Improving Accessible Travel - irrespective of Age or Mobility, everyone should be "able2fly". We aim to improve the pre-notification and communication of passenger assistance needs which can be re-used for multiple journeys with different airlines. This should improve service to passengers whilst reducing delays and offering the potential for longer term reduction in service delivery costs for airports and airlines.

Working alongside the MD who has a strong aviation background, we identified an opportunity to set-up a passenger handling business at the fastest growing airport in Europe. My primary role was the provision of business management, administrative and financial support to avoid the normal start-up pitfalls. A second opportunity was identified in mid-2006 and a second company established to service a second location, this time at a regional airport.Towards the end of 2007, a third operation was established supporting the Oil Industry support flights from Aberdeen.The three operations now have a combined turnover of around £1m and employ over thirty staff and are trading profitably.

Manage a new aquisition including a profit turnaround, overseeing the transfer to a new facility and briging operational standard up to the levels required by major international food companies.The major actions taken were;establish a new strategy focussing on areas where we had competitive advantage and could create technical barriers to entrymove the business to a new manufacturing site simplify manufacturing processes focussing on our core competencies whilst outsourcing non-core activities,introduced quality procedures resulting in ISO qualification and accreditation by Heinz and MasterfoodsIntroduce new Health & safety procedures and standards based on STOP, Formal Risk Assessment, Zurich Safety Management Systems. focus the sales team on achieving long-term sales contracts with target customers to give some stability of planningIntroduction of financial management and costing systems plus formal credit control methods to provide margin analysis, focus for cost reduction activities reduce Forex risk and improved product profitability.Additional investment in new technology to further improve margins and reduce reliance on imports.Major achievements were;Sales increased from $30M to 42$ on the back of new long-term contracts with Heinz, Masterfoods, Nestle and Bonduelle.Headcount reduced by 50% Quality incidents reduced to an average of less than 2/qtr.H&S incidents reduced from 7/qtr to zero for 15 months prior to my departureOEE was raised from less than 50% factory average to over 82% in the space of 18 months with shop floor teams driving the improvement supported and guided by managersIntroduction of new products which reduced transport costs for client and had the potential for Design protection to give a market advantage

Brand new operation in Ghana, involving building the new can-making facility to international standards and developing it into a long-term sustainable business.Establishing relationships with the major client (Heinz) and developing our Planning, Quality and Hygiene procedures to support their requirements.Setting up and maintaining supplies of imported products pending commencement of local productionProgressively over the following years, we developed a wider range of products encouraging growth in the local agro-industry with canning as an alternative to sale of fresh produce.In addition to the "day-job" of setting up and developing the business, being the head of the first can-making facility in the country, there were significant external requirements for the role including ;government agencies, technology transfer agreements etcEstablish working group to support development of the agro-industry in GhanaWorked on various anti-corruption committees specifically relating to Customs & Excise, Inland Revenue and Ministry of Industry.

A Turnaround project in a heaviliy Unionised environment requiring primarily a change of culture from inspection QC after the fact to pre-planned SPC based QA. This forced changes in working practices and alowed the intorduction on new technology and investment.Having restored the quality reputation of the company and with the revised lower cost base, we were able to grow sales in new market areas such as formula milk and high-end promotional products.Overall sales were grown from £10M to £13M whilst the worforce was reduced from 170 to 130 and factory space employed reduced by 60%.

Having overseen the implmentation of a new Group wide reporting system and implemented new product costings, I joined a "turnaround team" as the finance specialist. This involved working with a Sales and Marketing expert and an Operations expert to review struggling businesses/factories. Based on a market-led review of the potential for long-term profitability, we would compile and implement the first stages of a recovery plan while identifying and training the managers to carry on the project.

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