Driving Innovation in the Thames Valley

Getting ideas from small companies into large companies.

The focus of VitalSix is the development of high growth business leaders and their top team via a portfolio of tailored programmes that have been designed to meet the needs of companies with ambition to grow their revenue at more than 20% per-annum. The support offered to the ambitious business leaders by the VitalSix team can range from learning the essentials of business growth at Henley Business School through to funding strategy and maximising shareholder exit value.

Sponsored by Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, the Growth Hub provides high growth businesses in Berkshire with a knowledge and funding resource.

Thames Valley Innovation & Growth Ltd was funded by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to deliver support to high growth companies in the southeast region. Typically support involved:•Facilitating action centered coaching.•Supporting business leaders in the development of their business plans•Facilitating action learning sets of business leaders.•Guiding client company fund raising and investment activity

Pacer Leisure- a UK based company that manufacture skateboards, roller-skates, in-line skates, mountain boards and scooters. Founder- responsible for all the marketing, sales, finance and product development for the company.Principle achievements include: •Implemented a customer acquisition and quality strategy that helped achieve an annual turnover of £6.5 million within five years, which made the company the largest in its sector.•Introduced an integrated information system, resulting in more accurate forecasting of sales, stock and financing, allowing rapid growth and cost reduction.•Headed up the design, development and manufacture of the company’s products in the Far East to produce a low cost high quality product line that underpinned our rapid growth.•Served as Committee Chairman for the British Sports and Allied Industries Federation and was the industry representative on the British Standards Institutes - European CEN Standards Committee responsible for developing pan-European safety standards for sporting equipment.•Moved on from Pacer Leisure Ltd in a management buyout