Raul Portela is an Interim Operating Partner and Fractional COO with over three decades of international experience spanning private equity, supply chain transformation and operational leadership across consumer, retail, apparel and branded goods businesses. He specialises in translating investment theses into executable value creation, accelerating EBITDA growth, scaling operations and positioning businesses for timely exit. His career has been deliberately shaped around high-stakes interim mandates, each selected for the complexity of the operating challenge and the pace at which results are required.

His foundations were built across two decades of supply chain and operational leadership in global businesses spanning food, transportation, retail, luxury goods, footwear and outdoor sports. After Burberry, where he led supply chain transformation across European operations, leveraging SAP and digital data models to drive agility and efficiency he joined Triumph International as Head of Global Distribution and Fulfilment Services, where he managed a €160m annual budget and 3,000 staff across 30-plus countries, increasing product availability from 60% to 95% in his first year, reducing inventory levels by over 10% through SKU complexity reduction, and leading the business through its transition to omni-channel retail in Europe and new market introduction in North America. This breadth of sector and scale exposure — combined with an early track record in international trade, logistics and multi-site operations across European and global markets — gave him the cross-functional depth and commercial perspective that defines his approach today.

Building on this foundation, his executive career has spanned permanent and interim roles at a range of PE-backed, growth-stage and globally recognised organisations. As Chief Operating Officer at Helly Hansen, the Norwegian outdoor sports and apparel brand, he orchestrated a four-year supply chain and IT transformation delivering average annual value creation of €5m, which was an integral part of the value creation plan that resulted in a high double-digit EBITDA exit multiple, all the while co-leading ERP and PLM system upgrades critical to the brand’s multi-channel retail and international growth ambitions, reducing working capital by 20% and elevating order fulfilment rates from 60% to 98%. As Interim COO at Missguided, he delivered a 45% reduction in distribution and fulfilment costs by driving productivity improvements, streamlining headcount and instituting international fulfilment standards, while partnering with an engineering firm to design a warehousing automation solution that cut space requirements by 60% and unit handling costs by 70%. At Bensons for Beds, he designed and drove a multi-functional operational strategy that reduced EBITDA losses by £14m, countering a 30% increase in material costs and the compounded labour pressures of post-Covid and post-Brexit trading conditions. As Strategy Development Director at Kingfisher, he delivered 25% supply chain cost savings while supporting a 15% category revenue rise and restructuring the central supply chain organisation around Centres of Excellence.

His more recent interim engagements have spanned the full spectrum of PE operating challenges. At JOTT, the French premium outdoor clothing brand backed by L Catterton, he was engaged to lead a rapid value creation plan and expanded his remit to include operational excellence, supply chain scalability and cost and profitability efficiency, delivering an EBITDA uplift exceeding 5% of net revenues and initiating a working capital overhaul with the potential to release €12m in cash. At Holzweiler, the Norwegian fashion house backed by Sequoia Capital, he helmed a value creation plan targeting €15m in operating expense reduction and equivalent to over 35% of opex, also developing real-time data models for network design and supply chain KPIs while guaranteeing retention of the entire supply chain team through leadership transition. As Operating Partner at Alteri Investors, he provided senior operational stewardship across mid-market retail and consumer brands, driving network downsizing of 35% and operational cost cuts of 40% during pandemic recovery, and leading the successful exit of a fast fashion brand to a major UK group. At EFESO Management Consultancy, a joint Eurazeo–Towerbrook investment, he provided interim strategic leadership of the UK PE and Digital, Data & AI practices, initiating a multi-year £40m waste reduction project for a UK food group and designing go-to-market strategies that delivered client acquisition outperformance of 45% and 20% in consecutive years.

As an Operating Partner, he has advised PE funds and portfolio companies across the full investment lifecycle: from commercial and operational due diligence through to post-acquisition integration, operational turnaround and exit planning. He brings a sharp financial lens to every engagement, grounding operational decisions in their cash, margin and working capital consequences, and is equally trusted by investment teams navigating deal execution and by management teams building sustainable operating capability. He has a particular track record in consumer and branded businesses with pan-European footprints, and is comfortable operating across multiple jurisdictions, with strong experience in the UK and Nordics.

Raul is known for building the operating engine that makes value creation plans actually happen, upgrading leadership capability, embedding performance accountability and delivering transformation at a pace that matches the urgency of the investment horizon. He contributed further governance experience as a Board Member of Bensons for Beds and as a Guest Board Member at Missguided, and advises emerging supply chain technology businesses including Ameba, where he was instrumental in securing £10m in venture funding by evidencing scalable EBITDA and cash-generation impact across PE-relevant sectors. He holds dual MBAs from London Business School and Columbia Business School, and a Master’s in Business Management from the University of Porto.