Whetstone Baptist Church is one of the UK's fastest growing Baptist Churches with a membership approaching 300 people. In December 2021, after 14 years of planning and fundraising we were able to move into Springwell, our new, purpose built home in Whetstone, a thriving village in South-West Leicestershire. In this voluntary role I am blessed to be able to serve as a trustee and member of the Church Leadership Team with a wide remit of practical and spiritual responsibilities.

With a proven track record of success and having worked across the private, public and third sectors, I was able to bring a unique blend of skills and expertise to help drive business growth and enhance various organisations commercial performance.15 years experience in senior sales and commercial leadership, with a strong background across partnership development, retail, leadership and strategy development. • Strategy development• Partnership and sponsorship planning and execution• Sales Leadership• Account management development• Product development• Commercial contract review• CRM selection• Change management• Licensing and IP management

EverythingGlobal is a multi-faceted marketing solutions business, supporting customers in gifting, digital marketing, fulfilment and print for B2B and B2C platforms.Trading globally with central offices in Las Vegas (USA) and Leicester (UK)Member of the board with strategic responsibility for partnerships, sponsorships, offline marketing, and key account development.• Strategic level support of all areas of the business including financial forecasting, organizational structure, marketing, sales training, and CRM implementation• Mentored and led members of the UK and US senior sales team on a 1-2-1 basis to maximise opportunities with existing key accounts. Included product development meetings, client meetings and presentation development and delivery. Engaged with private, public and third sector stakeholders to deliver appropriate solutions.• Led the successful launch, implementation and ongoing delivery of new partnerships including motorsport (British GT Championship) Leicester Riders (British Basketball League) Outdoor Challenge Events (Keep Attacking event series) and the British Touring Car Championship. Developed new partnerships with various charities and business networks.• Implemented formal processes to ensure improved operational/strategic effectiveness across the business at board level. This included adding structure to board organisational planning and the creation of a commercial partnership contract and process.

Member of SLT with strategic accountability for all commercial events, product sales, partnerships, sponsorships and sourcing and procurement activity.• Successful creation and delivery of a new commercial strategy focussed on increasing income and impact of the above areas with a particular focus on fundraising and partnership opportunities. Implemented this across commercial team of ten staff and managed the communication plan to the wider organisation of 100+ staff and external stakeholders. Responsibility for areas of wider charity strategy and was proud to help secure 8th place in the Times Top 100 best Not-for-Profit Companies to Work for (Feb 2020)• Delivered innovative new partnerships for the charity including a multi-year agreement with Warner Brothers utilising Batman and Wonder Woman properties. Led the partnership and fundraising team in maximising an impressive portfolio of partners including Decathlon, Lidl, KidzBop, Sweaty Betty and Sky Sports. Worked with Village Hotels to successfully deliver Sir Mo Farahs Million Mile fundraising campaign and was required to present at their national conference to 200 senior team delegates ahead of national launch.• Regularly presented at staff briefs, to trustees at quarterly board meetings and external stakeholders which included global brands, senior business leaders, Olympians, former professional sports people, and public sector figures. Responsible for preparation of board papers and reports• Either led or contributed to multiple internal working groups including adoption of CRM/Salesforce, Technology and Digital Board, Internal Leadership Program, New website development (both corporate and ecommerce) and YST brand refresh. • Ensured delivery of exceptional relationship management to numerous national and international organisations including the FA, Sport England, Department for Education, DCMS and Youth Sport Trust International.

Member of SLT with full accountability for all sales and related activities in the US and Canada regions• Responsibility for leading and mentoring a team of account managers and administrators across multiple sites (UK and US based)• Led the company’s engagement with 3 separate US based account management groups who represented the Thumbs Up brand in specific territories across North America. Regular travel to US to deliver presentations to senior retail teams.• Delivered 20% sales uplift versus previous FY.• Liaised with US based licensors to develop innovative commercial plans for delivery of ranges into all levels of retail. Worked with a wide portfolio of national retailers including Bed Bath and Beyond, Hot Topic and Forever 21 which I prospected then opened following a visit to their head office in LA.

Prospecting and development of key and national retail accounts across UK and Europe

Member of senior leadership team with responsibility for developing, mentoring, and managing 30 sales staff across various sales functions including National & Key Account Managers, Business Development, Field Sales and Administration.• Led UK Sales team to deliver an increase in sales from £5m to £11m+ between 2012 and 2017.• Led Pyramid and the Art Groups involvement in Hong Kong and China shows 2014-2016. Responsible for planning of shows, set up & staffing and then successfully negotiated with key decision makers from senior buyers up to national retail board members (for example securing £200k order direct with the owner of B&M stores). Cultivated successful relationships with suppliers and team members from both China and Hong Kong with sensitivity to local customs and ways of trading.• Project manager for implementation of Salesforce CRM across 36 internal users and multiple departments.• Worked closely with key licensors including Disney, Warner Brothers and Universal Pictures to deliver best in class retail execution across multiple channels. • Managed Next, B&Q, The Range, HMV, Calendar Club, WHSmith, M&S, Claire’s Accessories, Dunelm, and Card Factory.

Held full P&L responsibility for a number of national accounts.

Account responsibility and development of Amazon, Play.com, Forbidden Planet, Claire's Accessories, Harrods and Selfridges

Contracted player representing the club at National 2 level

Home-based role managing an area across East Anglia and the Midlands. Account portfolio consisted of approximately 100 stores split across Wholesale and Independent accounts within the Cash and Carry channel. Managed a portfolio of brands which included Häagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Jus-Rol pastry, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker and Green Giant.

Area management of up to 10 stores across East and West Midlands regions

My time with the RAF gave me an extremely solid grounding in the practicalities of leadership and effective people-management.