About me
Based in Horsham West Sussex, I have a degree in business management, am a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and having enjoyed a fun and varied career in the travel and leisure sector, my aim is to utilise the skills and knowledge I gained over a 25 year career to help others thrive in business.
An entrepreneur at heart, in 2020 I founded The Sussex Collaborative along with 2 trusted colleagues and am proud that we have grown the collaborative into an award winning group of accomplished professionals. Together we work as a plug in senior management team supporting SME’s across Sussex and beyond, delivering a comprehensive service to all our clients across all aspects of business leadership.
When I’m not working, I’m generally outside in the garden, walking or cycling around the fabulous Sussex countryside. Given my background in the travel industry, it’s no surprise that I have a passion for discovering new places around the world and have been fortunate to visit some amazing places.
My approach to consultancy
I work with business owners to support them to develop their companies and grow profitability.
We will work together to review your business challenges, create a plan of actionable solutions to be implemented and strategies to make your brand stand out from competitors, to win more business. have personal experience of juggling the day to day running of a company, whilst managing a team and planning for growth, so know it can be challenging.
I also understand the need to sometimes ask for help from a trusted source, and would be pleased to be that person to help you reach your goals.
My business background and experience
Throughout my business career, which spans 25 years in the Travel and Leisure sectors and in setting up a Tech startup, I have been very lucky to work within exciting businesses, each with their own unique challenges to overcome and opportunities to realise. All contributing to the sense of achievement I gained from leading and growing each of them.
I have held senior leadership roles within a portfolio of brands, delivering sustainable growth in each. Accomplished in strategic planning, growing customer pipelines via creative marketing activity and improving sales conversion, I have also been instrumental in launching millions pound innovative products into new markets. More recently I led the turnaround of 2 loss making travel brands, resulting in their successfully acquisition by private equity and venture capitalists.
Working alongside some fantastic and talented people, many of whom I’m still in contact with today, I have always made it my personal goal to empower and support those within my team to grow their skills and confidence to achieve their full potential. I’m proud that several of my previous team now hold senior leadership roles and more so that they still feel able to get in touch, asking my advice as a sounding board for career moves or advice on business challenges.
The highlight of my time in the travel industry was leading an expedition to a remote Atoll in the Pacific called Hao, where we set up temporary camp and hosted 130 astronomers over 3 days to view the Eclipse in 2010.
The value I can bring to your business
I have a width breadth of business experience and am known for taking a hands on approach to solving problems, making things happen and addressing barriers to progress. I have a keen eye for finding opportunities, which can easily be overlooked when immersed in the day to day.
Utilising the training and development I have benefited from throughout my career, I work together with my clients to have a clear vision of their purpose. We’ll focus on creating greater value, winning more business and achieving a higher return from their sales and marketing activity.
In 2021 I joined a team of over 90 part time Marketing Directors at The Marketing Centre offering SME’s in-house access to the Marketing knowledge, passion and experience required to build and develop their companies in an affordable and flexible way. With regular webinars, case studies, marketing insights and the Marketing 360 diagnostic tools, there is a wide range of free resources available and a fantastic community to be part of.
Success for me, is working with you to add value for your business and having a positive impact on your bottom line.
