I am a facilitator & management development consultant with extensive experience in delivering engaging training programmes and consultancy to private companies, charities and the public sector.
With over 25 years business experience I bring a real-life practical experience to my subject areas – leadership, management, change management, emotional intelligence (& related soft-skills) and project management. I hold qualifications in Change Management (APMG), Coaching (Academy of Executive Coaching), Teaching English as a Foreign Language (CELTA) and NLP (Richard Bandler).
Clients find my style down to earth and practical helping them to explore their challenges in the context of their organisational culture. I believe strongly that helping leadership teams & managers to find their own light-bulb moments gives them the insights they need to be the best for their teams and organisations. Work I have done at the Financial Services Compensation Scheme was shortlisted for Best Leadership Development Programme 2018 by Training Journal Awards.
Current & previous clients
Here are some of the clients I have worked with :-
| Barking Enterprise Centre Benchmark Fabrications Benetton British Ecological Society British Library Cancer Research UK Cambridge Consultants Centre for Strategy & Communication Clive Jones Academy East London Business Partnership Engineering Council Eurodisney Europol Financial Services Compensation Scheme Imperial College Healthcare JW Froehlich |
Knight Harwood Lansdowne Club L&Q Housing Association Merton Council Metropolitan Housing Microsoft National Housing Federation NHS OISE Ongar Healthcare PAARS (Charity) Quadrant Construction Royal Association for Deaf People South Africa Tourism United Nations YMCA Westminster Council |
Background
Graduating with B.Sc Hons in Computer Science, my early career was in Information Technology working initially in IT consultancies in the Insurance and Asset Management sectors. As my career developed I worked for stockbroker Smith New Court and investment bank Merrill Lynch before joining HSBC Investment Bank as an IT Head of Department. In 1999 moving from IT into a strategic role, I worked to improve the use of technology to drive business performance. In 2000 I created and launched HSBC’s first automated retail equity trading platform which I ran for 3 years. In 2005, as Director of Trading & Operations at AIM listed Plus Markets Group, I was instrumental in setting up a new stock exchange focused on smaller companies and start-ups.
In parallel with my financial services career and with my wife (artist and interior designer Ruth Canning) we setup an interior design and retail business in 2003. This business concentrated on designing high-end private residences and retailing contemporary Italian furniture & lighting through our store in Kensington, Central London. I left the financial services industry in 2006 to concentrate full time on this business.
I have always had an interest in personal & management development and in 2013 took the opportunity to move into this full time. I am the author of “The English Interview Question & Answer Book” a guide to doing interviews for non-native English speakers.
Outside of work
When working with clients I often talk about who we are as people first and then how that authentically feeds into who we are at work. This equally applies to me and here are some of my key influences outside of work.
I love the mountains, the higher the better. It is a combination of the raw power & majesty of nature along with freedom from the everyday. Mountains give you a true perspective on life. I have completed some long distance treks including the famous La Haute from Chamonix in France to Zermatt in Switzerland (you can see a video of this here). In late 2019 I went trekking for 3 weeks in the Himalayas including a visit to Everest Base Camp.
We all have potential. The potential to do or become something we never imagined. It is only by challenging ourselves can we discover what we are truly capable of. I often try new things – sometimes they fail horribly (contemporary dance isn’t for me!) and sometimes you succeed. In 2018 I bought a cheap digital keyboard on ebay to see if I could learn to play the piano. I now own a beautiful acoustic piano and derive great pleasure from being able to play it. I recently realised the ambition to play a grand concert piano.
I’ve been volunteering in schools for a while and in summer 2019 decided to get more involved in youth work by working as a Youth Programme Leader on the National Citizenship Service. I had no idea what I was letting myself in for by taking responsibility for 106 (yes!) 15-17 year olds, 9 university student mentors and 2 youth worker professionals. It was the most challenging and exhausting thing I have ever done. My leaderships skills, personal resilience, values and physical endurance were tested to the limit. It was the most rewarding thing I have done in my career to date. I planned to sign up again in 2020, but sadly it was cancelled due to the pandemic.
C+S Management Development & Training 