Carphone Warehouse understood telecoms but had a gap in their portfolio. I wrote the business plan for what became TalkTalk, pitched it to CEO Charles Dunstone, then led the launch team from commercial trial through to connecting our first customer. We acquired the Opal network, built the operational infrastructure, and scaled rapidly.

Result: Disrupted the UK telecoms market, growing from zero to £750M turnover with 2.7M customers and a team of 2,500 people across the UK, South Africa, and India.

Trinity Mirror had acquired multiple digital businesses that needed consolidating into a single operating unit. I joined as MD to turn around the portfolio. The key was identifying best practices from each business, then retiring three legacy platforms and moving everything to Salesforce while cutting 40% from operating costs.

Result: Added 10 percentage points to operating margin within 18 months while consolidating the companies into a unified platform.

Brawn Power was pre-revenue when I joined as Chair to help with incorporation and funding strategy. I mentored the founder through the early stages, helped define the commercial model, and contributed to managing three investment rounds – from friends and family through high-net-worth individuals to VC investment. We gained traction with athlete sponsorships and gym partnerships along the way.

Result: Secured backing from True Ventures (who also invested in Zwift) and fitness industry investors. Brawn is now being trialled by the UK’s largest gym chains as their preferred strength training app.

Small local digital marketing agencies were undervalued, which created an acquisition opportunity. I acted as Executive Chair to build an umbrella company through strategic acquisitions. We bought Frogspark, Evolve Retail, and Boom, then positioned each as a brand in specific niches while establishing common sales and delivery teams to reduce costs.

Result: Built a cohesive 50-person digital advertising agency positioned for 20% annual growth.