I'm a Non-Exec Director ("NED") focused on family and privately owned car and motorcycle retailers. I attend monthly board meetings, as well as meetings with stakeholders like manufacturer partners, the bank, stock funders and external advisers. I help the board set a strategic plan and stick to it. I don't run the business day-to-day, but I work closely with the senior management team to offer advice and performance reviews. As a qualified accountant, I'm also able to help the Group Finance Director set the annual budget and review draft statutory accounts. In essence, I'm impartial, a sounding board, a critical friend, and someone in whom you can confide. Interested? Please call me on 07836 212036 if you’d like to talk, or email: exoms@outlook.com

Exo Management Solutions Ltd provides advice to car and motorcycle retailers, including on acquisitions and disposals. Exo is a member of the Lloyds Bank Specialist Consultants Panel and the PwC Turnaround Panel. Initial consultations are free and carry no obligation. Call me on 07836 212036 or email: exoms@outlook.com

We're proud to represent Lotus, Caterham, Subaru and most recently Morgan. Located adjacent to the world-famous British Grand Prix racing circuit in Northamptonshire, we enjoy a great reputation amongst sports and touring car enthusiasts, and a growing community of Subaru fans.

Pidcock was an authorised retailer for BMW, Triumph & Ducati, as well as electric brands Zero & Energica.

Benham was the authorised car and motorcycle retailer for BMW & MINI in Wolverhampton. From strategy to day-to-day trading, I had P&L responsibility for a £55m turnover business with 100 staff and was exposed to HR, finance, banking, insurance, regulations and a large construction project. I also served as National Chair of the Franchise Board, representing retailers in discussions with BMW Group. Engendering a customer-focused culture amongst our dedicated team of employees and representing BMW Group were huge privileges but, with little opportunity to expand, I sold my shares in 2015.

The Franchise Board is also known as the Dealer Council. I served as Regional Chairman then National Chairman, representing BMW and MINI retailers in negotiations with our manufacturer partner. My national role in 2009 and 2010 coincided with the depths of the financial crash, making the role all the more challenging and fulfilling. BMW Group and its retailer network is a great partnership and together we got through this difficult period unscathed.

BMW UK is the wholly owned sales subsidiary of the German car manufacturer. Reporting latterly to the managing director, and previously to the sales director, the goals of the retailer development manager (aka dealer development manager) were to:o Advise individual retailers on profit and balance sheet managemento Maintain our retailer network as the most profitable in the UKo Protect BMW Group from credit risks arising in the networko Manage appointments, terminations and changes of ownershipo Develop the highest quality of BMW and MINI retail representationo Address the commercial implications of legislative changeso Launch the MINI retailer network at very short notice in 2001o Motivate and coach my team for the long term delivery of the above

PwC is the world’s largest accountancy firm. Following first time passes in my chartered accountancy exams, I developed commercially running businesses in receivership and providing turnaround advice in a variety of sectors from manufacturing to retail. I learned some good management techniques and saw a number of pitfalls to avoid.