About

Martin was a bright and very capable student at school but acutely unhappy and unfulfilled so he left as soon as it was legal to do so on his 16th birthday without sitting any exams.  He set himself the challenge of catching up with exams and qualifications in the grown-up environment of college and further education and did a three year apprenticeship as a vehicle technician, taking every opportunity to gain experience and qualifications in areas of business which excited him.  He was student of the year in his first year at college and qualified as an automotive engineer and business manager, a teacher of adults in further education and project manager. 

This all helped him rise to the position as a director in a PLC before the age of thirty,  then his career went on hold for two years to recover from leukaemia and subsequent bone marrow transplant.  Getting back to work proved a huge challenge and being turned down for job after job was demoralising.  He decided that the only way to find opportunities for lasting and meaningful employment was to create them himself and took his first footsteps into the world of founding and owning his first business in 1995.

2012 brought a whole new set of challenges.  Martin had surgery to remove a high grade brain tumour and didn't work for another three years.  In 2015 however, he co-founded a new company providing outsourcing services which provided  training resources for clients in the UK and Europe.  He resigned from that company in 2023 and is seeking out new opportunities in 2024.

In addition, he has held senior positions in other privately owned companies.  

Through personal experience, he knows and understands the critical factors of success and failure and how to recognise both.  

During his early career, he was mentored and encouraged by his boss to develop his natural abilities as a coach with a view to mentoring emerging talent in business. 

Coaching became an integral part of his working life and he was able to use the skills he gained "at the coalface" to support and help in the development of the companies he has worked with during his time as an interim consultant.

Some of Martin's business roles have been to work with companies as an interim in positions where hands-on help and support was needed for a project or at a particular time of change or expansion.  The roles have often been at a senior managerial level and at board level  advising in areas of strategy or compliance.

Some of the contract and interim roles have required him to take on a more senior position as project manager.  

His first was to manage an upgrade of a vehicle service and repair workshop expansion and modernisation.  More recently he was PM on a project with an insurance company along with others in the third sector.

Martin has always been an advocate of giving back to society.  The RSA encourages its Fellows to champion new ideas, drive social change, deliver practical solutions and support the RSA mission to  nurture local learning and skills.

 Previewing new content and providing feedback to the editors on their ideas for content on management and leadership. 

 I am involved in advising on developments, improvements, service evaluations and redesigns relating to cancer care with a view to pathway improvements and initiatives to deliver personalised care.

Always prepared and on time, smart in appearance and quick witted, constantly thinking and reasoning in meetings so that his contribution is considered and valid.

His ability to draw on lessons learned from painful and costly experiences as well as successes allows him to offer guidance and advice based in the real world where understanding the consequences of doing things the right way or the wrong way can mean the difference between success and failure.

Martin will offer an alternative point of view to show contrast in how things can be seen in a different way.

Entrepreneurship: From Business Idea to Action

King's College London

Creativity and Innovation: Their Role in Becoming an Entrepreneur

Coventry University

Business Planning to Grow Successful Companies

The University of Kent

Understanding Modern Business & Organisations

University of Strathclyde 

Risk Management in the Global Economy

SOAS University of London

Business Process Management  

Queensland University of Technology 

Contract Management 

University of Southampton 

Managing People 

Henley Business School - University of Reading

Designing and Implementing a Leadership Development Strategy

The University of Adelaide

Leadership Coaching through Turbulent Times

University of Strathclyde 

How to Build Leadership Resilience

Nottingham Trent University

Lean Six Sigma, Kaizen, and Problem Solving

Lean 6 Services Newton Aycliffe