Navigating the tensions between performance, growth and purpose.
Helping purpose-led founders and their teams scale without compromising their culture or impact.
Fractional People Leadership | Executive Coaching.
Ayse Bouvet
I’m the founder of PeopleVantage, supporting purpose-driven businesses with senior People expertise through fractional and advisory support, alongside leadership coaching.
I bring 15+ years’ experience across high-growth technology and fintech businesses, spanning the full spectrum of People work, most recently as a People Director on the Executive Team, partnering closely with the UK CEO.
I’m also an Associate Coach for T- and Esendia, a Start-up Mentor for Bethnal Green Ventures, a Tech for Good VC fund, and a Fractional Leader with the SiSuScale Network.
I believe the strongest organisations don’t choose between purpose and performance; they build both, intentionally. When they reinforce each other, they become a powerful source of growth and lasting advantage.
Scroll down to explore how I can help.
People & Culture Pulse Check & Diagnostic
People & Culture Pulse Check
Coming soon!
Know what’s helping, and what could hold you back as you scale.
Growth creates tension: between performance and purpose, pace and people, ambition and capacity. This short pulse gives you a confidential snapshot of your organisational health and the People & Culture factors that may enable or constrain your next stage of growth.
15 minutes. Free. Immediate results.
Complete the pulse in your own time and receive an immediate overview of your results, highlighting strengths, opportunities and priorities for action.
Drawing on McKinsey research and established organisational health tools, it is tailored for purpose-led start- and scale-ups.
Your responses are completely confidential and used only to generate your individual results and insights.
Coming soon!
Want to explore your results?
A 60-minute debrief (£165 + VAT) gives you space to explore your findings, understand what they mean for your organisation, and receive tailored advice and guidance on the priorities and practical actions that will have the greatest impact.
People & Culture Diagnostic
Go deeper. Understand what will enable, or constrain your next stage of growth.
The pulse gives you a starting point. A deeper People & Culture Diagnostic provides a more comprehensive, evidence-based view of your organisational health and the People & Culture factors that will enable or constrain your growth.
I combine People data, targeted 1:1 interviews and external benchmarking to identify strengths, risks and opportunities, and translate these into practical priorities.
You’ll come away with:
Clarity on organisational health: what’s working, where attention is needed and potential risks to address
A clear view of People enablers and blockers: what will support or hinder your strategy and growth plans
Insight into purpose and performance alignment: where they reinforce each other and where tensions are emerging
Strategic priorities for your next stage: building on strengths and addressing the gaps and opportunities that matter
Particularly valuable during growth planning, fundraising or organisational change, the diagnostic helps you define the People & Culture priorities and investments needed to deliver your strategy and build investor confidence.
How it works
Typically delivered over 2–4 weeks, combining a review of relevant People data, selected 1:1 interviews and external benchmarking, followed by a playback and recommendation discussion.
Investment: £1,495 + VAT
Fractional & Advisory People Leadership
Senior People leadership, when you need it, without the full-time commitment.
Get experienced People leadership to think with you, lead and deliver on your People & Culture priorities, for a few days a month or week, remote or onsite, depending on what your business needs.
Ideal if you’re:
Not ready for a full-time People leader, but need senior expertise now.
Facing urgent People or organisational challenges that need fixing, while getting support to identify and onboard your future People hire.
Scaling or changing and want to build the leadership, culture and People foundations for your next stage.
Looking for an independent perspective close to the external market to navigate complex People decisions.
I work alongside founders and leadership teams to navigate growth and change, strengthen performance and build organisations that scale, without compromising purpose or impact.
How I can help
Advisory: Senior expertise and an independent perspective to navigate challenges, make decisions and shape your People approach.
Fractional People Leadership: Experienced People leadership to set priorities, lead and deliver your People & Culture agenda.
What to expect:
Enabled founders: Shared direction, stronger leadership alignment and confidence in key People decisions.
Performance culture: Clear expectations, strong team habits and values-led leadership.
Culture that scales: Purpose embedded in leadership, decisions and everyday ways of working.
People foundations: The capabilities, structures and processes needed to grow well.
How it works
1. Explore: A free conversation to understand your needs.
2. Diagnose: A focused diagnostic, where helpful, to identify priorities.
3. Agree: Define scope, outcomes and ways of working.
4. Get started: Begin with a rhythm that works for both of us.
Flexible investment: Day rate or monthly retainer, depending on scope. Typically 3–6 months, with a 1-month trial available.
Executive Coaching
Create space to reflect, grow and lead with greater impact.
Coaching gives leaders a confidential space to step back, challenge their thinking, deepen self-awareness and build the leadership capabilities needed for their next chapter.
I work with purpose-led founders and leaders through moments of transition, growth and change.
When coaching can help
Step into a bigger role: build credibility, confidence and impact when moving into a new role, C-suite or CEO leadership.
Lead through growth and change: navigate the tension between performance, growth and purpose while keeping yourself, your team and the organisation aligned.
Strengthen leadership relationships: build trust, alignment and a more unified leadership voice across co-founders and the leadership team.
Navigate a career crossroads: create space to explore what’s next and make intentional choices.
What you can expect
Greater self-awareness and insight into blind spots
Stronger leadership presence, relationships and decision-making
Practical shifts in how you lead through growth and change
Clearer alignment between purpose, performance and impact
How it works
1. Chemistry: A free session to explore your goals and fit.
2. Coaching : Typically 4–6 × 90-minute sessions over 3–6 months, with clear objectives and progress measures.
3. Alignment: Optional triangulation with your manager or sponsor.
Investment: £249 + VAT per session for self-funded coaching, or £495 + VAT per session when sponsored by an organisation.
Testimonials
“As a member of my Executive team, Ayse is hugely respected and valued, both as a People expert and a peer who brings strategic clarity and diversity of thought and challenge in our wider business decisions.
Ayse’s strengths include an incredible ability to quickly diagnose complex concepts or situations to then implement effective solutions that move the business forward. This, coupled with her enterprise wide leadership influence, makes Ayse a very effective change agent. Recently, she has been instrumental in establishing and driving our adoption of an OKR framework; directly tackling engagement feedback about leadership alignment across the business. In doing so, this has helped to provide genuine clarity on our future direction and how people’s work aligns.
Personally, I have found Ayse’s partnership invaluable and a key factor in my successful transition into the UK CEO role. Her ‘ear to the ground’ and proactive coaching of me in critical people matters ensured I built trust early and effectively, with the business going on to deliver above plan results in the face of extensive change. She was pivotal in creating the Exec target operating model for our next chapter of growth, supplying smart, strategic insight into key competency gaps in the team and partnering with me to hire quality talent. Ayse also championed a different approach to tackling an underperforming part of our business; assessing capability, designing quality learning and development programmes and establishing strong communities of best practice to change the trajectory.
Ayse’s strategic mindset, implementation tenacity, and her candid yet compassionate approach makes her hugely valuable. As one of the most talented people I know, her drive, positivity and willingness to learn is a pleasure to be around - I would highly recommend her.”
Julie Fisher, UK CEO
“Ayse was my number 2 for 5 years in a high growth business. She helped shape the people strategy, delivered game-changing initiatives she designed globally and played a key role in lifting performance and commerciality in the people team. She built people partnering capabilities in the business from scratch, hand-picked a team of high performers and enthusiastically expanded her breadth by taking on talent acquisition in addition to those responsibilities. She is sharp, direct in her communication and quick at diagnosing the biggest opportunities to tackle without losing the relevant nuance. I would also trust her again in a heartbeat to manage difficult stakeholders with grace and resilience.”
Yaelle Candolfi, Chief People Officer
“It was a pleasure working alongside Ayse on the SB management team for two years. Ayse expertly represented the People agenda, ensuring our team remained focused on our most valuable asset - our people.
However, Ayse's contributions extended far beyond this. She consistently brought insightful perspectives to business strategy discussions and played a key role in driving business success. Her strategic thinking, collaborative yet, challenging spirit, and dedication were invaluable.
Prior to this, Ayse was my People Partner, and what an amazing People Partner she was! Supportive, challenging, insightful and someone who simply cared in equal measure about the people and the business performance.
I highly recommend Ayse to any organisation seeking a well-rounded leader with both people-centric expertise and a strong business acumen.”
Bea Montoya, Chief Customer & Operations Officer
“Ayse is one of the most commercially astute People leaders I've had the pleasure of working with. Her strong commercial thinking is truly impressive, always considering the business implications of people strategies. She's a creative and quick thinker, able to rapidly grasp complex issues and develop insightful solutions.
What sets Ayse apart is her ability to attract talent and her genuine commitment to driving the development and performance of those around her. She acts as a real talent magnet, fostering growth and empowering individuals to reach their full potential.
Ayse is a fantastic challenger – someone who isn't afraid to ask the tough questions and get to the root of the problem. Her curiosity and insightful approach make her a true strategic partner to the business.
Any organisation would be fortunate to have Ayse on their team. I highly recommend her.”
Christine Ling, Global Head of Learning & Development
“I had the pleasure of being part of Ayse's team at Simply Business for almost 4 years. Ayse has a remarkable ability to challenge the status quo and drive innovation - constantly challenging me and her team to elevate their thinking and be at their best. She genuinely cares about her team's wellbeing and professional growth; whilst reporting to her, I can honestly say that I grew as a HR professional more than in any other role. I wholeheartedly recommend Ayse. She would be a true asset to any organization.”
William Wright, Senior People Partner