My Career Story 1997 - 2023
;At the beginning of 1997 having completed my interim post as Group HR Manager, I decided that perhaps now was the time to try setting up my own consultancy partnership, providing HR and Business Management services to travel & tourism companies. I was very surprised at how successful this business became, leading to a significant contract providing post acquisition advice on organisational change to a leading multi-national utilities company. This success combined with a high court injury compensation payment following my motorway accident, enabled me to make a 'quality of life' decision to move to the Highlands of Scotland and buy properties on a single site to develop into a 3/4 star self catering holiday business. Why the Highlands of Scotland? Well very simply it was the place of many happy holiday memories and the birthplace of my paternal grandfather.
With the self catering holiday business up and running and commuting back to the south-east every week to carry on with my consultancy work, I started to consider opportunities in the Highlands. It was at this time that the Board of Trustees from much troubled Scottish charity, which had been the subject of Scottish Charities Office (now OSCR) investigation, were looking for a CEO to restore credibility and re-structure the organisation. What a huge challenge this was and one which enabled me to gain experience managing at senior level in the not for profit sector, but also to use all the skills I had gained in my earlier career. Through very hands on management of change over the next two years and an amazing collaborative effort from staff & volunteers, the charity began to flourish and make a difference to the lives of children with special needs.
Following this, my first senior management experience in the not for profit sector, and using the learning I had gained of charity governance, awareness raising and stakeholder engagement, I was approached to join a not for profit company providing much needed management solutions for charities (there were about 28,000 in Scotland at the time) and the growing number of community enterprises, rural and social businesses. For the next two and a half years I was the Director of Operations for this successful company, managing a large portfolio clients, one of which I acted as interim CEO for, following a restructure.
Then in the summer of 2003, I felt that I needed to broaden my horizons, to take my experience and look for the next challenge within a larger charity/NGO, and was drawn to the possibility of making a difference on a much larger scale. It was at this point I was privileged to become an Operations Director with the British Red Cross.
Working with the Red Cross was one of the greatest challenges of my career, and one, which I was completely committed to and passionate about. To be involved in moving an organisation to a totally new place, to encourage, inspire and bring about transformational change was an incredible experience, but to do all this to make such an enormous difference to the lives of those in need, was even more special. I was provided with the space to innovate, develop new service delivery and to really consolidate disaster & major incident management with search & rescue. It was the opportunity to close the 'emergency circle' of planning, preparedness, response, recovery and resilience. The responsibilities were vast, the need was great, the challenges significant and the successes; well we saved lives and changed lives and did so without counting the cost! In my nearly nine years I was fortunate to be able to influence beyond just my area of operations, to take on national and international projects, to meet and work with some amazing humanitarians and to learn so much. I was able to build teams to work 'in extremis', to challenge preconceptions and to question self interest and greed, but above all, to be able to make a difference to so many people.
In March 2012, I made the very difficult decision to leave the British Red Cross, I had achieved all that I was going to be able to achieve and had reached the end of any further progression within the organisation. I also had a few projects that I wanted to pursue and gratefully I received funding to take a research sabbatical for 18 months. My research work gained some critical acclaim and positive peer review and as a result I was asked to get involved in a number of other projects including specific research about ethics in leadership and the principles of coaching others. It has also led to considerable amounts of writing on leadership, ethics, social and humanitarian teaching and the opportunity to take on roles as an adviser/consultant. In particular, I was asked to join the International Programmes Development Committee of SCIAF, (part of Caritas Internationalis) as a non-executive adviser on Integral Human Development.
In September 2014 I was appointed as Interim Chief Executive with Outfit Moray, a truly inspirational charity and social business which has been leading the way in providing outdoor learning and adventure opportunities for developing the potential of young people, volunteers, families and communities: building self confidence, growing self-esteem, improving life skills and encouraging active learning. This provided me with the opportunity to lead, inspire, use my skills and experience and most importantly use my passion for outdoor learning & adventure and making a difference to the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged children & young people. It was a real privilege to be able to lead this charity as its first Chief Executive until May 2016, to help them develop a strategy, vision and values, to set up a respite holidays programme and to encourage the possibilities of new and exciting projects. September 2016 marked a milestone as after 18 years in the Highlands of Scotland we decided to move south to enable our youngest daughter to fulfill her University ambitions and for us to pursue new opportunities and experiences.
My work took me back to the world of education & learning as Head of Faculty at Plumpton College near Lewes, as I agreed to take on the role for 12 months and to review progress at that stage. Plumpton is the one of the leading FE/HE Colleges for land based education and training in the UK and was partnered with the University of Brighton (now with the Royal Agricultural University). The faculty I led included Forestry, Aboriculture, Woodland Management, Horticulture and Foundation Learning. I also had responsibility for the strategic development of 3 remote campuses across Sussex at Flimwell, Netherfield and an exciting new project at Stanmer Park near Brighton (now known as One Garden, Brighton). It was a bit of a change after 18 years in the third sector but enabled me to renew my passion for education and to get current with the FE and HE sector in England. The College allowed me to continue to advise charities and social enterprises in leadership, management, strategy, organisational change and governance and to undertake mentoring and coaching work.. After 16 months in the role my job was done, the strategic focus I had to help move the College forward, to develop staff and to align culture to a new strategy had been successful and the role needed to make the transition into more detailed operational remit.
In February 2018 we moved to south-east Cornwall, and I had the privilege to work managing the strategic business development of a fabulous 4000+ acre estate with great ambitions for the future of diversified businesses in a rural land and tourism based economy. My work included managing a number of Estate trusts, including two charitable trusts: farms, land & property (both residential commercial), food & beverage operations, an award winning golf course, holiday accommodation and tourist attractions. I also project managed the creation of the South East Cornwall Rural Business Centre (now the Rame Innovation Hub), a state of the art business and rural skills training hub from concept to completion. My strategic work on the Antony Estate was complete in May 2020 and as we entered uncharted territory dealing with the COVID 19 pandemic, it was time to go home, back to the Highlands of Scotland to be closer to our family, time also for the next challenge and to seek new opportunities in what I hoped will be a more tolerant, kinder society from the lock down experiences that we all shared throughout 2020-22.
So here I am 40 years after I began my career, looking forward to continuing to make a difference by combining by experience of leading organisations with my passion for learning, education, the third sector and the natural world. I am always looking for opportunities to use the knowledge and wisdom I have gained throughout my career and life in general and to continue my work with charities and to be able to take on non-exec directorships/trusteeships where I can help to make a difference to the lives of others. This desire to give back into the Third Sector has led me to devote my working hours to providing consultancy help to charities across Scotland. Working with like minded individuals with many years experience within the sector, we are now engaged with a number of charities who need objective advice, support with strategic and organisational change, leadership & management advice or just the benefit of a pragmatic approach to solving problems.
I have been very fortunate in having great opportunities to learn and develop over the years and never more so than in the last few years, to have been fortunate to be successful in most things I have done and to have gained such invaluable experience. Having an amazing family behind me, my devoted wife, our three children and three wonderful grandchildren have helped me to get to this point and kept me focused on what matters in life.
With the self catering holiday business up and running and commuting back to the south-east every week to carry on with my consultancy work, I started to consider opportunities in the Highlands. It was at this time that the Board of Trustees from much troubled Scottish charity, which had been the subject of Scottish Charities Office (now OSCR) investigation, were looking for a CEO to restore credibility and re-structure the organisation. What a huge challenge this was and one which enabled me to gain experience managing at senior level in the not for profit sector, but also to use all the skills I had gained in my earlier career. Through very hands on management of change over the next two years and an amazing collaborative effort from staff & volunteers, the charity began to flourish and make a difference to the lives of children with special needs.
Following this, my first senior management experience in the not for profit sector, and using the learning I had gained of charity governance, awareness raising and stakeholder engagement, I was approached to join a not for profit company providing much needed management solutions for charities (there were about 28,000 in Scotland at the time) and the growing number of community enterprises, rural and social businesses. For the next two and a half years I was the Director of Operations for this successful company, managing a large portfolio clients, one of which I acted as interim CEO for, following a restructure.
Then in the summer of 2003, I felt that I needed to broaden my horizons, to take my experience and look for the next challenge within a larger charity/NGO, and was drawn to the possibility of making a difference on a much larger scale. It was at this point I was privileged to become an Operations Director with the British Red Cross.
Working with the Red Cross was one of the greatest challenges of my career, and one, which I was completely committed to and passionate about. To be involved in moving an organisation to a totally new place, to encourage, inspire and bring about transformational change was an incredible experience, but to do all this to make such an enormous difference to the lives of those in need, was even more special. I was provided with the space to innovate, develop new service delivery and to really consolidate disaster & major incident management with search & rescue. It was the opportunity to close the 'emergency circle' of planning, preparedness, response, recovery and resilience. The responsibilities were vast, the need was great, the challenges significant and the successes; well we saved lives and changed lives and did so without counting the cost! In my nearly nine years I was fortunate to be able to influence beyond just my area of operations, to take on national and international projects, to meet and work with some amazing humanitarians and to learn so much. I was able to build teams to work 'in extremis', to challenge preconceptions and to question self interest and greed, but above all, to be able to make a difference to so many people.
In March 2012, I made the very difficult decision to leave the British Red Cross, I had achieved all that I was going to be able to achieve and had reached the end of any further progression within the organisation. I also had a few projects that I wanted to pursue and gratefully I received funding to take a research sabbatical for 18 months. My research work gained some critical acclaim and positive peer review and as a result I was asked to get involved in a number of other projects including specific research about ethics in leadership and the principles of coaching others. It has also led to considerable amounts of writing on leadership, ethics, social and humanitarian teaching and the opportunity to take on roles as an adviser/consultant. In particular, I was asked to join the International Programmes Development Committee of SCIAF, (part of Caritas Internationalis) as a non-executive adviser on Integral Human Development.
In September 2014 I was appointed as Interim Chief Executive with Outfit Moray, a truly inspirational charity and social business which has been leading the way in providing outdoor learning and adventure opportunities for developing the potential of young people, volunteers, families and communities: building self confidence, growing self-esteem, improving life skills and encouraging active learning. This provided me with the opportunity to lead, inspire, use my skills and experience and most importantly use my passion for outdoor learning & adventure and making a difference to the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged children & young people. It was a real privilege to be able to lead this charity as its first Chief Executive until May 2016, to help them develop a strategy, vision and values, to set up a respite holidays programme and to encourage the possibilities of new and exciting projects. September 2016 marked a milestone as after 18 years in the Highlands of Scotland we decided to move south to enable our youngest daughter to fulfill her University ambitions and for us to pursue new opportunities and experiences.
My work took me back to the world of education & learning as Head of Faculty at Plumpton College near Lewes, as I agreed to take on the role for 12 months and to review progress at that stage. Plumpton is the one of the leading FE/HE Colleges for land based education and training in the UK and was partnered with the University of Brighton (now with the Royal Agricultural University). The faculty I led included Forestry, Aboriculture, Woodland Management, Horticulture and Foundation Learning. I also had responsibility for the strategic development of 3 remote campuses across Sussex at Flimwell, Netherfield and an exciting new project at Stanmer Park near Brighton (now known as One Garden, Brighton). It was a bit of a change after 18 years in the third sector but enabled me to renew my passion for education and to get current with the FE and HE sector in England. The College allowed me to continue to advise charities and social enterprises in leadership, management, strategy, organisational change and governance and to undertake mentoring and coaching work.. After 16 months in the role my job was done, the strategic focus I had to help move the College forward, to develop staff and to align culture to a new strategy had been successful and the role needed to make the transition into more detailed operational remit.
In February 2018 we moved to south-east Cornwall, and I had the privilege to work managing the strategic business development of a fabulous 4000+ acre estate with great ambitions for the future of diversified businesses in a rural land and tourism based economy. My work included managing a number of Estate trusts, including two charitable trusts: farms, land & property (both residential commercial), food & beverage operations, an award winning golf course, holiday accommodation and tourist attractions. I also project managed the creation of the South East Cornwall Rural Business Centre (now the Rame Innovation Hub), a state of the art business and rural skills training hub from concept to completion. My strategic work on the Antony Estate was complete in May 2020 and as we entered uncharted territory dealing with the COVID 19 pandemic, it was time to go home, back to the Highlands of Scotland to be closer to our family, time also for the next challenge and to seek new opportunities in what I hoped will be a more tolerant, kinder society from the lock down experiences that we all shared throughout 2020-22.
So here I am 40 years after I began my career, looking forward to continuing to make a difference by combining by experience of leading organisations with my passion for learning, education, the third sector and the natural world. I am always looking for opportunities to use the knowledge and wisdom I have gained throughout my career and life in general and to continue my work with charities and to be able to take on non-exec directorships/trusteeships where I can help to make a difference to the lives of others. This desire to give back into the Third Sector has led me to devote my working hours to providing consultancy help to charities across Scotland. Working with like minded individuals with many years experience within the sector, we are now engaged with a number of charities who need objective advice, support with strategic and organisational change, leadership & management advice or just the benefit of a pragmatic approach to solving problems.
I have been very fortunate in having great opportunities to learn and develop over the years and never more so than in the last few years, to have been fortunate to be successful in most things I have done and to have gained such invaluable experience. Having an amazing family behind me, my devoted wife, our three children and three wonderful grandchildren have helped me to get to this point and kept me focused on what matters in life.