Supporting people through the NHS complaints process to ensure their voice is heard - a free, independent service which helps people make their case, get the support and care they need and see wrongs put right.

I managed all aspects of the wholesale furniture business from managing supplier contracts with suppliers in the Far East; managing imports; cost control; inventory control; HR; Health and Safety; and distribution to retailers across Britain. Staff levels were 18 plus a team of agents representing products to retailers. During the year 2010 year sales grew by over 30% in a very challenging and competitive environment.

Career BreakThe two following roles were undertaken due to family circumstances, for personal experience, rather than as career moves.Jan 2006 – Jun 2007 Schools and Companies in Italy Teacher/Trainer• Devising and delivering English language training and education to non-native English speaking students ranging from 6 year olds to adults, complete beginners to advanced senior business executives;• Preparation for British Council exams including Key English Tests and Proficiency English Tests where students taught achieved a pass rate of 99% with over 50% achieving distinction.Jan 2003 – Dec 2004 Lochearnhead Hotel, Scotland Owner and Manager• Responsible for all budgets, recruitment, training, marketing, development and day-to-day running of small country house hotel;• Business sold for profit of 14%, having achieved 25% growth in turnover.

Responsible for delivering revenues in excess of £250 million per annum in carrier business via a team of 140 people in 7 countries across Europe. This was achieved through strong relationship building with existing customers to increase revenues from products such as IDD services, hubbing, internet hubbing, bandwidth sales and managed services; migrating existing customers to new services; using extensive industry networks and relationships with senior industry figures, non-UK government ministers and NGOs to introduce new carrier customers,thereby widening the customer base; building and leading high performance teams across multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environments; designing new organisational structures and integrating diverse (and formerly competing) teams to achieve stretching sales targets; managing teams through periods of intense change while continuing to deliver and exceed targets.This position was attained after a career progression within BT through several managerial levels including commercial and account manager, account director and managing director roles, encompassing diverse geographical and economic markets such as Africa and the Middle East, Eastern, Central and Western Europe where the above skills were honed. During the period of the Concert BT-ATT global venture there was also extensive collaboration and joint-project working with colleagues in the US, Asia Pacific and South America.Other skills attained during my BT career include contractual and regulatory experience; process and organisation audit and re-engineering (including preparation for and attainment of ISO compliance); budget setting and performance monitoring; mentoring and coaching.