a bit about me
my coaching experience
My coaching is underpinned by a unique understanding and empathy for the leadership challenges faced in fast-growing business sectors.
I coach a range of UK and regional leaders in the media, technology and charity sectors, supporting their leadership growth and fulfilment of strategic, commercial and cultural objectives. I worked with leaders at organisations such as The Trade Desk, The Guardian, DCM, Mail Metro Media, Spotify, Channel 4 and Global, so retain strong context of the challenges and opportunities faced in the current UK and European media markets.
I was a business leader for 20 years, gaining experience across the marketing, technology, and education sectors; leading independent start-ups like digital agency i-level, to c-suite roles at Mindshare, dentsu and Avado.
I qualified from Henley Business School through the Professional Executive Coaching Certificate and I am a member of the International Coaching Federation.
outside of coaching
Originally from the North East, I now live in Twickenham with my wife George, our boys Rory and Murray, and an enthusiastic spaniel called Zola.
I love cooking, running, weight-training and golf. I manage an unhealthy obsession with coffee and micro-breweries, still harbouring ambitions of being a barista or brewer when I get older.
An avid sports watcher, I'm a regular at Harlequins rugby club, lifelong-long distance Sunderland supporter, and passionate follower of England cricket.
coaching qualifications and accreditations
experience of leading businesses in fast growing sectors
Managing Director of leading independent digital agency
Managing Director of leading independent digital agency
Managing Director of leading independent digital agency
Led a pioneering digital team of 120 people, generating net profits of £4.6m, winning over 20 industry best-practice awards, and supporting a private equity sale of the business for £45m.
UK CEO of a WPP media agency
Managing Director of leading independent digital agency
Managing Director of leading independent digital agency
Led a team of over 350 media specialists managing £700m of media spend. Secured over £150m of new business over 3 years including clients such as Marks & Spencer, Jaguar Land Rover and Chanel.
UK COO of a global communications network
Managing Director of leading independent digital agency
Global CEO of a leading education technology business
Responsible for operational delivery across a UK network of 3,000 people in 24 business units, generating annual turnover of £2.1 billion across media, creative, content, talent & data services.
Global CEO of a leading education technology business
Managing Director of leading independent digital agency
Global CEO of a leading education technology business
Led a global team of learning experience professionals delivering digital qualifications and corporate training solutions to over 36,000 active learners per year, across 104 markets
winning awards for commercial and cultural performance
two decades of leadership insight and experience
creating commercial & customer strategies for growth
Working across rapidly growing industry sectors has provided me with significant experience of developing effective commercial strategy. I have led highly successful new business development strategies, winning high profile private and public sector tenders for market leading UK and global businesses - Sky, News UK, Unilever, BT, Chanel, Jaguar Land Rover, Marks & Spencer, Department for Education.
contributing to inclusive and progressive culture
Central to my personal purpose has been the fostering of open and inclusive cultures that attract, retain and develop the best talent.
At i-level we received recognition for our innovative and engaging culture in the Sunday Times 'Top 50 Small Companies to Work For', and through the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation.
At Mindshare, I undertook a cultural change programme to drive greater integration between multi-disciplinary teams, fostering a culture of greater collaboration across media, content and data disciplines. This more collaborative way of working contributed to winning a Cannes Lion global advertising award for adaptive marketing with Kleenex.
At Avado, we developed a diverse and inclusive culture, with a progressive approach to supporting and educating all colleagues about diversity in all its guises. This people strategy led to Avado being recognised in the ‘Great Place to Work’ survey in 2022, and also gaining specific recognition as one of the Best Workplaces for Women, (Ranked 20 amongst Large UK employers). Avado was further recognised by the UK Business Culture Awards in 2021, for our communication and support for our people through the pandemic, as the winner of the ‘Culture in a Crisis’ Award.
championing new entrant employment and development opportunities
Throughout my career I have championing projects that provide young people from diverse background, the opportunity to gain greater access to training and employment. I chaired the Fast Forward programme on behalf of the advertising industry charity, NABs; supporting young media & creative professionals to gain knowledge & experience of working in collaborative cross-functional teams.
At dentsu, I was the executive sponsor of early recruitment programmes to drive greater diversity and inclusion across the network's 24 businesses, through both recruitment and people initiatives.
In 2020, we launched a new social enterprise proposition at Avado, to engage large UK corporations in the challenges of youth unemployment during the pandemic called FastFutures. Over 18 months, this national programme enabled over 5,000 young people from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds to gain work-ready skills for free on a 12 week digital course sponsored by businesses, such as AstraZeneca, BT and L&G.
experience on both sides of the 'acquisition equation'
I have led both buy and sell-side M&A, alongside fund-raising rounds with both public and private equity investors.
As part of the leadership team at i-level, we sold a majority stake in i-level to ECI for £45m in 2008.
From a buy-side perspective, I led the UK&I acquisition strategy at dentsu for three years, completing deals for programmatic media, content, and talent-led marketing businesses.