I served an indentured apprenticeship with Hawker Siddeley Aviation building Harrier jump jets and gained an HND qualification at Kingston Polytechnic as it was then.

Having completed my apprenticeship, I moved straight into a management role as President of Kingston University Student Union and I was responsible for the total management of the union, which provided facilities for 6,000 full and part time students over 3 sites and employed 16 staff.

In 1975 I moved into technical selling, product management and subsequently became the Managing Director of a German company, Herion.

Throughout my sales and management career I have been involved in:

• Developing excellence in customer service
• Working to meet agreed service levels within the motor industry - notably Ford, Jaguar and Nissan

My time as Managing Director at Herion involved:

• Developing the potential of employees
• Designing and providing career development paths for individuals
• Improving performance management skills
• Developing presentation skills
• Encouraging clear focus by individuals so they could work smarter
• Developing a telesales department

I worked for Invicta training for 5 years and was Director of the Market Share Division. I built long-term business relationships with clients including P&O Cruises and Carlton UK Sales and I was a finalist in the 1998 National Sales Awards (run by the Institute of Professional Sales) in the category "Sales Trainer of the Year".

Amongst others, I have worked for;

• 3i plc
• Mobil Oil
• Routledge Publishers
• Royal London Insurance
• Eurotunnel
• The Stock Exchange
• Buckingham Palace
• Deb Ltd

• Harlequin Mills and Boon
• VFB Holidays
• Boosey and Hawkes
• Interflora
• Brinks Mat
• Amadeus
• Boomerang Media

• Sales
• Negotiation
• Advanced presentation
• Essential management
• Customer care

I went to the same school as Elton John.