Nibbler,
I don't think there is any course as such that will qualify you to do Ops for an AOC operation. As an ex-employer of a number of Ops people, and a current Chief Pilot common sense and an ability to listen to your CP will probably serve perfectly well.
The CP should have been around and will have to be acceptable to the CAA. It is his responsibility to write the Ops Manual. You will need a maintenance guru who can look after your Continued Airworthiness - a whole seperate can of worms, cunningly designed by the CAA engineering hierarchy to dilute engineering safety (This is not a joke)
Go and visit an AOC operation (perhaps in a part of the country where you won't be a competitor!) and chinwag with the staff. Most of us are pretty quiet between now and February!
Lastly, I hope your boss has LOTS of money
Feel free to PM me for further