isn’t just about headcount. It’s about momentum.
If you’re running a startup or scale-up, don’t wait until you’re overwhelmed to ask for help. Interim leaders give you speed, focus, and real-world expertise right when you need it most — and thanks to IR35 changes, it’s easier than ever to make it happen for a growing number of companies.
Find out more about Practicus’s interim management services.
References
Here’s a list of references for the statistics and context mentioned in the article:
- Investor Expectations in Scale-Ups. The increased scrutiny and demand for maturity in early-stage businesses — including governance, delivery confidence, and leadership credibility — is a consistent theme in VC and PE guidance documents such as those from BVCA.
British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association. Guide to Growth Capital Investment. bvca.co.uk - IR35 Reform and Small Company Exemption. Details on the April 2025 changes to IR35 legislation, including the reclassification of 14,000 medium-sized businesses as “small” and the resulting shift in responsibility for IR35 status determination, are available via Driver Require’s summary.
Driver Require. IR35 Changes from April 2025 – What Clients and Contractors Need to Know. driverrequire.co.uk - Interim Managers in Startups and Scale-Ups. Examples and insights into how interim managers support startup and scale-up growth, including case studies in sectors such as healthtech and renewables, are drawn from Practicus’s published guidance.
Practicus. Interim Managers for Startups in Navigating Growth. practicus.com - Portfolio Careers and Interim Talent Supply Trends. The growing trend of experienced professionals opting for interim and portfolio careers is supported by various industry observations and recruitment market analysis, such as those published by the Institute of Interim Management (IIM).
Institute of Interim Management. Annual Survey and Market Trends Report. interimmanagement.uk.com
