John Kitson Email and Phone Number

Advice ..support ..discretion ...mentoring ...available for personal reflection ..leadership support ...strategic insight ..support ..facilitation ...challenge and guidance..Hope I've been of help to some of the great people I meet and support .Rarely searching for new now as work life balance critical ..

Open at 91 Upper St Giles Street Norwich ...we live partly in the studio and apartments plus at Itteringham . Set it up with Carol ..and together we designed structure ..decided product range ... funded ...set up suppliers and partners ..designed look ..feel ..aims ...Carol runs the Studio ..I help our wonderful customers .. ..We dont open every day but now have invited a botanical indoor plant business to join us as..Carol is designing full time or making the bespoke range or interiors ( see Haggle in Norwich as an example ) and I am a bit busy with other interests/consultancy ...I do have a good eye for a window display though ,or so I think and it's so enjoyable !(Whilst I think I am creative ..with a bit of a track record ..carol is on another plain creatively ..amazing ..)

Why wouldn't I ( when asked on returning from a month in Sri Lanka )agree to help the Towergate Group ,now Ardonagh ..the shareholders and the Executive ..it is a truly amazing story and business from its founding , to the challenging position it found itself in .It has been a case study in the past for its successes and it will be a case study again for its ongoing success as it gets back its rightful position .I played but a small part as it came back from the edge ?..I sat alongside Scott, now Group CFO at RSA and passed my baton to Janice Deakin/ David Ross et al.. ...something new always beckons ...our botanical designs being sold around the uk ...two non exec roles ..a new restaurant design ...branded a major charity fund raiser ...advised a top UK digital agency ...preparing the studio for each new season ...virtual consulting to offshore banks ....strategic rebooting of an Insurance company ..sourcing John Derian designs ....you name it ....never a dull day

As and when needed by the senior leaders ...a listening ear

General help for Exec, advice ,support ,insight .

Refocused distribution strategy ..partnerships ..broker strategy ..Aggs ..Direct to consumer ..Sme ...and then delivered ...plus Rebrand ..RAC development .3000 broker relationships ..large partner relationships ..quote me happy ..software house development ....introduced Paul Whitehouse ..telematics ...broker and partner development ..Club 110 ...budget of over £200m and revenue circa £5bn...and more Best bits were the relationships with some of UK s best and brightest entrepreneurs .. ..and the revenue generating success over time ..I loved leading and learning from great people And that's not forgetting that I did do the UK rebrand from Norwich Union to Aviva ..including the NCFC sponsorship..called "a stroke of genius " by "The Times "... that was my life for a number of years with nearly a who's who of GI ,...very few of whom remain still at Aviva !..We were good ...the team that is ..I was but a catalyst .

Lots happened between joining NU and 2003 and I can fill in the gaps if anyone is interested ,... I was leading a team of 3/4000 people in one the most successful times of the Direct business's history ..growing customer numbers significantly ..improving margins / COR ..you name it ..and transforming the call centre model ..introduced the very successful quote me happy with AMV ..(thanks Farah )...First European insurer to do Pay as you Drive ..which is changing the shape of insurance around the world ....ran the full product integration projects and delivery for a number of mergers and acquisitions ..eg L&E ,CGNU,HHH (PL and CL ) ...!..Loved this job ..brought in some top top people ..miss the people ..Helped sort out the complex technology and other challenges we had integrating with India , Brokers .Partners ..Web ...I visited India in this period ...amazing country ..amazing experience ...

Started at Lloyds in 1979 ..left for a bit to work in the Caribbean ..as you do ..then came back and heres where I learnt one of the loves of my life ..The stock market ..still play it everyday ..Ended up designing complex stock market products for customers..but made simple ..well before all the selling scandals .. Then ..time for a change ..advertising ..and General insurance ...and chose Norwich Union just before it floated .