Empiribox Ltd's sole purpose is to advance the teaching of Science in primary schools in order to nurture the scientists of the future. Acknowledging the challenge non-subject specialists face in the teaching of science, Empiribox provides easy to follow lesson plans, classroom resources and science equipment filled with exciting hands-on experiments. Coupled with termly teacher training, its holistic approach, aims to inspire teachers and pupils alike. My role within Empiribox was to oversee the sales, marketing and product development areas of the business.

Discovery Education is a trusted partner for schools, supporting them in realising their vision and achieving their goals with curriculum-matched content, professional development solutions and professional networking opportunities. Engaging with over 2 million primary pupils across the UK through its flagship product Espresso, at its peak Discovery Education's portfolio was used daily by nearly 60% of the market.In order to retain customers the Discovery Education community has grown exponentially with timetabled face to face events, gatherings and professional development days scheduled across the country and multi-year professional development programmes have successfully been delivered to schools across the UK. Whilst at Discovery Education I looked after all commercial, marketing and professional development aspects of the business.

During the period I was responsible for the Steljes’ continuing professional development business. As the exclusive distributor for SMART Technologies, Steljes’ training portfolio had previously been product-centric, but I implemented a strategy for diversification and subsequently grew the business from one supporting the voyage of products into the market, to one that promotes education through technology implementation and integration. We launched a significant number of new face to face courses, a complete online professional development service and a continuum of professional development for educators. This has also included the development of a strategy for education consultancy for the current UK education market. My remit extended over the corporate market in addition to Education, which in turn spans Early Years to Higher Education. The training business works as a separate business unit, and I am responsible for commercial strategy, marketing, engagement and strategic relationships. I currently manage a team of 5 full-time employees 2 part time and a team of 26 contract trainers. Key achievements: - Specified and implemented a paid for online professional development platform in less than nine months. - Platform nominated for a 2014 ERA award in March of the same year.- Designed and commissioned 300 paid for professional development courses and interactive modules. - Recruited 12k users within ten months using traditional print, digital and social media initiatives strategies.

My role as Commercial lead for all SMART Technologies products across all markets gave me responsibility for achieving a £42m budget, outlining product marketing strategy, driving sales initiatives appropriate to all markets across the full product range. My understanding of the education sector allowed me to identify and focus on the real issues facing schools. As a distribution business, this meant working closely with our channel partners to ensure that they were furnished with the appropriate training, strategy and messaging for continued success. During my time in this role SMART products reached their highest market share of around 64% of all classrooms in Primary and Secondary schools. This continued presence was a direct result of a shift from the product centric positioning of the SMART portfolio to a more benefit-driven marketing approach. This ‘Value of SMART’ proposition underpinned the refresh initiatives driven by our channel partners and our end user direct marketing activities. It also formed the basis of all communications with the Press.Key Achievements• 64% market share for SMART Interactive Whiteboards in the UK• Launch of a charity based marketing initiative for Street Child Africa• Attainment of the £42m budget for the SMART product portfolio including a variety of product launches

This role was a more end user focused one and saw a close working relationship with key schools, Local Authority staff and government bodies. I managed a team of 9 Business Development Managers across the UK and during this time we launched the SMART Showcase School Programme and the SMART Exemplary Educator programmes. Reporting into the Director of Sales & Marketing I formulated and drove key initiatives to maximise sales and directed the marketing strategy, product positioning and messaging for the education markets. This included a UK and Ireland wide refresh and swap out programme based on the educational benefits of the SMART Classroom solution. I put together a professional continuum for SMART products and worked with the University of Glasgow to formally incorporate the SMART Interactive Classroom as a module for the Chartered Teacher postgraduate diploma accounting for 25 points of a Masters.Key Achievements• Attainment of the SMART Education target of £37m• Obtained the award for Outstanding Team within the company• Reconstructed our sales data into a working document to aid focused and targeted marketing and sales initiatives.

This role was critical in establishing SMART as the preferred platform for software developers and publishers. Recruited by Steljes to promote the SMART I launched a UK-specific SMART Accreditation programme. This was subsequently adopted by SMART themselves and rolled out globally. Key Achievements• Introduced the SMART Accreditation Programme, working with over 150 software partners to ensure their products were compatible• Worked alongside the Mobile Learning project, hosting key influencers at NECC in San Diego and several ‘Friends of Steljes’ events in the UK

A national role focusing on the development of sales for all Oxford’s Education products. Reporting to the Education Sales and Marketing Director my remit was specifically to grow the market and revenue for Oxford’s digital products. Key Achievements- Grew the Oxford digital sales by 300%- Oversaw the development and launch of 3 new online products- Introduced a software specific team for the promotion of all Oxford’s digital products

My first role outside of teaching and I was recruited specifically to work with the principal partners to introduce Knowledge Box, a complete digital solution for schools. It became popular with primary schools and was seen at this time as the main competitor to Espresso.