Peer Networks

Alison Everest

Mentor

Areas of speciality:

Current Occupation/s:
Business Psychologist, Coach and Mentor.

Core Expertise:
Alison’s main areas of expertise are:

• Business Planning.
• Strategic Planning.
• Finance, cash flow forecasting, and trade finance.
• Skills development, assessment, and training.
• Coaching and Mentoring.

Experience:
Alison is a business psychologist, coach and mentor, with a wealth of financial and commercial experience, developed during careers at IBM, HSBC and as a freelance consultant. 
With over 23 years of global experience throughout Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, Alison has worked with many companies in reviewing and assessing their business plans and financial position, in order to attain business sustainability. In the voluntary sector she has mentored young entrepreneurs in business start-ups, helping both practically and in supporting their personal growth and development.  
As a business psychologist she works with companies in selection, skills assessment and leadership development, and is qualified in the use of psychometrics and assessment centre methodology.

LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aeverest

Andrew Blair

Mentor

Areas of speciality:

Current Occupation/s:
Company owner and investor. Director of 24Keys Limited
 
Core Expertise:
Working with talented commercially orientated people, Andrew really enjoys helping small and medium sized businesses to grow and evolve in rapidly changing markets. He can help with most areas of business management, strategy, technology, sales and marketing, and finance.

Experience:
Owner of cloud-based marketing and accounting practice. 16 years experience as Managing Director and Finance Director in Media sector, 8 years with Procter & Gamble.
Qualified Chartered Accountant, Chairman of Gloucestershire Business Awards 2005 to 2009. Launched Stroud Life and was director of South West Media Group.
Top 100 Businesses In Gloucestershire, Business Awards in Devon and Cornwall, mentor of small start-ups, member of Minerva, Gloucestershire Angels Investors Network.

LinkedIn Profile:
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/andrewblair24keys

Andrew Callard

Mentor

Areas of speciality:

Current Occupation/s:
Managing Director at Aimed Business, offering consultancy and coaching advice for start-ups, fast growth and family businesses.

Core Expertise:
Andrew is specialised in the following areas:

• Marketing (“real-world” and digital), new product & new market development.
• Business planning, strategy, KPIs, operations development of systems and processes.
• Leadership and management team development.
• Innovation, research and funding.

Experience:
Andrew’s coaching draws upon a wealth of experience as an operational manager and consultant. This gives him cross-sector knowledge, but also the ability to ask questions to understand more fully his client’s real opportunities and obstacles.
His career has moved from advising, being in and now coaching fast growth businesses. With an entrepreneurial spirit, Andrew has created two £1M+pa turnover business units from scratch, raised in vain $6M from venture capitalists and exited businesses that failed to achieve the dream.
A focus has been on the practical application of innovation be that new products or new markets so that strong ideas can flourish systematically. Latterly he has managed 14 Innovate UK company advanced materials projects. Often that innovation has been technology related from blue sky to applied research.
Part of Andrew’s insight comes from developing people as individuals or in groups through training. Whether that is mentoring Warwick MBA Alumni or delivering leadership and business workshops or creating new qualifications in Creative Entrepreneurship and Environmental Technologies.
  
LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcallard

Bryan Stiles

Mentor

Areas of speciality:

Current Occupation/s:
Part-time leadership speaker, trainer, coach and mentor. Managing Director at Queensway Leadership Development Ltd.

Core Expertise:

• Developing and rolling out business strategies and product and service propositions.
• Developing leaders; development assessment, planning, coaching and mentoring.
• Organisational and cultural change initiatives.
• Marketing and sales strategies.
• Large scale project management.
• Operational risks, governance and compliance.
• Commercial banking, trade finance.

Experience:
Over 30 years working with HSBC, Bryan moved both country and function every few years, taking over unfamiliar businesses and applying strong analytical skills to identify the key drivers of profitability. Both as a business leader and corporate lender he learnt to evaluate strategies, management capabilities, and marketing effectiveness, with the ability to put a new spin on any scenario.
He has operated at Executive Director level (in China) and is qualified both as a marketer (ACIM) and as a coach and mentor (post-graduate level).
Since retiring, he has frequently spoken on leadership, strategy and marketing, including at forums for aspiring CEOs.

LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-stiles-9bb13a56

David Chapman

Mentor

Areas of speciality:

Current Occupation/s:
Managing Partner at Scott Hillam Associates.

Core Expertise:
David is a business development professional, with 30 years’ experience establishing and building international sales channels, partnerships and subsidiary companies mainly in a B2B technology environment. He has worked as a business consultant since 1993 on a range of international projects and contracts across Europe, US and Asia Pacific in strategic marketing and new business development roles.
With a background in the technology side of graphic arts, packaging and digital printing systems, David works with clients to develop their international business strategies and networks. As a skilled coach with in-depth knowledge of differing business cultures, he works closely with clients to assess and optimise the make-up and effectiveness of their core teams particularly with a view to developing international markets. 
David is a professionally trained member of ICF (International Coach Federation) and currently working towards ACC accreditation. He is also fully accredited by Belbin Associates on the application of their Team Role Inventory behavioural assessment tool.

Experience:
David studied at London Business School and the School of Oriental & African Studies. Before working freelance, he worked internationally for Bristol based DRG plc, a leading European paper and packaging producer and Crosfield Electronics Limited, the then graphic arts division of Fujifilm. He speaks Japanese and has lived in India, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan.

LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-chapman-86855011a

Howard Davis

Mentor

Areas of speciality:

Current Occupation/s:
Mentor, Coach, Adviser and Freelancer. Former Local Authority Chief Executive.

Core Expertise:
Howard’s work for the Local Government Association (LGA) in the West Midlands included:

• Managing the relationship between the LGA, 33 local authorities (a mix of County, Unitary, Metropolitan District, and District) and 5 fire and rescue authorities.
• Brokering partnerships between local authorities (including shared services or management arrangements) to support self-improvement.
• Acting as senior sponsor to key national programmes delivered within the region.
• Providing a sponsorship role for strategic issues for LGA at a national level.
• Working in partnership with other agencies to ensure a coordinated approach to improvement within the region; he was a board member of IEWM (Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands).

Experience:
Since taking Voluntary Redundancy in August 2015, Howard has undertaken a number of high level mentoring and coaching assignments with staff in both senior and middle management roles in Local Government, Fire, a Government Executive Agency, a national Charity and the private sector, as well as supporting various specific reviews and development programmes, all in politically sensitive arenas.
Before August 2015, Howard was the Principal Adviser (Regional Director equivalent) for the Local Government Association (LGA) in the West Midlands. In a similar role, he had also covered both the South West and the North West.
Howard ran the County Highways Direct Labour Organisation (CORMAC) in Cornwall before becoming Assistant Chief Executive at the County Council. He also has 10 years’ experience as a Chief Executive within local authorities, firstly with Tewkesbury Borough Council in Gloucestershire and then with Teignbridge District Council in South Devon. 
Howard is a Chartered Engineer and a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers, and he served seven years as a Governor at Tewkesbury School, one of Gloucestershire’s largest Secondaries, including four years as Chair following its successful conversion to an Academy.

LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/howard-davis-31583833

John Taylerson

Mentor

Areas of speciality:

Current Occupation/s:
Co-founder of Mypackme and Director of itmilk Ltd. Senior Associate at BIC-Innovation, working on the Investor Ready Programme.

Core Expertise:
John provides assistance to start-ups and running food and drink businesses, covering all aspects from raising money, developing products and processes to launching into major-multiple retail, food service and on-line.
Some of his areas of expertise include:

• Food and drink processing (technical side)
• Agricultural logistics
• Product development
• Marketing, sales and commercials
• Launch of food and drink products for sale on-line

Experience:
John has spent his career working at every step of the food and drink supply chain. Having worked for primary production, processing, equipment and packaging through to the product innovation and marketing. Roles include working on innovation for government, NGOs, private investors and independent companies.
He is currently working as an associate for an innovation agency as well as running his own company, involved in licensing brands he has developed and developing new products and intellectual property. As a chartered marketer and fellow of the CIM john is interested in assisting start-ups in food and drink or related businesses.

LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylerson

John-Paul Corry (J-P)

Mentor

Areas of speciality:

Current Occupation/s:
Founder and Managing Director of Growth Unlimited.

Core Expertise:
J-P is an accomplished and effective senior executive, with a strong track record in leading and managing high growth international businesses. He has long standing experience in activating, energising and accelerating SME business growth.

Experience:
After working in the oil and gas industry for more than 20 years in leading corporations such as ABB and GE, J-P founded his own business consultancy for SMEs and corporate teams in 2016: Growth Unlimited.
J-P enjoys working together with his clients to build their ultimate team, combining decades of senior leadership and general management skills and experience with elite sporting achievement.
He has experience in international markets, having contributed to business growth in the USA and Switzerland markets while at ABB, and has reached the highest level of seniority as General Manager at ABB and Business Leader at GE.

LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpcorry

Jonathan Nicholls

Mentor

Areas of speciality:

Current Occupation/s:
Jonathan serves as Director at J Nicholls & Associates Ltd. He has also been recently elected on to the Chartered Institute of Management Consultants (CIMA) council.

Core Expertise:
Jonathan’s main areas of expertise are:

• Business planning
• Management reporting & KPI's
• Strategy & strategic planning
• Operations management
• Business management
• Organisational excellence
• Doing business in China

Experience:
J Nicholls & Associates Ltd. mission focuses on helping SMEs reach their potential, improving the operational effectiveness of larger companies, and supporting the development of companies in China.
Prior to joining J Nicholls & Associates Ltd, Jonathan served as Vice President Finance & Operations Greater China at Adidas.

LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathannicholls1

Mark Vincent

Mentor

Areas of speciality:

Current Occupation/s:
Director at Applied Change, specialised in helping organisations deliver transformative change at pace.

Core Expertise:
Mark is a consummate professional with a vast experience in the following fields, among others:

• Change management
• Change resistance overcome
• Team efficiency
• Strategic direction alignment
• Project and programme governance
• Change delivery

Sector experience includes financial services, manufacturing, distribution, music and publishing. His clients include some of the largest international organisations, such as Warner Music, EMI, JP Morgan and Universal.

Experience:
Mark has spent the last 20 years delivering large scale business and IT enabled change, often in fast paced, highly challenging environments.
Music and publishing have been through fundamental industry wide transformation as digital business has spawned revenue models and value chains that bear little resemblance to those of just 15 years ago.
Building on his personal consulting experience Mark formed Applied Change 10 years ago, bringing together talented like-minded change professionals with a view to delivering a different brand of consulting and support to companies going through major change.
Mark has made it a personal priority to build upon the body of knowledge and understanding of change psychology in a corporate context, with a view to increasing the probability of successful outcomes.

LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/1markvincent

Sean Kelly

Mentor

Areas of speciality:

Current Occupation/s:
Business Growth Coach with Kelly Resources.

Core Expertise:
Sean supports organizational stakeholders to identify opportunities for change and growth, working with them to redefine their purpose and goals and develop and rollout strategies based around ‘Critical Success Factors’.
Sean is a strong believer in behavioral difference and drivers and sees them as key elements of building organizational capacity and the creation of an innovative, high performance culture.

Experience:
Sean has more than 20 years’ experience working with clients coaching and consulting in Change, Business Improvement and Growth Management.
He has successfully worked with SMEs and corporates across a range of professions, and has extensive experience working in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Southern Africa.
Sean has extensive knowledge of a number of behavioral tools and incorporates behavioral information in his coaching and consulting work.
Being very highly regarded in the field of behavioral application, Sean gives talks to leadership teams and MBA groups. He also gives talks on culture and performance.

LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-kelly-mba-12216211