Probably the the most valuable single source of business advice, business support, and business coaching that restless, aspirational businesses can engage.We deliver:InsightAwareness is the greatest agent of change" - Eckhart TolleIn our experience, 80% of clients with whom we have engaged have come from the box "we don't know what we don't know". Our business review often shines a light upon opportunities and issues up until now unknown and undiscovered by the business. This results in new choices being made and a fresh focus on new priorities.Creating awareness creates choice.InspirationInspiration - "the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something". "Why" you are in business (beyond the money) is more important than "what" you do and "how" you do it. Your Why / Aspiration / Bigger Picture / Vision / Intent / Purpose often gets lost in the day to day roller coaster that is running a business.Vision and Strategy building retreats and workshops inspires the business to re-connect to that original Vision, find a fresh energy and confidence to take the next step.Why not build a successful business AND love doing it?GrowthBuilding on a solid foundation is a pre-requisite for any sustainable growth - "the wise man built his house upon a rock" as they say.We firstly get clear on what growth means for your business e.g. growth in revenue, profits, people, capability, market share, territories, employee engagement.Having defined your Vision and being suitable inspired to have planned out the stepping stones to get there, we support the business in choosing the right growth strategy at the right time, then be by your side to implement those strategies. No implementation, no progress, no value.Why grow your business? Maybe you have a number in mind for retirement and want your business to reach a certain value. We are with you through to the end / new beginning, with succession planning and exit choices too.

As link tutor I support the delivery and maximise the flexibility offered by this innovative new Graduate Apprenticeship programme from UWS. In addition to specifically supporting the delivery and assessment of this unique Work Based Learning module, I will be supporting the participating students to produce an ePortfolio of evidence for their agreed learning objectives, and will be encouraging them to share their workplace learning and experiences with their fellow apprentices.For employers, their employees’ learning is customised to ensure the best fit with business needs and because the apprentices spend the majority of their time in the workplace, they are contributing to the productivity of the business at a much earlier stage. The end result is ‘industry ready’ graduates who understand their business.

Working with non manufacturing / service sector organisations on Behavioural Change in conjunction with the Lean systems modules provided by Accelerate PR. This highly successful programme is now in its 4th year.Through workshop delivery, I ensure that both Leaders and Delegates have best practice in Change Management to fully embed the new Lean culture and approach learned and ably demonstrated by the delegates through their Lean projects, specific to their team, department, team, division, organisation.

Shirlaws is a portfolio of companies that advise private enterprise to grow, fund, or exit their business in order to enjoy their life's work.Founded in 1999, Shirlaws has always been committed to the private enterprise market. Our partners are knowledgeable entrepreneurs who are attuned to the issues that influence the decisions you make about your business every day.They have grown, funded and in some cases, exited their own business multiple times.Thoughtful, insightful, and above all, practical - at Shirlaws we understand the entrepreneur's Journey and we love to pass on what we have learned.What Shirlaws brings is a unique language and system for growing businesses and building internal capability - a language and system that gives my clients three simple things they want.......more time, more money, and less stress.Having an Entrepreneurial mind-set, I have a personal passion for helping Organisations, Business Owners and their Teams, embed best in class business skills, to make a significant shift in their business, taking them where they want to go, more quickly than they can do on their own.A personal background of strong leadership and business development skills gained over a 27-year career in the food & beverage sector, and 10 years running my own professional practice under the Shirlaws umbrella.In depth experience leading teams, at all levels, from shop floor to senior level with demonstrable achievement throughout my career, creating sustainable change - sometimes a mentor, a trainer, a consultant, a facilitator, a coach.A love for business and a love for working with restless Entrepreneurs who can see growth in front of them, but feel just a little bit stuck or uncertain.

- Enabled the smooth start up of Smucker’s first European manufacturing operation, in Livingston, Scotland.- Grew the customer base in the UK and Europe, significantly increasing sales whilst ensuring healthy profit margins.- Full P&L responsibility along with operations, sales, product development, and client management & service The J. M. Smucker Company with an annual turnover approaching $5 billion, is the leading marketer and manufacturer of fruit spreads, peanut butter, shortening and oils, ice cream toppings, sweetened condensed milk, and health and natural foods beverages in North America. Its family of brands includes Smucker's®, Jif®, Crisco®, Pillsbury®, The Company remains rooted in the Basic Beliefs of Quality, People, Ethics, Growth and Independence established by its founder and namesake more than a century ago. Since 1998, the Company has appeared on FORTUNE Magazine’s annual listing of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in the United States.

The overall responsibility was to manage the Glasgow Factory in such a way as to ensure that budgeted volumes were produced on time within overall cost, quality and efficiency levels. This was achieved by: - Developing and maintaining close and effective working relationships between all departmental functions - engineering, Q.A., purchasing, distribution, finance, production.- Encouraging and managing high levels of employee involvement, participation and teamworking.- Managing all costs covering fixed & variable overheads, raw & packing materials, finished goods and distribution.

Responsible for the end to end efficient operation of 2 PET high speed bottling lines and a tetra pak fruit juice production line.

Various progressive operational roles starting on the shop floor as a Production Supervisor, then Shift Manager, Bread Production Manager, Site Manager, at British Bakeries production units in Glasgow, Ayr and Dundee.Main responsibilities included leading and managing efficient operations through a continuous improvement ethos of process & people.